Happy New Year everyone!

1. Two pieces from The Conversation with which to start the new year:

Five myths about learning a new language – busted by Abigail Parrish & Jessica Mary Bradley from Sheffield University https://theconversation.com/five-myths-about-learning-a-new-language-busted-266946

Language learning is often a daunting prospect. Many of us wish we had learned a language to a higher level at school. But even though adults of all ages can do well in acquiring a new language, fear – or the memory of struggling to memorise grammar at school – can hold us back. We both work in languages education and recognise the real benefits that learning another language can bring. As well as myriad cognitive benefits, it brings with it cultural insights and empathetic awareness. With that in mind, we’re here to dispel five myths about language learning that might be putting you off …

Why procrastination isn’t laziness – it’s rigid thinking that your brain can unlearn by Annemieke Apergis-Schoute from Queen Mary, London https://theconversation.com/why-procrastination-isnt-laziness-its-rigid-thinking-that-your-brain-can-unlearn-270838

Most of us have experienced it: a deadline approaches, the task is perfectly doable, yet instead of starting, we suddenly feel compelled to tidy a drawer or reorganise the apps on our phone. 

2. Well-timed, given recent events in Venezuela, a six-part London Review of Books podcast, Aftershock: The War on Terror, presented by Daniel Soar https://www.lrb.co.uk/podcasts-and-videos/podcasts/aftershock-the-war-on-terror/

After 9/11, George W. Bush launched a global War on Terror. What followed was an unprecedented expansion of American power, from Guantánamo Bay to drone strikes, mass surveillance to the weaponisation of the financial system. Asked when it would end, Vice-President Dick Cheney replied: ‘Not in our lifetime.’ Two decades later, we’re still living in its shadow.

The first two episodes have been excellent. More on the way home to Cambridge tomorrow!

3. An article from The Guardian with which I agree, Rage bait, goblin mode … do words of the year have any real value? https://www.theguardian.com/science/2025/dec/31/rage-bait-goblin-mode-do-words-of-the-year-have-any-real-value

Analysis shows obscure and barely used choices, drawn from online slang, do not stand the test of time.

4. I’ve overcome my powerful antipathy to both Dominic Cummings and Michael Gove to recommend this two-part Spectator interview,

Part 1, ‘Boris didn’t care!’: lawfare, lockdowns & the broken British state https://youtu.be/c4iI3GU6eZ4

Part 2, What I told Farage & why the system will ‘do anything’ to stop him https://youtu.be/PQm4PQn-E4k

5. And, finally and easier to enjoy than that last one, a piece on one of my favourite writers, Len Deighton and the Spy Novel by Paul Vidich for CrimeReads https://crimereads.com/len-deighton-and-the-spy-novel/

Deighton described his writing process in a 2012 interview, stating that it involved significant research and careful plotting, which is evident in his Bernard Samson novels.  He didn’t count himself among the authors who made up their stories as they went along. “That idea fills me with horror,” he said.