Table of Contents
TOAndrew O’Hagan was born in Glasgow in 1968, grew up in a working-class Ayrshire family and studied English at Strathclyde University. His first book was The missing (1995), which told the story of missing people. In 2003 he was included in Granta’s list of the best young British novelists. He has written 10 books, including our parents and ephemera, with three of his novels nominated for the Booker. The most recent of him, Caledonian Highway, Faber publishes a story on the state of the nation. Be speaking at the hay festival on May 30.
1. Poetry
At the center of this vital and wonderful book are Jackie’s activist parents, and the book is full of marches, demonstrations, protests, dreams of Peggy Seeger, and memories of Hugh MacDiarmid pushing a stroller. Here is a beautiful writer at the top of her game and if I ran Britain she would be handing out copies on the NHS. It is a volume of sublime, joyful and fast-paced genius.
“Nothing like a little latte late at night:/You’ll always be my little girl – bright moon./I’ll kiss your forehead and turn out the light.”
2. Comedy
Rowley is a TikTok sensation who will let her mind go anywhere, like it should. He sends everyone from Harry Potter fans to posh students, and he likes his own jokes, which are part of the infectious fun. I’m already signed up for his next fringe hit in Edinburgh. Literally.
3. Fashion
Many men believe that their car describes them, but they behave as if their body is not theirs and that threads do not matter. I’d rather put on a nice suit and take the bus. No one in Britain is better at making menswear than Ritchie Charlton. Previously he was part of Hardy Amies, Kilgour and Alexander McQueen, now he stands alone and is a complete master when it comes to making sharpness look natural.
4. Music
Glasgow Eyes from the Jesus and Mary chain
The feedback traders of the 80s are moving forward. He loved them as a teenager and felt that his relationship between the Ramones and the Sex Pistols was everything. We used to go see them play 15-minute sets with our backs to the audience and we thought that was the beginning and end of cool. In this new album they demonstrate the maxim that everything must change so that everything remains the same. Glasgow eyes It’s poppier, more seasoned, with a driving pulse and a deep melodic flow reminiscent of the Beach Boys. Like the best bands, they create their own timeless momentum and then share it.
5. Application
Is it life ever? No revision? Isn’t every day a summary? My new favorite application offers you a series of important ideas as a more or less structured list of headlines, or “blinks”. On the brink of sleep, why lie back thinking about family grievances when you could opt for a quick 20 minutes of Hobbes? Leviathan To remind them that a social contract must remain intact? In the morning, during the frost, another political interrogation can be heard in the Today Schedule or opt for a 15-minute sprint in the park with Simone de Beauvoir The ethics of ambiguityand. Now I’m obsessed with it. Like most reviews, their main function is not to give you knowledge but to remind you of all the things you don’t know.
6. Podcast
The upcoming US presidential election may prove, as advertised, to be one of the biggest shit shows in the history of human affairs. I have to be at the Republican national convention in Milwaukee in July., so I’m bracing myself (hopefully equally) for the gravity and comedy of it all. What will become of the anti-Trump Republicans? Who is winning the race for money? Will Robert Kennedy Jr turn out to be a spoiler? What if someone dies? Produced by the New York Times and hosted by the excellent Astead Herndon, this podcast is chatty, funny, and totally alarming.