When I was 17, I heard something on a podcast I’m still thinking about today. How do you account for the essential meaninglessness of professional sport? In the time since I first heard that question, I’ve worked as a sports journalist, coached a football team, and watched more hours of men and women running about......
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A new word has crept into my vocabulary. And it’s totally freaked me out. Manifestation. More than once, I’ve found myself encouraging someone to manifest their dreams. Named the word of 2024 by the Cambridge Dictionary, it’s currently trending on TikTok with 230 million+ posts. Have I become embroiled in a New Age cult? Absolutely......
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‘Why is nothing ever true?’ laments the chorus of a song by the progressive rock group Marillion. A song that questions whether truth exists in a world immersed in lies. And make no mistake, lies are everywhere. One of the most popular reality TV shows, The Traitors, trades in deception. So much so, a recent......
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I have, on more than one occasion, been likened to Bridget Jones – a timely comparison, given Mad About The Boy has just been released. An obsession with matching flannel pyjamas, tick. Think chocolate has the power to fix everything, tick. Can laugh about almost anything from an oh-so-dramatic past, tick. Have been monumentally unlucky......
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Last December, I wrote a report called Marriage and the Stable Society affirming the importance of marriage. Many things struck me doing this, but one in particular was the juxtaposition of writing about the tiny marriage rate amongst young adults in the UK, whilst having friends marrying incessantly. It seemed two societies existed: one where......
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2024. What a year. Looking back, there’s not been much time for small-talk on our weekly Connecting with Culture blogs, with epoch-shifting elections on home turf and across the pond, riots and resignations, and systemic scandals in healthcare and the post service, to name just two examples. In fact, with such high levels of headline-hitting......
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*Please be advised that this post deals with themes of gender based violence and abuse against women. On 25th November 1960, three Catholic sisters were brutally murdered in the Dominican Republic. The reason? They had dared to stand against Rafael Trujillo, a.k.a El Jefe, the Dominican dictator whose rule was marked by violence, injustice, and......
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As I purchase yet another book to stack atop the wobbling ‘to be read’ tower beside my bed, I ask myself: what do the books we buy say about us? The Sunday Times Bestseller List, which tracks the popularity of titles released in the UK, turned 50 this month. To celebrate, they released a list of......
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In the post-summer season of getting back on the grind, it feels the perfect time to start afresh. Be it starting university, a new job, or returning to your slightly more routine day-to-day, the opportunities for turning a new leaf (as autumn literally suggests) begin. Which products do I add to my skin care routine? Do I try out ‘couch to 5k’ and put it on Strava? Which new Glucose Goddess food trend do I try? And should I redownload Salt? ...
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When I committed to writing this piece about the Euros final, I was quite obviously hoping for a story of redemption, of demons banished, and a glorious end to all those years of hurt. Alas, it was another oh-so-near instead. I wondered briefly whether ‘rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep’ might be a more appropriate biblical message, before deciding that might be slightly too big an ask for England fans this week. Instead, I found myself reflecting on how fickle we are as football fans – even as human being...
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