The Ideas Lab

Home
Defence
History
Parliament
UK politics
US politics
Writing
Archive
About

Writing

Sunday round-up 3 November 2024
Birthdays bumps (gently) for Michael Dukakis, Kenneth Baker and Lulu, 490 years since the First Act of Supremacy and the feast of St Rumbold of…
 • 
Eliot Wilson
Sunday round-up 27 October 2024
The end is nigh! Of British Summertime, anyway; birthday wishes to John Cleese, A.N. Wilson, Francis Fukuyama and Glenn Hoddle, and St Abraham the…
 • 
Eliot Wilson
1
Sunday round-up 20 October 2024
Imagine a party for Kamala Harris, Danny Boyle, Ian Rush and "Thunder Thumbs" Mark King: that's our birthday shindig, which Abu Musab al-Zarqawi will…
 • 
Eliot Wilson
1
Loss, ageing and coping with absence
My late mother would have turned 75 today: it is not a number of any specific significance but it has caused me to reflect
 • 
Eliot Wilson
2
Sunday round-up 13 October 2024
What connects Paul Simon, Edwina Currie and Sacha Baron Cohen? Not an antisemitic conspiracy but a shared birthday! We also remember St Edward the…
 • 
Eliot Wilson
2
Sunday round-up 6 October 2024
Birthday wishes to Melvyn Bragg, Elisabeth Shue and Emily Mortimer, and previously Barbara Castle, as the Church of England remembers William Tyndale
 • 
Eliot Wilson
Sorry, not sorry: Schofield is symptomatic
The TV presenter's downfall and current spiteful finale reveals much about the attainment and nature of celebrity and the decline of true contrition
 • 
Eliot Wilson
5
Sunday round-up 29 September 2024
Happy birthday to Lovejoy and Brett Anderson, and previously to Lord Nelson and Anita Ekberg, while we celebrate Michaelmas and World Heart Day
 • 
Eliot Wilson
1
Gove takes the helm of The Spectator
The former Conservative cabinet minister is not the first person to mix politics and editing the Speccie; or the second, or third, or fourth...
 • 
Eliot Wilson
3
The West Wing at 25: changing the game
Aaron Sorkin's high-minded political drama made its debut 25 years ago today, and, though it has flaws and critics, it revolutionised the way TV…
 • 
Eliot Wilson
6
Sunday round-up 22 September 2024
The bumps for Toni Basil, Ruth Jones and Billie Piper, the anniversary of the Battle of Saule in 1236 and the autumn equinox which ends astronomical…
 • 
Eliot Wilson
2
Sunday round-up 15 September 2024
Who knew Tommy Lee Jones and Oliver Stone were exactly the same age? Candles too for Jimmy Carr and Sophie Dahl, and it is Battle of Britain Day
 • 
Eliot Wilson
© 2024 The Ideas Lab
Privacy ∙ Terms ∙ Collection notice
Start WritingGet the app
Substack is the home for great culture