A selection of Ian’s shorter, opinion-based pieces.

Optimism has never been cool but even Covid and climate change give us reasons to be cheerful

New Statesman

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Anger is a powerful propellant, but without a strategy it will drive people down rather than up

New Statesman

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Society rewards bluffers, but now is the time to admit we don’t know what we’re talking about

New Statesman

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I’m average at almost everything – but there’s nothing admirable about walking the moral median

New Statesman

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It’s impossible to live in a state of error-free perfection: the trick is to make the right mistakes

New Statesman

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Political scientists talk about low-information voters, but too much information causes problems too

New Statesman

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We demand an absurd level of certainty from our politicians – and this makes them stupid

New Statesman

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Amanda Knox's conviction shows that our instincts about others can be dangerously superficial.

The Guardian

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Both familiar and strange: Elton John’s “Your Song” and the elusive art of hit-making

New Statesman

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