Category Archives: Uncategorized

What’s up with Generation Z?

I am quoted in a thoughtful feature article for the Observer by James Tapper, published on 3 March.

The trans teen trend: a case of social contagion?

I enjoyed taking part in this thoughtful panel debate at the Battle of Ideas, London, back in October. The film, produced by volunteers for the brilliant education charity WORLDwrite, has just come out, at a time when developments in Scotland provide a urgent need for ongoing, open discussion of the many issues involved. Fellow speakers […]

Interview about generational conflict for ‘The Why’

Generationalism backs ageism

Stefania Medetti interviewed me for her blog, The Age Buster. She wrote:  Picasso had a Blue Period and I had a Russian one. For a couple of years, I devoured Russian literature, scavenging for unknown titles when the most famous ones had already found a place on my bookshelf. Russian literature has all the depths that […]

The journey from self to selfie

Once upon a time (that is, before the millennium), there was no such thing as a ‘selfie’. People used cameras to capture an image of the world or the people around them. The closest they got to a selfie was when they persuaded someone else to take their photo. But the idea that photography could […]

Ageism is putting all our retirements at risk

Pensioner poverty, we are often led to believe, is a thing of the past. Apparently, the Baby Boomer generation has been so successful at defending its interests that the greedy old buggers are raking it in. It is claimed that we live in a ‘retirement aristocracy’. Pensioners spend their days jetting off on holiday or […]

Let’s lay off the Baby Boomers

The world doesn’t need another book eviscerating the Baby Boomers. Fortunately, the American satirist PJ O’Rourke has written something less boring instead. O’Rourke’s account of ‘The Baby Boom’ begins promisingly with the preface, ‘to a book attempting to capture the spirit of a generation of God’s favourite spoiled brats’. ‘Herein is a ballad of the […]