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History, music, cooking, travel, books, theatre, film – but also with an eye on the ‘culture wars’, nationalism and identity.
Mike Stuchbery argues that Petrarch’s passion for his muse Laura triggered the Renaissance imagination and paved the way for modernity.
The Count of the Saxon recalls the first book to record the timeless British refrain – ‘things aren’t what they used to be’.
(n.) a recurrence of something undesirable after a period of dormancy A bad penny, as the saying goes, always turns up. The earliest record of that proverb comes from William Langland’s Piers Plowman, written sometime in the late 1300s, proving that people have been having problems with bad pennies since the Middle Ages at least.…
Tribalism is killing us, wrote Tina Gharavi in our launch issue and Mike Stuchery has a vivid example of this from history.
Chis Sullivan searches for impoverished drug-fueled reality in the late Nat Finkelstein’s Photography Exhibition, ‘In and Out of Warhol’s Orbit’ from his past interviews with Nat and the people who knew the the Factory best.
consisting of or succeeding by underhand schemes or strategies
Katy Brand takes a withering look at Dankula, Benjamin, Batten and Galloway and how comedy seems to have been co-opted by authoritarians.
As the embers cool in the devastated sections of Notre Dame de Paris and the world comes together to restore it, it seems a good time to reflect on the effect that historic churches and cathedrals have had on my own life.
Everything in moderation – including moderation! Kyle Taylor prescribes a trip to Nashville for anyone who has had too much of not enough.
John Mitchinson on the ideologue who revived ‘Eurasianism’. Is Dugin really the Rasputin behind a more aggressive Kremlin? Or is he another post-truth prank?
Adi McArtney wonders whether germline editing is humanity simply taking Darwinism off autopilot or is a dark new chapter of divisive social engineering
Calling out the paralysis that Brexit has wrought upon to our political system, Oborne, the former political editor of the Leave-supporting Telegraph, bravely broke ranks and confessed that now was the time “to take a long deep breath.” And crucially, he admitted that doing so might now entail, “rethinking the Brexit decision altogether.”
Mike Stuchbery argues that we need to take a salutary walk in the shadow our our ancestors to reconnect with their hopes and fears
Chris Sullivan celebrates the gritty revisionism of the modern Western, but wonders whether Bad Smells alone are Good Enough
The Activist Hub. The place where you can hear about the latest action on the scene, fill up your calendars and maybe even do something to help from the comfort of your screen.
The complicated love-hate relationship of immigrants from former colonies with the British Empire cannot be ignored if lessons are to be learned in post-Brexit Britain, says Hardeep Matharu
The Count of the Saxon Shore recalls how an aggressive Leave Campaign led to de-industrialisation and porous borders
The Count of the Saxon Shore continues his saga of the First Great Brexit – from the Roman Empire – and fostered the forerunners of Nigel Farage
Last week was a week of reappraisal and reconsideration. According to the latest polls, the UK had seemingly morphed into a Remain-backing country. While in order to ensure that a Brexit of any kind somehow comes to pass, many prominent Leavers had reassessed their opposition to Theresa May’s withdrawal agreement, and had thrown their full…
What are the consequences of handing over life and death decisions to a machine in combat, even with tokenistic human oversight?
Willem Dafoe’s performance as Van Gogh is “beyond brilliant” says Chris Sullivan, who ponders whether creativity is always close to madness.
Digital platforms greed and lack of support for music artists knows no boundaries and remains suspiciously concealed from the general public…
John Cleese wonders why Trump supporters are not terrified by his ramblings. And then the awful truth dawns…
Mike Stuchbery takes a brief holiday from the tensions of the here and now to wonder why all those lives of the saints tend to end quite badly.
The tolerance and acceptable of 1980s Britain is to be admired far more than Dallas, big shoulder pads and synth pop, says Chris Sullivan.
Byline Times is happy to team up with Rebel Cities to provide a weekly news and calendar service for activists.
In the vein of constructive journalism, Byline Times is happy to team up with Rebel Cities to bring latest reports of activist events from around the country.
The UK, according to the latest polling, is now chiefly a Remain country. At the opposite end of Brexit spectrum, this week a handful of prominent Leavers performed a swift volte-face and decided to throw their full support behind Prime Minister Theresa May’s contentious Brexit deal.
John Mitchinson explores the transformational contribution, too easily overlooked, by the labourers who built the country’s canals and railways.
Want to forget the world isn’t a giant flaming dumpster fire for a few days? Then fall into this storybook European city
John Mitchinson turns his curious eye towards the Brave New World of Epigenetics – what is ‘On’ rather than ‘In’ our Genes.
Tina Gharavi on the explosion of white male rage and the unconscious bias that ‘there is a ‘default person at the centre of power’
After a Whitehall review exposed continued problems, Ms Suffragette highlights female entrepreneurs who have overcome barriers preventing women from entering the business world – and thrived.
The Count of the Saxon Shore recalls some of the post-Roman pirates and renegades who promised to ‘Make Britain Great Again’
Prolific songwriter Don Mescall will be headlining the St Patrick’s Day Festival at London’s Trafalgar Square.
Undeniably, the opioid/heroin epidemic sweeping the United States is the greatest drug endemic to ever hit the country. Indeed, more people died of overdoses in 2017 than all US military personnel killed during both the Vietnam and Iraq conflicts and more than those killed by guns, car, AIDS in any single year in the US.
As he patrols his British forts guarding against Anglo-Saxon invaders, the Count of the Saxon Coast recounts another true story from the first great Brexit, sixteen hundred years ago.
John Mitchinson on the not-so-recent history of rigging the vote, bribing voters with booze and voter suppression, using whiskey
Journalist and DJ Chris Sullivan on the tired “magic formula” for gaming the Academy Awards system
The Count of the Saxon Shore provides another insight into the ‘Great Brexit from Rome’
Natalia Kaliada of the Belarus Free Theatre and Mark and Marichka Marczyk explain how protestors can’t abandon the barricades if they are to defend their freedoms.
Feminism continues its roller-coaster ride in 2019. Justice for Women has successfully supported Sally Challen’s bid for a re-trial on the grounds that her former husband, who she killed in 2010, exerted coercive control over her. Emma Thompson’s resignation letter from the Skydance movie-in-the-making ‘Luck’ has been hailed as a “rallying cry” for the Time’s…
Need a kick up the bum to get you moving again? Shanghai is the spot. It’s a global city on the rise and there’s no shortage of interesting, exciting and inspiring sites, sounds and tastes to leave you feeling ready to take on the world.