Top reads of 2009
I keep meaning to try to do justice to the books I read. Here is a list of some of the things which rocked my world in 2009. Read more...
Richard D North.
On culture, Nature, liberal issues, monasticism, spiritualityPage 41 of all posts
Top TV shows of the noughties
Here, roughly in order, are my top TV shows of the noughties. Surely a vintage period? Read more...
Top films of the noughties
In no particular order, here are my top movies of the last ten years. Surely, a vintage period? Read more...
Casting around in “Fishing In Utopia”
Note: If this were a review, it could have been much shorter and just said: “Buy this book. It’s lovely, sharp and beguiling”. I wanted to write something which drew on the experiences Andrew Brown and I shared, not least but not only at the Independent in the late 1980s. I also wanted to touch on the whole business of memoir- and nature-writing. Read more...
Spiked Online: in a climate muddle
The little Spiked essay introducing its After Copenhagen climate debate lays out a devil-may-care progressive, anti-green agenda. That's good fun. But it doesn't address the difficulty that mankind may have to act on AGW. Read more...
Compare: Cameron & Blair and 1997 & 2010
Here we go again. We are headed for an epoch-making election with an opposition leader who has a horror of authenticity. We don't need atavastic politics, but it is a big danger that we have political stars whose charisma depends on being bland and controlling. Mr Cameron could do far better. Read more...
Mail On Sunday: RDN not guilty
Dear Reader, I didn't write the piece which appeared under my name in the Mail On Sunday today. Read more...
Eating in the 7th arrondissement
Is this the best eating in Paris? Quite possibly. Here's my case for L'Auberge Bressane, and the neighbourhood food shops, in the "toney" 7th arrondissement. It's all a demonstration of the homage affluence pays to authenticity. Read more...
A dozen Copenhagen winners
It's a bit early I know but let's assume that there is a weak agreement at Copenhagen that we really, really ought to do something but only what's politically feasible, starting quite soon. Here's a dozen professionals who come away happy. Read more...
Three takes on climate change science
What kind of a beast is climate change? Is it like speeding in a built-up area, puttings cats amongst pidgeons, or stirring jam into custard? Here's why it matters to know which. (I think it's either the pidgeon or the custard thing, and that it would be nicer if it were the pidgeon one.) Read more...