Sandwiched between the deaths of JFK and LHO was the birth of Doctor Who. At school on Monday morning, as we trudged to the rugby field, all the chat was about 'The Doctor'. (View Post)

I recall Jack Straw inveighing against Sqeegee Merchants back in 1997 and, sure enough, you just don't see them any more. It's a proud achievement and for all I know there may well be other… (View Post)

Once upon a time you'd arrive at a run-down country hotel to be greeted rudely by a toothless hag with BO and a limp. Almost overnight she and her ilk were replaced by bright, young college grad… (View Post)

A school friend's father had a similar conversation in Detroit in the 1960s. The hollowing-out of inner-urban America has been happening for a long time. It's the inevitable corollary of sp… (View Post)

There's a sequence in 2001 when Heywood Floyd, on Space Station Five, has a video call with his daughter on Earth, after which the operator chimes in and tells him what it cost. Even Arthur C Cl… (View Post)