Robert Porter

Lionel Shriver, Kit Wilson, Peter Hanington, Robert Porter

28 min listen

On this week’s episode, we’ll hear from Lionel Shriver on how the Biden Administration’s border policies are a gift for Trump and the Republicans. (00:52) Then Kit Wilson on what we can expect from Mark Zuckerberg’s Metaverse. (09:53) Third, it’s Peter Hanington talking about his love of haikus. (18:48) And finally, Robert Porter’s notes on

In defence of bagpipes

Many people love to hate bagpipes. Everyone from William Shakespeare to Alfred Hitchcock has held them in contempt. For some, they are almost a form of punishment. Last week, a frustrated motorist blasted bagpipe music in the faces of Insulate Britain protestors on the M25 before he was stopped by police. Most pipers will tell

The awe-inspiring appeal of aquariums

Fish tanks were probably first conceived in the distant past by the Chinese, but in many respects, aquariums are a distinctly British phenomenon. The first public one opened at Regent’s Park Zoological Gardens in 1853. The word itself seems to have been first used in Philip Gosse’s 1854 book The Aquarium: An Unveiling of the