How can you educate when your own education was a lifetime ago? I recently had the obligation of transcribing for a young student during an exam. Like any educator I find acting as a scribe difficult: your role in this context is to write exactly what they say, ask no leading questions, and not comment... Continue Reading →
“What Are My Words Worth”: the role of academia’s ivory tower in cultural transmission
my talk given at the Creative Industries Festival 2026 “What is left, what is remembered and what is still fit for use in the heritage of classical bourgeois culture?” It is with these words that Eric Hobsbawm opens his 2012 essay ‘Heritage’. Hobsbawm, a historian in his 95th year when this was written, is concerned... Continue Reading →
10k Hours as a Value System
According to (perhaps a misunderstanding of) K. Anders Ericsson[1], it takes 10000 hours to become a master at something. 10,000 hours is a long time: 5 years at 40 hours per week (the average workload), or over a year without a break or rest of any kind. That takes tenacity, it takes commitment… but it... Continue Reading →
… I kind of really relate to Jordan Peterson, actually?
Jordan Peterson is a cautionary tale for people with Late Romantic proclivities.
Lessons from Sherlock Holmes: the PhD student way to combat imposter syndrome
A PhD is something like a good mystery story: the aim is to show the world you see something the rest of us don't. Let's look at the method common between mysteries and PhDs.
Challenging Love Languages: Insights and Criticisms
A lot of good ideas come from utter trash. What I'm saying is: whilst Christian 'keep your marriage together' propaganda doesn't seem like a great place to look for advice on healthy relationships, there can be little insights that, taken out of context, do apply more widely.
How To Study – tips, hacks, suggestions, advice for academic success
The method of studying is probably harder than the content, and I've got some ways of making it easier.
Poetry 101:1 – Summarise
transcript of a podcast I wrote on how to decode poetry at a basic level. episode 1 - summarise.
Rejection, Endless Rejection
Rejections are a fact of life. Rejection comes in friendship, work, creativity… and my god does it come hard and fast when you're trying.
Anne Brontë – why should you read her?
Is Anne really worth the time investment for the less-than-hardcore Brontë readers and the casual literature buffs?
Late Romantic 