Feb 106 minCultural HistoryEric Hobsbawm (with a nod to poetic genius Adrienne Rich!)What do we get when we lend our ears to Eric Hobsbawm? Passion. Energy. Exhilarating sweeps of time; giddy swoops into political darkness...
Feb 613 minBirkbeckThe Humanities: La Fontaine's Cat, Kafka's Ape, and the HumanWhat does it mean to be human? We inhabit a world that is commonly, and lazily, dubbed ‘post-human’. Indeed, in recent decades, an...
Feb 614 minBirkbeckMechanics' Institutes: What? Why? Where?When Birkbeck was established in 1823, it was called the London Mechanics’ Institution. It was one of the first ‘mechanics’ institutes’...
Feb 53 minAthens, GreeceAthens: A Guide to the CityIt is impossible not to be charmed by Athens. At night, bouzouki music wells up from dark basements; tables spill out of ouzeris, around...
Feb 54 minBirkbeckWhat is a University? Birkbeck CollegeWalking into the Birkbeck Literary and Scientific Institution (as it was then called) in the 1890s could be a dispiriting experience....
Jan 101 minCultural Historybell hooks (on her death): Inspirations Seriesbell hooks has been an enduring presence in my life. I first read her 1981 classic Ain’t I a Woman: Black Women and Feminism as an...