The Critic

@TheCriticMag

Britain’s most civilised magazine. Subscribe: http://thecritic.imbmsubscriptions.com

London

Joined August 2019

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The Critic@TheCriticMag · 28 m

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The Critic@TheCriticMag · 5 m

“It can become impossible to distinguish between extreme diagnoses justifying extreme treatment,” writes @glosswitch, “And extreme treatment justifying extreme diagnoses” thecritic.co.uk/it-is-right-to…

TheCriticMag's tweet card. Towards the end of Fragile Minds, described by the Guardian as “a furious assault on NHS psychiatry”, author Bella Jackson considers the problem of criticising mainstream mental health practices.

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The Critic@TheCriticMag · 18 m

Successive governments have failed to accept that their ideas are not just unpopular but wrong, argues @BDSixsmith thecritic.co.uk/politicians-ha…

TheCriticMag's tweet card. “Immigration is an issue of real concern to people,” and Britons “feel they do not have permission to freely express their fears.” Was this taken from a government paper from this week? No…

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The Critic Retweeted

The Critic Books@TheCriticBooks · 6 h

“In this striking new book, Marvin Trachtenberg sets out to ‘demythologise’ Renaissance genius Brunelleschi ” — @alexander_c_lee reviews Brunelleschi and the Moment of the Renaissance thecritic.co.uk/issues/july-20…

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The Critic@TheCriticMag · 1 h

“Nostalgia for using foreign soldiers to fight Britain’s wars,” writes @93vintagejones, “Is hardly a sound basis for arming refugees with no meaningful ties to Britain” thecritic.co.uk/the-damaging-m…

TheCriticMag's tweet card. Never had a country more faithful friends than you. These words, written by Sir Ralph Lilley Turner — a former officer in the 3rd Gurkha Rifles — have become something of a niche shibboleth among…

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The Critic@TheCriticMag · 2 h

New article by me about black market tobacco. The government has got its head in the sand. It's basic arithmetic.

TThe Critic@TheCriticMag · 2 h

Government measures have pushed smokers towards cheaper alternatives, argues @cjsnowdon thecritic.co.uk/the-undergroun…

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The Critic@TheCriticMag · 2 h

Government measures have pushed smokers towards cheaper alternatives, argues @cjsnowdon thecritic.co.uk/the-undergroun…

TheCriticMag's tweet card. A study published last week estimated that 26.8 billion cigarettes are smoked each year in the UK. The state-funded pressure group Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) described this as a “staggering…

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The Critic@TheCriticMag · 2 h

When it comes to the biggest questions, writes @kitwilsonwriter, the twenty-first century does not seem to be offering new insights thecritic.co.uk/why-we-have-no…

TheCriticMag's tweet card. Last week, the Times columnist James Marriott tweeted what he called “one of the most prophetic paragraphs of the twentieth century” — a snippet from Neil Postman’s 1985 book Amusing Ourselves to…

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The Critic@TheCriticMag · 4 h

I wrote a short piece about why we're stuck with the ideas of the twentieth (or perhaps even seventeenth) century. On AI, philosophy, and the perennial flaws of human nature.

TThe Critic@TheCriticMag · 7 h

We appear to have reasoned our way into an intellectual dead end, writes @kitwilsonwriter thecritic.co.uk/why-we-have-no…

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The Critic@TheCriticMag · 3 h

It is wrong to think that a focus on the national interest necessarily encourages more democratic politics, writes @MaxFromMax thecritic.co.uk/what-nation-wh…

TheCriticMag's tweet card. Some weeks ago, éminence grise-turned-éminence grise-for-hire Dominic Cummings stood behind a lectern in an overwarm Sheldonian theatre and delivered a lecture entitled “What Is To Be Done?

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The Critic@TheCriticMag · 4 h

Britons must be allowed to criticise religion, writes Damon L. Perry, and especially political religion thecritic.co.uk/the-centre-for…

TheCriticMag's tweet card. Earlier this month, Policy Exchange published a new report, which I co-authored, on the Centre for Media Monitoring (CfMM) — an activist group at the forefront of efforts to impose an Islamophobia…

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The Critic@TheCriticMag · 4 h

Fried chicken is not just for fast food restaurants, writes Felipe Fernández-Armesto thecritic.co.uk/an-alternative…

TheCriticMag's tweet card. “Can I talk to you about breaded chicken for an article on traditional festive Spanish food?” The journalist’s question surprised me.

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The Critic@TheCriticMag · 5 h

'The practical effect of the Gurkha Complex is to uncritically extend a moral halo to anyone who can plausibly be cast as “one of ours.” To reach for that legacy every time the West exits a warzone is sentimental to a dangerous level.' My latest @TheCriticMag

TThe Critic@TheCriticMag · 6 h

An Imperial hangover has caused the elite romanticisation of Afghan migrants, argues @93vintagejones thecritic.co.uk/the-damaging-m…

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The Critic@TheCriticMag · 5 h

We cannot expect celebrities and influencers to take the place of friends and family, argues @BDSixsmith thecritic.co.uk/the-quest-for-…

TheCriticMag's tweet card. Every time I meet my dad, I think about how fortunate I am to have such a good role model in life. Hard-working but relaxed, helpful but trusting, and deeply compassionate but properly silly…

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The Critic Retweeted

Chris Bayliss@baylissbaghdad · 5 h

I looked at this issue in more detail in @TheCriticMag back in January. thecritic.co.uk/the-nihilism-o…

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The Critic@TheCriticMag · 6 h

It has all been downhill for Keir Starmer since he won the election, writes @RobDotHutton thecritic.co.uk/tough-on-starm…

TheCriticMag's tweet card. The room was dark as Reform’s Monday morning event began, possibly to highlight the party’s energy policy, which treats electricity as a suspicious modern innovation that may well involve witchcraft.

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The Critic Retweeted

Victoria Smith@glosswitch · 6 h

I wrote about Bella Jackson's Fragile Minds, an account of mental illness treatment where if this was the past it would be a scandal, but because it's now, people assume there has to be a good justification thecritic.co.uk/it-is-right-to…

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The Critic@TheCriticMag · 6 h

.@_paullay reflects on a fascinating if flawed dual biography about the English Civil War thecritic.co.uk/allies-and-ene…

TheCriticMag's tweet card. London’s Middle Temple was a site of cultivation and erudition, reaching far beyond the legal world.

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The Critic@TheCriticMag · 6 h

An Imperial hangover has caused the elite romanticisation of Afghan migrants, argues @93vintagejones thecritic.co.uk/the-damaging-m…

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The Critic@TheCriticMag · 7 h

A new book makes a brave attempt to confront the abuses of psychiatric treatment, writes @glosswitch thecritic.co.uk/it-is-right-to…

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