Britain’s heatwave response was straight from the Covid playbook
Hundreds of school closures across England and Wales, train companies advising people not to travel, and businesses encouraging staff to work from home. Remind you of anything? It’s the Covid playbook, which is rapidly becoming the ‘new normal’ for how our supposedly advanced society responds to an unusual and difficult event. And given that in seasonal […]
‘This is home’
The victory of Clarkson’s Hawkstone Farmers’ Choir in the Britain’s Got Talent final reflects the spirit of contemporary populism. Substack @generationtalk, 1 June 2026.
Meningitis and the dangers of media contagion
Journalists are playing a dangerous role in the East Kent meningitis outbreak. Substack @generationtalk, 16 March 2026
Is Gen X up to the task?
Why the generation raised at the End of History is struggling as politics roars back. Substack @generationtalk, 12 March 2026
Boomers Didn’t Steal Your Future – This Did
A long discussion of my book Stop Mugging Grandma on El Podcast, in December 2025.
The battle for the voice of Faversham
On Saturday 6 September, a group called ‘National Emergency Faversham Division’ organised a ‘peaceful’ and ‘lawful’ protest against immigration in the sleepy market town of Faversham, where I have lived for nearly 20 years. The protest assembled in the town centre and marched to Acacia Court, a former care home at the edge of town […]
On ‘Boomer parenting’
I am quoted in an interesting article by Genevieve Roberts for the i newspaper on 24 April, titled ‘I parented like a Boomer for a week – the kids ate better and played more’:
Making up for lost time
A new study, conducted with colleagues at Canterbury Christ Church University and published in the British Educational Research Journal, explores students’ quest to reclaim missed opportunities while adjusting to post-Covid life in higher education.
Lockdowns and the problem of trust
I am quoted in an interesting piece for the Guardian on 17 March 2025 discussing ‘How Covid changed the way Britain thinks‘:
The toxic legacy of Boomer-blaming
If you had a baby in the new year, congratulations—you’ve given birth to a new generation. According to the Australian research consultancy McCrindle, as of January 2025, babies will no longer be “Gen Alpha” but, somewhat underwhelmingly, “Gen Beta.” Apparently, they’ll be a lot like the “Alphas,” born between 2010 and 2024, but shaped even […]