Joni Mitchell, in her own words
There’s always been something at once girlish and steely about Joni Mitchell, the stellar Canadian whom Rolling Stone called ‘one…
What happened to the supermodels of the 1990s?
‘What advice would you give to your younger self?’ has become a popular question in interviews in recent years. It’s…
An ode to the BlackBerry
I’ll miss my favourite phone
You’ll have a lump in your throat: BBC Radio 4’s Four Sides of Seamus Heaney reviewed
It’s now been ten years since Seamus Heaney died, and after a great poet’s death it’s natural, I suppose, that…
Gripping tale of Ireland’s most polite bank robber: I’m Not Here To Hurt You reviewed
There should really be a special word for it: that vicarious fragility you feel when hearing of a minor decision…
The power and the glory that was Belfast
Before the Troubles hijacked its reputation, the city was renowned for its linen industry and great shipyards, responsible for an eighth of the global shipbuilding trade
The stuff of nightmares: Retrievals podcast reviewed
It is the stuff of nightmares, or a queasily dystopian film plot. A woman is undergoing a surgical procedure in…
Gripping and admirable: BBC Radio 4’s Fever: The Hunt for Covid’s Origins reviewed
It’s the whodunnit – or whatdunnit – that has kept scientists, politicians, journalists and armchair sleuths speculating ever since the…
Looking for a male role model? Check out the silverback gorilla
One so often hears about famous people who are horrible when they think no one important is looking – barking…
How productive is it to listen to productivity gurus?
I was making my way slowly through one of my dismally prosaic little to-do lists – ‘pay the water bill’…
In praise of From Our Own Correspondent
Most of us are familiar with the notion of writer’s block, that paralysis of invention induced by the appalling sight…
The war over the womb
The womb, that secretive house of early life, is coming under the spotlight. For a long time it was scarcely…
What’s the difference between Shamima Begum and Unity Mitford?
The debate sparked by Josh Baker’s BBC podcast on Shamima Begum, and her teenage flight to join Isis, has divided…
His dark materials
Radio works its strongest magic, I always think, when you listen to it in the dark. The most reliable example…
Don’t expect a united Ireland any time soon
Don’t expect a united Ireland any time soon
There’s a growing sense that tomorrow belongs to Sinn Fein
There’s a growing sense that tomorrow belongs to Sinn Fein
Richard Needham takes a businesslike attitude to the Troubles
This memoir from Sir Richard Needham, 6th Earl of Kilmorey, businessman and former Northern Ireland minister, has a frank opening:…
The competitive cult of cosiness
Can we escape the cult of cosiness?
The chilling rise of ‘IRA TikTok’
The chilling rise of ‘IRA TikTok’
The perfect film for family viewing: Belleville Rendez-Vous revisited
The selection of a film for family viewing is a precise and delicate art, particularly with us all now confined…
Romanticising Northern Ireland’s history is a deadly mistake
For those of us who grew up in Northern Ireland during the Troubles, there is a pungent but negative sense…