It’s an entirely different psychological beast and the two are not synonymous — Here in the UK, we’re having a wave of strikes, it’s been lovely to see if a little inconvenient at times. Rising inflation and interest rates have made people realise they’ve been taking a huge pay cut in real terms over the last few years. …

Five things you’re allowed to know about my identity and four things you’re not. — What constitutes your identity? If society is determined that we play identity politics then this is a question I feel compelled to ask. Who gets to define the parameters of who I am. What’s their agenda and why does it matter? Here are five things I think I have defined…

Those of us who have been around the block a few times can spot a whiff of talent a mile away. — I think a big part of what established Medium writers must do is cultivate and encourage the next generation to step up and fill the breach. There’s a constant stream of writers arriving and leaving the platform every day and those of us with staying power need to welcome and…

I think politics underpins everything we hold dear in democratic society and we forget this at our peril — It’s the final day of the Penguin recap and so if you’ve missed them you’ve got: Monday and Penguin looks at the past. Tuesday and Penguin being (arguably) funny. Wednesday and the controversial Penguin-ish best bits. Thursday and Penguin being a legal eagle. That leaves today. Friday is fun day…

Times I’ve thrown my Penguin self into the deep waters of the law and paddled around for fun — If you’ve been reading me for a while then you know I love nothing better than getting all involved with legal arguments. Two of the three jobs I do involve wildly different aspects of British law. I love getting into the cut and thrust of words and how they hold…

It’s not easy being the most controversial Penguin on the platform, so here are four times I (probably) crossed the line — I’m still off and away. This post has been written and scheduled on Sunday. I know, it’s cheating isn’t it? Over the nearly five years I’ve been here, I’ve got myself into various scrapes and had a few interesting head-to-heads with some wonderful writers. I never take anything personally but…

The Penguin blog. Badoom-tish! But seriously… here are some of my most popular and woefully under-read humor pieces. — I’m off dealing with family things this week, so I am using my scheduled posts to bring some of my older stuff back into the collective consciousness. I’m doing it for those of you who are new to the platform and who just started reading my work, but even if…

A few from the historical back catalogue you might’ve missed — It’s been one of those weeks. I’ve come back from a long excursion away with the Significant Other Penguin and got news of a family bereavement. It’s definitely taken the fun out of going away to see the birthplace of The Beatles. Liverpool comes highly recommended, elderly relatives shuffling off…

Yeah, it’s clickbait. Yeah, open it anyway. You know you need the glorious, glamorous and vital money making info… — A few things I’ve written across the course of my life have earned me disproportionately large amounts of money relative to their effort. I’ve got bad news for you though, all bar one of these high-earning masterpieces were nowhere near Medium. …