Monday 12 October, 2026

Wide open I love north Norfolk for its open skies, beaches and birdlife. This was Brancaster the other day. Quote of the Day “Chopsticks are one of the reasons the Chinese never invented custard.” Spike Milligan Musical alternative to the morning’s radio news Randy Newman | Old Kentucky Home Link If you want cynical despair set to music, then this is it! Long Read of the Day What are universities for? AI can help answer the question. My latest Observer column: One of the great pleasures of working in a university is that, at this time of the year, a fresh cohort of bright young school leavers arrives to begin the next phase of their lives. For many of them, it will be their first experience of living away from home, the first time they will be treated as adults and the first time that they may understand Wordsworth’s lines about how it might be bliss to be alive, but “to be young was very heaven”. There is, however, one thing about the current crop of freshers that’s different from…