Time to take Joe Bageant down from the shelf and consider his more-relevant-than-ever reflections on the American hologram. He wasn’t kidding when he wrote that “the four cornerstones of the American political psyche are (1) emotion substituted for thought, (2) fear, (3) ignorance, and (4) propaganda.” Those ingredients have now put a beligerent, misogynist ass … More no class

There is a passage in the book Things That Can & Cannot Be Said in which Arundhati Roy describes to John Cusack an experience she had in the forests of central India where the poorest people in the world have stopped some of the richest mining corporations in their tracks. The great irony is that … More on tv

Here in Edinburgh we have a museum dedicated to centuries-old body parts suspended in jars of liquid. It’s called the Surgeons Hall Museum, and is run by the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh, an esteemed professional organisation that has been around since the sixteenth century – back when they were all ‘barber surgeons.’ You … More on the body politic

So last week one of my favourite bands came all the way from the American midwest to play in the UK. I discovered Freakwater back in 1990, courtesy of an Iowa City barfly with a fine taste in music who made me a mixtape of tunes which I still play and love, and among whose … More a little freakwater

It’s been quite a while since I’ve written anything here. During the summer I was preoccupied with preparations for my fledgling to fly from the nest; she’s now settled in at university and making her way there, and so far so good. I’ve also been channelling my written thoughts recently into another webspace – the … More on spellbinding time

Delighted to say that I have a piece in the latest Unpsychology magazine (issue 3 – the childhood edition.) Isn’t it beautiful? The cover design and inner illustrations are by Ruth Thorp. Unpsychology magazine responds to themes of psychology, soul-making, ecology and ‘wild mind’. It contains poetry, essays, illustration and fiction. This edition also includes … More a childhood unpsychology

When I went away to university, the first friend I made was a sweet, goofy girl named – well, let’s just call her M. She was a small-town girl from rural Iowa, and the first in her family to go to college. Her main subject of study was French, of all things. She had even … More go home, sister

Earlier today I was in our neighbourhood supermarket, doing the weekly shop. Peering down at my list, steering around other trolleys, examining the shelves: my attention was focused on getting through the shop as efficiently and swiftly as possible. Other people formed the backdrop to my quest, their conversations drifting past me as they passed … More on paying attention for the shopping

photo courtesy of WordPress themes This two-year-old article from the Atlantic came across my social media radar today: Masters of Love. It describes research in which the body language and communication patterns of married partners correlated with the quality of their relationship. The conclusion of the research echoes common sense when it declares, “Science says … More master of love

I’ve been rereading Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials trilogy, and as ever when reading these wonderful books I try to guess what form my daemon would take. If you haven’t read the books: do, because they are exquisite. If you have read the books, then you’ll know that in the fictional world of HDM, people … More beginning again