Jo Wolff

Just sit down and shut up. Please. We all need a rest from you.

www.nytimes.com/2025/11/20/c...

NHS excellent for emergencies and children. More patchy for routine care. Can be hard to be admitted to hospital but once there things are medically very good though level of catering and privacy might shock those used to US private facilities!

How long before literally everyone in the GOP starts saying that actually they’ve always been deeply opposed to Trump?

I think we should rename Xmas ‘Labour Day’ in honour of Mary.

There are bad experiences too of course but when it works well it takes layers of extra anxiety out of illness. (Payment and coordination of care in particular.)

The three branches of government. Bullying, Complicity and Spinelessness.

Johnson’s COVID handshake may have been a deliberate echo of Princess Di’s famous handshake with a man who was HIV positive early in the AIDS epidemic. The attempt to mimic her hair was equally unsuccessful.

Saudi Arabia’s Prince Has Big Plans, but His Giant Fund Is Low on Cash

When losers seek each other’s help.

www.nytimes.com/2025/11/19/b...

In answer to the question of how you should write a philosophy essay one of my teachers - Malcom Budd - said ‘Answer the question clearly and simply.’ Superb answer and an example of itself. I’ve tried to follow in all I do.

“Prohibited words and concepts: Equity, diversity, & inclusion; anti-racism; Bias; Critical race theory; implicit bias; oppression; intersectionality; prohibited discriminatory practices; racial privilege; promoting stereotypes based on personal identity characteristics.”

This week, I withdrew from a speaking engagement at a public university because they sent me a list of prohibited “words & concepts.” I will not humor this censorship. It does a disservice to the stories I’m discussing & the audience, who deserve unfettered access to information & conversation.

We’ve had The Renaissance, The Reformation and The Enlightenment. Maybe full steam ahead now for The Reckoning.

Just sit down and shut up. Please. We all need a rest from you.

www.nytimes.com/2025/11/20/c...

Well when they finally do press the reset button there’s going to be an enormous employment boom for forensic accountants, prosecuting counsel and Father Confessors.

Clay pot with face looking knowing and slightly drunk.

This pot has seen a few things and if you buy it one more double gin and tonic you might just get to hear.

Lesser known fact. The death penalty was still on the books in the U.K. until 1998, for treason though it hadn’t been used since 1946 for William Joyce who broadcast pro-Nazi radio programmes in WW2.

“A society which reverences the attainment of riches as the supreme felicity will naturally be disposed to regard the poor as damned in the next world, if only to justify itself for making their life a hell in this.” R.H. Tawney

Though the coins will be making a routine stop at Mar A Lago on the way.

For no reason remembering Plato’s argument that our rulers - the Philosopher Kings - should be prohibited from owning private property in order to avoid corruption.

First thought. Hope Mamdani wears a suit.

Second thought. Hope Mandani wears a Mao Jacket.

Jonathan Wolff yearns for the brevity in writing formerly honed by the precis exam I'll keep this brief, as I know we're short of space, writes Jonathan Wolff

Wanted to post something about concise writing and speaking then I remembered I’d written a column about it almost 20 years ago.

www.theguardian.com/education/20...

Very good to see this out in a new edition though I have to confess it was less interesting than I expected when I did track down a copy.

To call something corrupt assumes a background of norms of proper behaviour. What’s so giddying about Trump’s blatant self-enrichment is that he doesn’t even seem to acknowledge that background norms exist.

“A society which reverences the attainment of riches as the supreme felicity will naturally be disposed to regard the poor as damned in the next world, if only to justify itself for making their life a hell in this.” R.H. Tawney

Absolutely.

I fear that he’s promising much more than he can deliver quickly, but then most of my predictions turn out to be wrong.

Children's cartoons and adventure stories are full of people get stuck in quicksand. Turns out that it was a very prescient warning about their later working lives, now that we have AI.

LinkedIn is all very well but shouldn’t there also be CheckedOut for retired folk like me?

For no reason remembering Plato’s argument that our rulers - the Philosopher Kings - should be prohibited from owning private property in order to avoid corruption.

First thought. Hope Mamdani wears a suit.

Second thought. Hope Mandani wears a Mao Jacket.

Clay pot with face looking knowing and slightly drunk.

This pot has seen a few things and if you buy it one more double gin and tonic you might just get to hear.