Here's my reading list of ten dark academia books that will remind you to get into the library and get on with your goals - plus some runners-up.
‘In America’: A Met Gala Digest
Another instalment in my annual Met Gala digest.
Schrödinger’s Text Message
Relationships have been changing for years now. In an age of social media, people you were once close to update you in the same way they update their close friends and family. You know intimate details about their life, even when you haven't spoken in years, and it's no wonder that we don't know who our friends are or how we want our relationships to look.
Cycling in Europe / Learning to Cycle
A year ago, I could cycle, but I hadn't done so in two decades, and I'd certainly never done it in traffic - yesterday I cycled five miles through some of the busiest roads and junctions in the capital. How did I get here?
Maybe it’s time to split the job of being a professor?
I've been thinking about how higher education is structured, how we could fix the mess and potentially make the experience better for students and staff alike.
Understanding Indulgence: How To Care For Yourself
My conception of self-care is of two poles, servicing more of our emotions than frivolity or luxury by itself. The two forms of self-care are indulgence and moderation. These two are polar opposites, but in order to truly care for ourselves, we need to understand the role of indulgence and its effects on us, not blindly indulge.
What Does The Magazine You Read Say About You?
Here is the crux of it: buying two magazines does not simply put you in two camps, which marks you as a dynamic and multi-faceted person; what I did not understand at the time, but which I now know, is that the combination reveals something fresh about you, the buyer.
Why I Hate Flash Fiction
Flash fiction is a writer’s genre. Often shorter than a tweet, the whole genre is built on competitions and exercises for creative writers rather than keeping a reader in mind – when we consider where flash fiction comes from and what it gives us, is it time we stop engaging with this ridiculous form?
The Art Museum of the Future
It can be stifling, going to a gallery. Imagine if we could touch the artworks. If blind people could engage with the brushstrokes and the shape of the oils on a canvas. If children could play, and stare, and laugh. If the Old Masters were in a room with the Blue Riders, if we didn’t have to guard the paintings from natural light and thieves and damage.
Here’s One for the Vintage Lovers
Do you ever think about how a certain percentage of the things you own will find their end with you?