Bank holidays are a British idiosyncrasy that some former members of our empire continue to honour. Other countries don’t have more of them, they have public holidays instead. This is not a matter of mere terminology. A public holiday is a shared civic commemoration of something important for the society that celebrates it.
ReadHow a mediocre game of tennis reveals the key to the sense of achievement.
ReadWhen I turned 30, too many years ago to mention, I raised a glass and toasted my entry to middle age. Everyone else was shocked by this, thinking I was being premature. Perhaps the real reason for their recoiling was that if 30 really was middle aged, that made the rest of them either middle-aged themselves, too close to it for comfort or—god forbid—old…
ReadFREE THINKING – BBC RADIO 3, 26 MARCH. Can There Be Multiple Versions of Me? Anne McElvoy enlists the help of Diversify author June Sarpong, doctor and medical historian Gavin Francis, performer and transgender activist Emma Frankland and philosopher Julian Baggini to tackle contemporary ideas about the ever changing notions of the self. Recorded with an audience at Sage Gateshead.
ReadA French philosopher seeks to piece together the world views of Russia’s president and France’s National Front leader.
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