Following the positive feedback for our interview with Pen Hadow, Neil Mason and I have released an extended episode. Here Pen talks about the determination drives him, what he’s learnt about life as an explorer, and how to fight off a polar bear with a porridge pan. shows.acast.com/drink-the-wi...

I've wanted to go to one of the Aurora Orchestra's concerts performed from memory for a long time and finally got my act together to go and hear its Rite of Spring at the Southbank Centre on Thursday. A complete joy - a stupendous feat of memory and coordination. www.theartsdesk.com/classical-mu...

‘We’re on the Road Eternally’ The writer, thinker, and former politician Michael Ignatieff talks about going night-fishing on Tito’s yacht, his friendship with Bruce Chatwin, and the challenges of fighting for democratic freedom i...

One of Orbán’s clampdowns on democracy was pushing the Central European University out of Budapest. In March 2019 I went and talked to its then Rector, Michael Ignatieff, about his struggles with Orbán, his friendship with Bruce Chatwin, and his father and Tito. avauntmagazine.com/were-on-the-...

Sadly unsurprising news that the IUCN has announced today that the emperor penguin has been moved onto its endangered list. Last month, Neil Mason and I sat down with emperor penguin expert Peter Fretwell to talk about his unique insights into the species. open.spotify.com/episode/3gKR....

Nominate today! The deadline for this year's Shackleton Medal for the Protection of the Polar Regions is April 10.
The award celebrates those with a pioneering spirit, physical courage and determination against the odds.

It just takes five minutes to nominate.

shackleton.com/pages/shackl...

Fantastic evening. Gregor A Mayrhofer's 'Recycling Concerto for Percussion' could have been a gimmick, but proved to be ingenious, owing much of its spirit to Bernstein. Vivi Vassileva, for whom he'd composed it, performed with the joy and spirit of a flamenco dancer. @barbicancentre.bsky.social

Nice to have my review of 'The Manningtree Witches' as editor's pick today. Fantastic production of a fantastic play. Currently sold out at the Mercury, Colchester – hopefully it will get to tour.

Taking the victories where I can get them this week.

Wordle 1,710 2/6

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Punch, Apollo Theatre review - powerful play about the strength of redemption For the first part of Punch it feels as if you’re riding a roller coaster, watching the world speed and loop past as you see it from the perspective of a young man high on hormones and cocaine. He’s 1...

Yet another James Graham triumph. Punch, Apollo Theatre review – powerful play about the strength of redemption www.theartsdesk.com/theatre/punc...

Hespèrion XXI, Savall, QEH review - an evening filled with laughter and light For the first encore of the evening, it was not just the audience but the whole ensemble of Hespèrion XXI that was mesmerised as its leader, Jordi Savall, executed a fiendishly rapid sequence of notes...

For a moment I thought it was smoke, then I realised it was clouds of rosin coming off Jordi Savall's bow! www.theartsdesk.com/classical-mu...

Saul, Glyndebourne review - playful, visually ravishing descent into darkness This thrilling production of Saul takes Handel’s dramatisation of the Bible’s first Book of Samuel and paints it in pictures ranging from grotesque exuberance to monochromatic expressionism. From the ...

Doom and decapitated heads made for a surprisingly uplifting evening. Here's my review of 'Saul' at Glyndebourne - a playful, visually ravishing descent into darkness www.theartsdesk.com/opera/saul-g...

Fiddler on the Roof, Barbican review - lean, muscular delivery ensures that every emotion rings true It’s always a risk when a production changes venue. In the curious alchemy of live performance, no-one can be sure whether a shift in surroundings might rob a show of the glitter and allure it once ha...

A fantastic night at the Barbican - so pleased that all the fuss around it last summer proved to be merited. "Fiddler on the Roof, Barbican review - lean, muscular delivery ensures that every emotion rings true" www.theartsdesk.com/theatre/fidd...

Would have been embarrassing if I hadn't got this in two really... Wordle 1,439 2/6

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Fantastic!

Well, I thought this was amazing. Maybe not to the wider world, and maybe not on a Saturday afternoon, but let me summon a few folk on @theartsdesk.bsky.social to spread the word - @grahamrickson.bsky.social, @hallibee1.bsky.social, @bernardhughes.bsky.social and @joemuggs.bsky.social.

