1) Muckraker reviewed
W. Sydney Robinson’s Muckraker: The Scandalous Life and Times of W. T. Stead, Britain’s First Investigative Journalist was reviewed in both the Sunday Times and the Sunday Telegraph. The Sunday Times called it 'admirably thoughtful..closely researched & briskly written', whilst the Sunday Telegraph called it a ‘breezy biography’.
2) Deepak Lal on political and business dynasties
Writing in the Business Standard, Deepak Lal, author of Lost Causes: The Retreat from Classic Liberalism discussed ‘two themes that have become a regular part of a very confused Indian political discourse: corruption and the role of political and business dynasties’.
3) Stefanie Powers and lung cancer awareness
Continuing her part in the Daily Telegraph’s lung cancer awareness campaign, Stefanie Powers, author of One From The Hart discussed her decision to take action after a friend died from the disease: “As an ex-smoker, she paid for a CT scan. “It was purely precautionary,” she says. “CT scans had come down in price and were becoming more effective. I would rather have a scan than another damn holiday.”
4) Time to bring back David Laws?
Over at Blue Liberalism, they ask the question whether David Laws, author of 22 Days in May, should return to the cabinet. ‘In 2010 he acted as one of the chief negotiators when forming the Coalition. He wrote a fantastic and informative book entitled 22 Days in May on the matter...He would be a huge asset to the Treasury or any department he is placed in. It is a matter of when, and not if it is time for David Laws to return to the front benches of Government.’
5) Dyan Cannon and her brownies
An interesting article over at Sports Illustrated. Amazingly, in the past twelve years, Dyan Cannon, author of Dear Cary (which, FYI, they call ‘artfully written and uniquely engrossing’), ‘has never attended a Lakers home game unaccompanied by the homemade brownies she and her assistant, a lovely woman named Martha Cabrera, make from her West Hollywood home’. A Hollywood star, sports fan and provider of baked goods? Well, she has my vote.
6) Kerri Sackville: ‘No, it’s OK to moan. Really’.
Great piece from Kerri Sackville, author of When My Husband Does the Dishes (he usually wants sex!) and The Little Book of Anxiety, over at her blog. An article imploring mothers to ‘stop moaning’, hit a nerve with Kerri, who explores both sides of the divide. Whilst appreciating her luck in having three healthy children, ‘I strongly, passionately believe that this good fortune does not and should not preclude me from also acknowledging how hard motherhood is’.