Charles Potter was an incredibly distinguished lawyer who is mostly remembered now because of his views on Jaffa cakes. He was a hugely successful tax lawyer who appeared in the House of Lords no fewer than 25 times, and in the Privy Council a further dozen times. In 1991 he said that Jaffa cakes are cakes or biscuits. McVities had … Read More

In early April 1958, a 32 year old academic called Clifford Geertz arrived in a Balinese village with his wife to undertake research. Sadly for him, they were largely ignored by the villagers being seen as “intruders, professional ones,” as Geertz wrote. The landlord and village chief were the only people that would speak with them. Ten days after their … Read More

Imagine you were hit by a van, and you broke your leg. A traumatic and devastating thing to happen. Now ask yourself, what would you do? You would call an ambulance and rush to hospital and get your limb seen to. What then? You might start the long process of rehab, undertaking recommended exercises, sometimes under supervision and sometimes independently. … Read More

“I’m wide awake Dad! Let’s read a book!” my 7-year-old daughter proclaimed excitedly. It was 2am. I had been fast asleep. She wanted to explore the joyous expanse of the universe, to use her imagination, to raid the fridge, to play, to mess about. I wanted to go back to sleep. More accurately, I wanted not to have been woken … Read More