On the Contrary
Glass Tummies
Abortion is a subject which never goes away and the arguments remain fundamental — a woman’s right to choose versus a child’s right to life, as each side would advance their case. And yet the technical and clinical possibilities continuously shift. Medical advances in embryology and fetology have been immense over the past 30 years: pro-life advocates used to say, in the 1970s, that “if women had glass tummies” no one would choose to have an abortion, since the unborn would be, visibly, a recognisable human being.
Easy Rider
‘Since my return from Bali, I have experimented with an accommodative tranquillity on a bicycle that makes my journey not only more pleasant but probably safer’
Grammar and Genitals
‘The fashionable claim that “God loves all her children” is simply ridiculous. Accepting there is one, God doesn’t have genitals’
All Must Have Prizes
‘Why not televise a Plumbing Booker — recognising the rare tradesman who puts in shower stalls that don’t leak?’
Puff Justice
‘Permitting cigarettes while cracking down on e-cigs is worse than barmy. It’s a violation of our civil rights’
Data Oversharing
‘Whenever I buy something over the phone I am giving a total stranger the means to clean out my current account’
Self-Portrait of the Artist
‘I imagined that my having written a novel about weight and food issues meant that I owed journalists the lowdown on my private diet and exercise habits. Wrong’
The Beige of Beijing
‘When I asked my winsome Han tour guide what would happen when the skyscrapers collapsed, she said with cheerful gusto, “We’ll build them again!”’
RIP USA?
‘In case some of you Europeans were getting hopeful, no, mainstream demography does not predict that Americans are on the brink of extinction’
UK to US: Butt Out
‘Obama’s attempt to discourage a British referendum on EU membership was old-style imperialism’
Tolerating the intolerant
“For those who thought that a global pandemic would sound the death knell for identity politics, think again”
How to prevent the next pandemic
‘I have been reporting as a science journalist for years that the world is at increasing risk of pandemics like this; that this was predicted; that we know what we need to do to prepare and we simply haven’t done it; and that more and worse pandemics are coming so we need to do that, now’
D’où parles-tu? The post-truth world
Power, illusion and the open society: how postmodernism undermines our foundational concepts