Category Archives: Uncategorized

I was in America in 2008 when Obama was elected president. I was there on a university lecture tour, in Lexington Kentucky, a deep-red city in a deep-red state, so not a very sympathetic milieu. But my academic hosts were … Continue reading →

The iconic Grand Hotel in Stockholm – where the Nobel laureates stay – is hosting a gathering today in order to confer what are called ‘European Freedom Awards’ on some lucky people. It has been organized by the far-Right Sweden … Continue reading →

This is a review I originally wrote for the LRB, but which was crowded out by Brexit pieces. The Literary Review, however, took a shortened version, which appears there this month: https://literaryreview.co.uk/no-man-is-an-island-2. Here is the original (3000-word) article, if anyone’s … Continue reading →

Michael Fallon, the new Defence Secretary, plans to institute military cadet corps in schools. The idea, apparently, is not only to provide future recruits for the British Army, but also to instil discipline and ‘British values’ in our youth. Yes; that … Continue reading →

What more can one say about the current ghastly state of affairs in America? That Trump is a vain, childish proto-fascist; that Clinton is too enmeshed with the neo-liberal establishment to inspire enthusiastic support; that the best historical parallel – … Continue reading →

In the meantime, History continues along its predetermined path. Europe agrees to an international trade deal – CETA – which subordinates democracy to capitalism: why oh why couldn’t the Walloons hold out? – so bringing us that little bit nearer … Continue reading →

Back in Sweden. I’ve agreed to talk to a Stockholm law firm next month about Brexit. They want a British-historical angle on it. They say they ‘don’t understand it’. I’m not sure I do either; but I’ll give it a … Continue reading →

‘I’m a free American, and so can believe anything I like’. That remark, which I heard on American radio some years ago, and quoted in a previous post (https://bernardjporter.com/2016/02/22/btl/), has niggled me ever since, and makes more sense than ever in … Continue reading →

What we’re getting now, both in America and in Britain, is a very large disaffected working or lower-middle class, largely disillusioned with establishment politics and policies, but split between Right and Left. In Britain half of them go to Ukip, … Continue reading →

I’ve watched the first two live ‘debates’ between Trump and Clinton, and am determined to watch the third, at 2 a.m. (our time). Friends tell me they can’t – it’s all too depressing. Kajsa, in Stockholm, says she won’t watch … Continue reading →