Do not attempt alone
Two events and a new book
These are strange and disorienting times. War and genocide are filtered through a gauze of trivialisation, misdirection, and outright deceit. Algorithms control weaponry and monetise our distraction. Heatwaves, pogromist violence, the Epstein files, explosions of stochastic violence, Chinamaxxing, everythingmaxxing, forest fires, yet another Prime Minister — it’s hard to keep up. Trying to write about the present is a challenge and, increasingly, one that feels like it should come with a warning: do not attempt alone.
For the past couple of years, I have been working on a little book with my dear friend, Jay Bernard. Transitions: On Culture, Crisis, and the Human is our attempt to think about the present — to ask, how did we get here and what do we need for a liveable future? As writers and as friends, we turn to the domain of culture and the humanities to find a lost, universalist horizon. You can pre-order here.
We’ll be launching the book at the London Review of Books bookshop, in conversation with Sana Goyal. I have it on good authority that the shop is air conditioned, so come and cool down with us on the 16th July. Tickets here.
I’ll also be in conversation with various friends and co-conspirators at the Summer School: Class, Culture & Discontents on the 23rd and 24th of July. Originally called Consented, over the past ten years, this project has taken many different forms, including packed and rowdy Sunday afternoons in Birkbeck’s basement lecture theatres, a print magazine, workshops in secondary schools, new GCSE modules, and an annual summer school. I’ve been lucky enough to attend lots of these events – run for free or on a dime, generous and generative, open-hearted and rigorous. It’s always an honour to be on the bill for this project, and this year’s summer school has a stellar line up. Get a ticket, and please do share with young people, educators, youth workers, and students.
