Monthly Archives: April 2023

What I Read In April

Simon Morden: Down Station Faced with a disastrous and life-threatening fire in the tunnels of the London Underground, a motley group of underground workers finds themselves thrust through a portal into the alternate universe of Down, which has its own … Continue reading Continue reading

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On Being Unnerved – Get out your Velcro

Not infrequently I find myself having to give after dinner speeches in my College: to alumni as well as to different parts of the student body. The first time I had to talk to the Freshers, I suspect I was … Continue reading Continue reading

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In which I head into the wind

Sometimes joy and sadness are hard to tease apart – there should be a word for the heavy lightness, or light heaviness, of springtime. This time of year always carries ambivalence: a scrum of flowers unfurl, scenting the air, but … Continue reading Continue reading

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What does the Raab episode tell us about Academia?

The resignation of Dominic Raab in the latest Government bullying scandal, and the manner of it, demonstrates many of the challenges surrounding accusations of bullying in any sphere. Bullying is hard to define precisely; one person’s robust retort is another’s … Continue reading Continue reading

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Waiting for Publication

As I get my hands on the first copies of my new book Not Just for the Boys: Why we need more women in science (publication date May 11th), and prepare for my first talk specifically about the book on … Continue reading Continue reading

Posted in Diane Coyle, editing, Equality, Hannah Devlin, Latha Menon, Lisa Jardine-Wright, Not just for the boys, Paul Walton, podcasts, Women in science, Writing | Comments Off on Waiting for Publication

The separation of life and death

Who is that stranger in my father’s bed? Those sunken eyes The concave cheeks Salted with stubble The thinned grey hair Plastered to a narrow skull. I have lost the man I loved. In truth it had been a long … Continue reading Continue reading

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A choral coda

I have been singing with Crouch End Festival Chorus (CEFC) since late 1994 but I have now retired from the choir. The Rachmaninov Vespers on 31 March was my last concert with CEFC as a member. It will be quite … Continue reading Continue reading

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What I Read In March

David Mitchell: The Bone Clocks The only other novel of Mitchell’s I’ve read is Cloud Atlas, and, like that, The Bone Clocks consists of six novellas loosely tied together, though in conventional sequence rather than nested like layers of an … Continue reading Continue reading

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