54 reasons to be cheerful in 2025

30th December 2025

John Wyver writes: Welcome to an eclectic year-end list of the books, exhibitions, films, performances and other stuff (although not much music) that enhanced and enriched my 2025. There are some obvious choices here, but for the most part I more

The Sunday dozen

21st December 2025

John Wyver writes: Stuff from the past week that has engaged and informed me, with a bias this time towards the USA (but not all of it bad). There is television and film, a trial from the 1920s, a Soviet more

The Sunday dozen

16th November 2025

John Wyver writes: welcome to the end of an extraordinary week, which is reflected somewhat in today's selection of stuff that has engaged me in the past seven days; but there are also recommendations about television, film, literature and history more

Sunday links

12th April 2020

John Wyver writes: for this week's round-up of reading and viewing that has engaged me over the past week I tried to limit stuff related to Covid-19, but somehow that proved hard to do - the first links are all more

Monday links

18th September 2017

I have just returned from a fascinating three-day trip to St Petersburg (of which more tomorrow), so the Links post is a day late . In other respects it is much as I try (but too often fail) to do more

Sunday links

16th April 2017

I have been wrestling with how best to contribute regularly to this blog while I am much preoccupied with a number of productions and several more extended pieces of writing. Sunday links columns like this have been the only ones more