The illusory search for a lost civilisation | Christopher Hale engelsbergideas.com/notebook/the-i…

Just thrilled with this sympathetic review, spot on about what I was trying to do, from Engelsberg Ideas engelsbergideas.com/reviews/why-ch…

I don’t ever expect to see anyone who comes anywhere close to him in terms of sporting genius.

It’s real!! 🎉 Oxford Academic global.oup.com/academic/produ…

🎙️EI Talks... the search for a promised land | Engelsberg Ideas Podcasts 🗣️EI's Alastair Benn speaks to Rachel Cockerell, author of Melting Point, a history of the quest for a Jewish homeland, weaving memoir, documentary, and literature. podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/ei-…

UK TOUR DATES this autumn. Talks, signings, selfies - the lot

This was fun. On The Haunted Wood, Sam Leith 🐝's excellent new 'history of childhood reading'. Which, as it happens, is out today...

Aguirre, the Wrath of God (1972, Herzog) “Academia is the death of cinema. It is the very opposite of passion. Film is not the art of scholars, but of illiterates.” --- Werner Herzog

Times change. Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier: ‘The EU is not the same one the UK left’ ft.com/content/6ee162…

Black Sabbath. 1975. Don Kirshner’s Rock Concert. Iommi’s on Scarface levels of cocaine playing “Snowblind” here — tbf they sound incredible, especially Ozzy hitting those notes. Curious whether the TV producers thought the song was about snow. Either that or it’s raining coke ❄️

Not sure how this happened, having left the BBC myself 3 months ago, but it’s a terrible decision to let Kate go. Whether reporting with such clarity on Newsnight or producing the indispensable More or Less she is such an asset. Kate you will find another outlet for your talents

Another huge loss to the BBC which is haemorrhaging journalistic talent.

My interview with Rachel Cockerell on her terrific book, Melting Point: Family, Memory and the Search for a Promised Land (on the #BGPrize2024 Baillie Gifford Prize longlist), is now live on the Engelsberg Ideas YouTube channel. youtube.com/watch?v=DAps2l…

Wretched, dull weather, but still 27,000 punters turn up at the Oval. The old country’s not done yet.

Damning.

Today the Brazilian bossa nova and jazz legend Sérgio Mendes has passed at 83… Mendes played with Antônio Carlos Jobim (regarded as a mentor) and many U.S. jazz musicians who toured Brazil. In this video Sergio Mendes & Brasil 66 are performing “Mas Que Nada”

Last chance for people in the USA to get a whopping 25% off all pre-orders of my book. Premium Members get an additional 10% off! What are you waiting for? Pre-order your copy of NAPLES 1944 now! barnesandnoble.com/w/naples-1944-…

Say what you like about Tony Blair but he has deep personal experience of the destructive power of misinformation x.com/LBC/status/183…

A sobering account.