Fownhope’s Heart of Oak Society traces its roots to the age of friendly societies, when communities provided their own safety net. Its anniversary celebrations reveal a tradition still very much alive, says MARK SEDDON
Latest editorial
We cannot let the BBC define ‘normal’ any more
The BBC is still locked in a 1950’s ‘we know best’ attitude in service of the elite, writes SOLOMON HUGHES
A 1949 file picture of Jean Metcalfe and Cliff Michelmore when they first presented the BBC radio show Family Favourites.
ANGUS REID explains the significance of Cuba’s egalitarian in letter and spirit Family Code and the pertinent lessons it holds for democracies anywhere in the world
Special report by PEOPLE’S WORLD
NICK WRIGHT considers how the isolation of Israel and a new film on the controversial Italian communist leader are creating new reference points for Italy’s left
CARLOS MARTINEZ says Cuba’s achievements in the face of a criminal blockade are startling, but the island’s future if the United States succeeds in crushing it looks bleak
AMNON BROWNFIELD STEIN reports that far-right MPs who mobbed the event organised by Hadash may have helped raise awareness of the brutality of the Israeli right
HOW biased is BBC news and how does this bias work? Last Saturday, Radio 4’s flagship news programme, Today, reported on how it was “time to update a 1950s survey of England’s dialects.” Leeds University is renewing groundbreaking research on regional ways of speaking.
Presenter Nick Robinson gave a a preview of the piece on the dialect survey, then announced: “The BBC news is read, without a dialect, this morning by Jane Steel.”
It was all very jolly. But Robinson showed that although a 1950s survey was being updated, his own 1950s values were not.
Similar stories
RAMZY BAROUD looks at how Western media are being forced to kowtow to the Establishment’s war narratives
On January 2 2014, PJ Harvey used her turn as guest editor of the Today programme to expose the realities of war, arms dealing and media complicity. The fury that followed showed how rare – and how threatening – such honesty is within Britain’s most Establishment broadcaster, says IAN SINCLAIR
From sexual innuendo about Blackpool Rock to Bob Dylan’s ‘God-almighty world,’ the corporation’s classist moral custodianship of pop music has created a roll call of censored artists anyone would feel honoured to join, writes NICK MATTHEWS
The fallout from the Kneecap and Bob Vylan performances at Glastonbury raises questions about the suitability of senior BBC management for their roles, says STEPHEN ARNELL