PicoBlog

Am I committing a crime when I say the police investigated allegations that the entertainer Jimmy Savile was a notorious paedophile? That seems to be the effect of section 12 of theJustice (Sexual Offences and Trafficking Victims) Act (Northern Ireland) 2022, which came into force on 28 September 2023. This is how section 12 begins: ncG1vNJzZmiqn6%2Byr67Eq55nq6WXwLWtwqRlnKedZL1wtsimpLJlo5bDqrjEZq6aq12WerGtxJ2mqaCZobI%3D

‘We tell ourselves stories in order to live’. Welcome to A Narrative of their Own, where I discuss the work of 20th century women writers and their relevance to contemporary culture. This week, in a change from my regular programming, I am sharing one of my favourite newsletters from the archives. The reason for this is two-fold: firstly, it has been a difficult week personally, and so my head has not been in the right writing space to deliver the kind of quality, researched essay that you - my readers - deserve.

Every now and then a piece of pop culture crashes in like an intrusive thought and reminds you just how old you are, and how quickly time is skittering away from you. Black Mirror, Charlie Brooker’s frequently bonkers answer to the question “Was The Twilight Zone too cheerful?,” debuted in 2011, which means I am way, way old. I don’t often remember the beginnings of things, but for some reason I remember when “The National Anthem” first hit screens with its delightful pig fucking, which means I am now excruciatingly aware of how long ago that was.

Joan Trumpauer Mulholland is an American civil rights activist known for her courageous service during the Civil Rights Movement. Born in 1941, Mulholland became involved in the movement as a student at Tougaloo College in Mississippi, where she participated in sit-ins and protests against segregation. Mulholland gained national attention for her bravery, including participating in the Freedom Rides, where she endured arrest and violence for challenging segregation laws in interstate travel.

Joanna GoddardJoanna Goddard runs Cup of Jo, the popular women's lifestyle site. She lives with her two kids in Brooklyn. Our newsletter, Big Salad launched this September — it's packed with great finds, life advice, and dating gossip. We'd love to have you! ncG1vNJzZmirpZfAta3CpGWcp51kjau7wKelmp%2BfmbGivsM%3D

The man who captured what is to many the defining image of World War II -- and one of the great news photographs in history -- was rejected for military service due to poor eyesight. With two brothers in the U.S. Army, though, Joe Rosenthal wasn't content to let an impediment like his notably thick eyeglasses keep him from contributing to the war effort one way or another. "They wouldn't let me carry a gun,"

Morgan Beck is the winemaker and General Manager at Johan Vineyards in Rickreall, Oregon, which sits in the brand new Van Duzer Corridor AVA, established in 2019. In 2021, Mini Byers, who purchased Cowhorn Vineyards that same year, became the new owner of Johan. Today, these two women are working together to do more with regenerative agriculture in their vineyards, and bringing their communities along with them. In this issue, we speak about why biodynamics is important to Morgan and Mini, how the Demeter certification is meant to be accessible to farmers, and how the framework is changing in an expanding wine world.

Early on in this conversation there's a dead patch. The mic didn't pick up the glorious seagull call that comes reverberating down the chimney right into the room John Banville and I were sitting in [This’ll give you a flavour. Recorded it in Liverpool the other day]: Audio playback is not supported on your browser. Please upgrade.    John Banville is, among other things, an Irish novelist, short-story writer, and screenwriter who hates his own work.

When looking for Donne's Holy Sonnets for this, I discovered, according to the edition I found on gutenberg.org, there are two cycles called 'Holy Sonnets'. There is the set of 19 which includes 'Batter my heart' and 'Death be not proud', and a cycle of seven on the Incarnation of Christ, beginning with 'La Corona' and ending with 'Ascencion'. I noticed in the seven sonnet cycle, Donne uses a line structure like the Petrarchan sonnet, but a thought structure more like the Shakespearean with the final turn coming in the last couplet.