Recently updated blogs

What caught my eye this week. A nice coincidence saw Joe Wiggins at the Behavioural Investment blog write about the downsides of friction-free investing in the same week that Freetrade was acquired by IG Group. IG does offer share trading, but it’s still known primarily as a spreadbetting firm. And while I’d argue Freetrade – in which I was a tiny early investor – provides a less gamified trading environment …

First published as "The Story of the Inexperienced Ghost" in the March 1902 issue of The Strand Magazine, H.G. Wells' humorous ghostly tale of the folly of hubris has long been one of his most anthologised and well-known short stories. Relayed to his circle of friends by firelight following a day of golf, Clayton tells of his encounter with a ghost the previous night and of its piteous nature and …

This week, we’re going to talk a bit about the brothers Tiberius (trib. 133) and Gaius (trib. 123-2) Gracchus, the famous Roman reformers of the late second century. There’s actually a fair bit to say about both of them, so we’re going to split this treatment over two weeks, talking about Tiberius this week and Gaius next week. Tiberius and Gaius Gracchus’ tribunates – both of which ended with them …

Caroline Strickland Prettiest Girl Of Heaven Originally hailing from Virginia, Caroline Strickland is a Brooklyn-based musician who focused on making music exploring the sense of self, self-actualisation, and ‘the tension between arrogance and tenderness’. Prettiest Girl Of Heaven is the final single to be lifted from Strickland’s forthcoming EP, Martha’s Calling. The song sees Strickland perform the kind of rousing vocal that reminds me of Florence Welch, setting it against …

A while back, I was surprised when I saw the writer of a well-researched webcomic assume that academics are paid for their articles. I ended up writing a post explaining how academic publishing actually works. Now that I’m out of academia, I’m noticing some confusion on the other side. I’m doing freelance journalism, and the academics I talk to tend to have some common misunderstandings. So academics, this post is …

This idea was sparked a few months ago when I restored an adze. The owner wanted a new handle and some edge reshaping. The head was made by Hans Karlsson. The owner purchased it a couple decades ago from Country … Continue reading →

The big news of the day was the nine-page memo from the Department of Education on the issue of Title IX implications on the House settlement. Recall that the settlement includes some back pay for student’s who were determined to have lost out on NIL (Name, Image, Likeness) money and to allow universities to pay for the use of student’s NIL going forward. Recently some programs have shuttered their collectives …

The following is an excerpt from Matt Kennard and Claire Provost's brilliant book Silent Coup: How Corporations Overthrew Democracy. This section is my brutal edit of the original text. The book paints a more broadly and easily understood picture; I firmly recommend reading the book. The bit below is all about how the German banker Hermann Abs suggested a sort of capitalist Magna Carta, a framework for capitalists to cut …

David Lynch, on Los AngelesRoger Ebert on David Lynch and Mulholland DriveDavid Lynch on surrealism in the American grainSurrealist Cinema BBC Arena 1987 presented by David Lynch

Here's my weekly update with a few interesting random findings that I came across the last week or two. I am going to try to make sure they're here in time for you to enjoy with your morning coffee (or beverage of choice) every Saturday or Sunday, and include some of my thoughts around them.Remembering David LynchI was incredibly saddened to hear of the passing of filmmaker David Lynch yesterday. …

Last July, my history professor husband and I took a trip to Mississippi, Tennessee and Georgia to visit a selection of Civil War battlefields that comprise the "western theater" of that great war. From our starting point in Vicksburg, Mississippi, we drove north up the scenic Natchez Trace Parkway to Shiloh, Tennessee, then northeast to Fort Donelson, where we also contrived to visit the Tennessee National Wildlife Refuge. We then …

My friends bullied me into doing this template but with Jigen. Yes I had a very good time!

Roger Deakin visits a Jaguar factory in Coventry, in the United Kingdom, where he finds— 160 cabinet-makers were at work in two shifts, day and night, selecting and cutting out the shapes of delicate walnut veneer for the dashboards and door panels of the higher animals—“cars” seems too mundane a word—that have evolved from the feral SS Jaguar 100 sports model of 1936, with its sweeping wings, wire wheels, knock-on …

Reading Time: 35 minutes I hope all of you who’ve sent me complaining messages about there being ‘too much AI stuff’ in Curios over the past few years are feeling suitably-chastened now that Sir Keir’s going to MAINLINE IT INTO THE NATION’S VEINS. Whether or not intravenous injection was necessarily the right analogy for the forced introduction of a potentially-nefarious technology that noone necessarily wants into the body public is…questionable, …

Time flies faster than we can think of. Nagarathna Memorial Grant – 2025 is open for applications; this is our eighth edition. When I started it, I didn't think much about how it would turn out in a couple of years. So, there were no expectations. But it has grown into its own thing in these seven years. I have met so many interesting people and their work. It has …