Just one week after the assassination of President John F. Kennedy on 22 November 1963, his widow invited Life Magazine journalist, Theodore H. White, to the Kennedy Compound in Hyannis Port. She had a story to tell. In the resulting piece (which you can read here) White focuses on Jackie Kennedy’s hazy memories of that […]
Vikings Season 4: Episode 20, The Reckoning
SPOILER ALERT. A number of characters meet their ends in this episode. One death, at least, has been anticipated for some time. One is a total surprise, so if you haven’t seen this episode yet, read on at your peril. (And now you can’t resist, can you?) The Reckoning has elements of King Lear, Richard […]
Vikings Season 4: Episode 19, On The Eve
Before I recap events in Vikings Episode 19, On The Eve, in which Ivar and Co. land in Repton, and King Ecbert sends his son, Prince Æthelwulf , to fight them, let’s have a look at the historical timeline: King Ecbert died in 839. King Ecbert’s son, Æthelwulf, died in 858. Ivar the Boneless and […]
British History’s Biggest Fibs With Lucy Worsley
British History’s Biggest Fibs With Lucy Worsley (Episode 1/3, 26 January, BBC Four) opens with an account of the Wars of the Roses. Lucy Worsley lurches in pursuit of a retreating camera, talking of constant warfare. The corners of her mouth remain upturned in a conspiratorial smirk even when she mentions the slaughter of children. […]
Vikings Season 4: Episode 18, Revenge
VIEWER DISCRETION ADVISED. I mean, really. In Revenge, Vikings series creator/writer Michael Hirst takes a walk on the dark, disgusting side and forces us to go with him. Thanks a lot. So if you are not into equating ritual human sacrifice with sexual penetration, or you are not eager to watch a graphic depiction of […]
Vikings Season 4: Episode 17, The Great Army
The underlying theme of this week’s episode of Vikings appears to be ‘Vengeance and the Alpha Male’. The women are around, to be sure, but in this episode they are mere ciphers – items to be acquired (Margrethe and Tanaruz), threatened (Lagertha), vilified (Judith) or put to whatever use the men see fit (Astrid in […]
Vikings Season 4: Episode 16, Crossings
The title this week seems to refer to three different kinds of CROSSINGS. The first would be the journey that Bjorn (Alexander Ludwig) and company take, crossing a wide expanse of sea to reach the Mediterranean. The second might be a reference to double crossing, as Bjorn’s companions Harald (Peter Franzén) and Halfdan (Jasper Pääkkönen) […]
Alphonse Mucha: In Quest of Beauty
The latest exhibition at Glasgow’s Kelvingrove Art Gallery is a celebration of the work of Alphonse Mucha (1860-1939), the Czech artist whose stylishly elegant theatrical and advertising posters are synonymous with the late nineteenth century Art Nouveau movement. It is a beautifully-curated show full of all the lush familiar images I expected, but this is […]