There’s always the risk that when someone who is white, middle-aged and male starts to opine on things, it will be received as a missive from a position of privilege and exuding entitlement… And let’s be honest, often that…

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The other day I was talking to a friend about travel experiences. Said friend prefers resorts and flash hotels for their vacation accommodation. I, however, am wired another way and still like the idea of random conversations that spring…

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I have sufficient self-awareness to know that I enjoy the sound of my voice. My mother, perhaps my harshest critic, is often heard, in her inimitable way, commenting on her perception that I have no lack of self-confidence. While…

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There’s an old joke my father used to tell. It goes like this: A Chinese man and a Jew are sitting in a bar. The Jew turns to the Chinese man and says, quite aggressively, “You Chinese are terrible.…

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The other day I was in Auckland on business. I had a couple of hours spare in my hotel room and, having dispensed with my work for the day, I took the unusual step of switching on the television.…

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In an ancient, whispering forest, where every root held memory and every branch bore witness, lived an owl named Orla. She was old, older than any feathered creature could remember, and wise in the way only those who have…

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The other week, I went to The End of the Golden Weather at the new Court Theatre. The play, Bruce Mason’s moving monologue about childhood summers and growing up, was brilliantly performed. I’d never been to a Mason play…

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The other day I started chatting to someone about AI. A natural-enough thing to do these days, right? The difference here was that said individual was of the tin-foil-hat wearing brigade and, given that fact, had a perspective that…

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The other day, a photo came up on Facebook that took me down one of those memory-filled rabbit holes that seem to crop up from time to time. A friend whom I had spent time hanging out with when…

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A few years ago, I had the opportunity to attend an event in Brussels. Most people, when dropped into the heart of European political power, might take a tour of the EU Parliament, stroll past the Commission’s headquarters, or,…

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