My new fairy tale
I’ve just published a new fairy tale and it’s called The Wind and the Castle. It was inspired by the strange fairy tales of Hermann Hesse. It’s my first eBook and putting it together was a scary adventure as an …
Cambridge Analytica and my Ethical Code
Journalism works like this: a story “breaks” and all the media channels start writing (or talking) about it. For a few days it’s all over the media. Then it’s forgotten. An interesting question is: who says what stories are relevant? …
Advice for the new Secretary of State for International Development (DFID)
This article about DFID was first published in the Scottish newspaper The National (a paper which supports Scottish independence, which I don’t, but they also support freelance journalism which I do).
*
The London media have said little of interest …
Crowdfunding turned me into a nervous wreck
Crowdfunding is much harder than I had assumed although, on the face of it, what could be easier? Just fill in a form, make a video and Bob’s your uncle – the money starts pouring in.
The process is straightforward, …
What was the Soviet Bloc Really Like?
Soviet Russia was a very visual place, for all the wrong reasons. The colours were dark and gloomy, the people were listless and misshapen (air hostesses and officials tended to be huge while gymnasts and the poor were stick-thin). These …
Zappa and I
I am spending January in a cottage in the Netherlands, volunteering for one of the most impressive NGOs I’ve come across (Against Child Trafficking) and listening to Zappa.
I’m living alone and enjoying it so much that it …