Europe is proud of its cultural heritage, whether it’s the Renaissance, beautiful icons in Ukrainian churches, Shakespeare, Bach or Truffaut. But perhaps Europe’s greatest contribution to world culture is the Eurovision Song Contest. If you’ve never seen this, you should … Continued
It never occurred to me to study law at university. I mean it literally never entered my head, I was only even vaguely aware of the possibility. When I arrived at Sidney Sussex College, I discovered all these people working … Continued
The east of England, including Cambridge, is officially in a drought. This comes as incredible news to those many people who imagine the UK as trapped in a perpetual rainstorm. For the record, here are mean annual rainfall amounts (mm) … Continued
On Monday 6 February 2012, Queen Elizabeth the Second will celebrate her diamond jubilee – 60 years on the throne (though she was actually crowned in June 1952). The main practical significance of this is that we get an extra … Continued
Having struggled to learn Chinese for a few months, I was delighted when our teacher recommended a site that really helps learn the characters. Memrise has many languages on it but it will be most helpful for when you’re learning … Continued
It’s customary in Britain to wish people a merry Christmas and a happy new year. This greeting is used by everyone and has no religious connotations. I know that in North America people often say “happy holidays” for fear of … Continued
In the interests of full disclosure and admiration for a good joke, here is the cover of the latest edition of Charlie Hebdo, a satirical French magazine. It’s interesting to see how the French (and perhaps others) see the contemporary … Continued