Science
How we can overcome Britain's problem with scientific illiteracy
It occurs to me that one of the most important lessons we’ve learnt so far during this time of plague…
Do face masks work? A note on the evidence
Should we, or should we not be compelled to wear face masks during a virus epidemic? It sounds a simple…
The evidence on Covid-19 is not as clear as we think
There is still plenty we don’t understand about the virus
How British science can flourish after Brexit
How British science can flourish after Brexit
A book that could save lives: Adam Rutherford’s How to Argue with a Racist reviewed
In the award-winning musical Avenue Q, filthy-minded puppets sang about schadenfreude, internet porn, loud sex, the uselessness of an English…
How close is humanity to destroying itself?
Humanity has come startlingly close to destroying itself in the 75 or so years in which it has had the…
Babies are aware of bilingualism from birth — if not before
Probably most of the world is bilingual, or more than bilingual. It is common in many countries to speak a…
It’s science, not protest, that will save the planet
One might expect that the challenge of climate change would encourage many young people to take up Stem (science, technology,…
Radio 4’s The Art of Innovation is a series that — for once — deserves the label ‘landmark’
Radio 4, how do I love thee? Rather as one loves the flocked wallpaper that came with the house. It…
Business is the only area of human activity where you get paid to change your mind
In 1891, a 29-year-old man moved from Philadelphia to Chicago intending to start a business. With $32 to his name,…
Earth dying in five billion years I can deal with, but not a world-weary Brian Cox
When you see the opening caption ‘4.6 billion years ago’, it’s a pretty safe bet that you’re watching a programme…
How plastic saved the elephant and tortoise
Plastics — even venerable, historically eloquent plastics — hardly draw the eye. As this show’s insightful accompanying publication (a snip…
The man who never cried
It was odd listening to Jim Al-Khalili being interviewed on Radio 4 on Tuesday morning rather than the other way…
It’s not science I don’t trust – it’s the scientists
Everyone knows the real reason people like Donald Trump are sceptical of climate change is that conservatives are fundamentally anti-science.…
Conversations with a penis, having a laugh about Brexit and why titles matter: Edinburgh Festival reviewed
David Greig has written the international festival’s flagship drama, Midsummer. This farcical romance is performed as a party piece by…
The selective breeding of pets: how far should we go?
It was in his play Back to Methuselah that George Bernard Shaw honoured a lesser known aspect of Charles Darwin’s…
Exhilaratingly original, C4’s Flowers is much more than just a ‘dark comedy’
On Wednesday, BBC Four made an unexpectedly strong case that the human body is a bit rubbish. Our ill-designed spines,…
Might LSD be good for you?
When Peregrine Worsthorne was on Desert Island Discs in 1992, he chose as his luxury item a lifetime supply of…
Benjamin Zephaniah once found the leg of a man in the back of a Ford Cortina
‘For me rhyming was normal,’ said Benjamin Zephaniah, reading from his autobiography on Radio 4. Back in the 1960s, on…
Why a Big Oil row tells us it’s time to stop fetishising experts
Something extraordinary and largely unreported has just happened in a court in San Francisco. A federal judge has said that…
A short history of flash photography
All photography requires light, but the light used in flash photography is unique — shocking, intrusive and abrupt. It’s quite…
What can we learn from Jeremy Bentham’s pickled head?
Under the central dome of UCL — an indoor crossroads where hordes of students come and go on their way…
Perception vs objective reality
I hate to tell you this, but every time you watch television you are being duped. In fact there are…
Oh brave new gender-fluid world…
Later this year, the Advertising Standards Authority will reveal to the world their list of rules designed to wipe out…
Frater, ave atque vale
As his obituaries pointed out, my brother David made a name for himself with his unrideable bicycle; his ‘perpetual motion’…
