Hordak and the Simulacrum: What can we learn from She-Ra?

She-Ra is a colourful children's show about princesses. It's also a powerful case for the power of difference.

The Haunted Haircut

Initially, I was thinking of writing something with a title along the lines of, ‘Keir Starmer has failed his first test as leader.’ Because, let’s face it, he has: within a month at the top, Starmer has given the Conservatives more than enough room to paint their pandemic response as a success, despite the UK … Continue reading The Haunted Haircut →

Roger Scruton (1944 – 2020)

Conservative philosopher Roger Scruton died last week. I'm not interested in particularly praising or trashing his philosophy, though that won't stop me: his ideology is not one I share, his view of the world is one I reject, and his views on race, gender, and sexuality were totally awful. His philosophy was rather dull and … Continue reading Roger Scruton (1944 – 2020) →

REVIEW: Neoreaction A Basilisk (Elizabeth Sandifer, 2016, Eruditorum Press)

When faced with the name Elizabeth Sandifer, any good Doctor Who fan (like me) will think of TARDIS Eruditorum, or "A Psychochronography in Blue." Often political, regularly strange and always insightful, the series of blogs from beginning to present of Doctor Who is an incredible achievement. At once, it's something of an unofficial history of … Continue reading REVIEW: Neoreaction A Basilisk (Elizabeth Sandifer, 2016, Eruditorum Press) →

REVIEW: Humankind (Timothy Morton, 2017, Verso Books)

In Humankind: Solidarity with Non-Human People, Timothy Morton looks on Marx as a piece of computer software. Specifically, he seeks to sweep through Marx's thinking and identify the 'bug' in his system, which is, according to Morton, his anthropocentrism. Whether Morton succeeds or not seems to me a difficult question, but, for reasons I hope … Continue reading REVIEW: Humankind (Timothy Morton, 2017, Verso Books) →

Take Off Your Mask

CAMILLA: You, sir, should unmask. STRANGER: Indeed? CAMILLA: Indeed it's time. We all have laid aside disguise but you. STRANGER: I wear no mask. CAMILLA: [terrified, aside to Cassilda] No mask? No mask! -- The King in Yellow, act i, scene 2(1) Masks are one of my keenest aesthetic interests. When writing fiction I return … Continue reading Take Off Your Mask →

Introductions

Having spent the last two-and-a-half years at university, I've gotten pretty good at writing introductions. You outline your answer to the question, set out the steps you will take in getting there, and reduce the argument to a nice abstract summary. To quote one of my lecturers: "It's not a whodunnit. Don't keep us in … Continue reading Introductions →