La Serenissima, Wigmore Hall review - a convivial guide to 18th century Bologna When Giuseppe Torelli made the journey from his birthplace of Verona to Bologna in the late 17th century, the trumpet was still seen as something of a brash outsider, suitable for military displays bu...

I really loved this lively guide to the baroque trumpet at the Wigmore Hall. #wigmorehall #laserenissima www.theartsdesk.com/classical-mu...

A couple of illnesses on the team meant I was asked to help out with the Sunday Times theatre column this week. Great to have a chance to get my teeth into Ibsen and why we're still watching him today...

My clergyman father used to take us for picnics in graveyards. Surprisingly happy memories...

Experience: I was the youngest person to ski alone to the south pole I was 21 when I broke the record. On the hardest day I was up to my knees in snow. That tested my resilience

Very happy that the Guardian has now run my interview with Karen Kyllesø, the extraordinary Norwegian woman who's less than five foot tall and became the youngest person to ski alone and unsupported to the South Pole this January, www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle...

I agree that the star ratings can feel crude, especially with so many elements involved. But ultimately I had to make a judgement on the overall impact. If you're trying to set a performance apart by the experimental concept and that concept doesn't add up, that sadly overshadows everything else.

Ripped Genes The ever-growing bank of genomic data we have is radically transforming our world, and as with all revolutions it will spark both positive and negative consequences.

It's very interesting to see the panic surrounding what's going to happen to the genomic data that 23andMe collected now that it has gone bankrupt. Thanks to a tip-off from Caroline Rivett I wrote about precisely this concern for Avaunt six years ago. avauntmagazine.com/ripped-genes/

It was very surreal interviewing Oleg Gordievsky. He gave me smoked salmon snacks and Bulgarian red wine. At the end of our interview I found out he loved feeding foxes, which seemed all too appropriate for a spy who had come in from the cold. Here's a link... web.archive.org/web/20090206...

I worshipped Athol Fugard at university. Then in 2002 I got to interview him for the Evening Standard. (The link wrongly records it as 2012) A real pinch-me moment in journalism. www.standard.co.uk/culture/thea...

Interview: Polar photographer Sebastian Copeland talks about the dramatic changes in the Arctic Sebastian Copeland’s images of the Arctic may look otherworldly – with their tilting cathedrals of ice, hypnotic light, and fractured seascapes that seem to stretch to infinity – but it would be a mis...

Always great to catch up with what Sebastian Copeland is doing. Here he is talking about his fantastic new book The Arctic: A Darker Shade of White www.theartsdesk.com/visual-arts/...

Sheku KM "The Arts Desk is such a valuable website for everything cultural.With its critics often venturing where other publications do not, it shines a much-needed light on the depth and breadth of the arts in this country. I'd really like to see it continue and to flourish." (pic: Chris O'Donovan)

Interview: Polar photographer Sebastian Copeland talks about the dramatic changes in the Arctic Sebastian Copeland’s images of the Arctic may look otherworldly – with their tilting cathedrals of ice, hypnotic light, and fractured seascapes that seem to stretch to infinity – but it would be a mis...

My interview with polar photographer Sebastian Copeland on a lifetime of chronicling the dramatic changes in the Arctic www.theartsdesk.com/visual-arts/...

Argerich, Oxford Philharmonic Orchestra, Papadopoulos, Barbican review - the great pianist as life and soul At the age of 83, Martha Argerich contains more personality in her little finger than many people do in their entire bodies.

I've wanted to hear Martha Argerich for a long time – what a fantastic opportunity to catch her with the Oxford Philharmonic Orchestra at the Barbican. Not surprisingly she was the life and soul of the concert. www.theartsdesk.com/classical-mu...

The People's Union USA Stand against political corruption with our upcoming economic resistance actions. Join The Peoples Union USA and make your voice heard!

This is our first action.

This is how we make history. 

February 28th

The 24 Hour Economic Black Out Begins.

Much Ado About Nothing, Theatre Royal Drury Lane review - this shamelessly hedonistic production is a triumph Over the last few months, celebrity-driven West End productions have suffered some inglorious crashes. So there was a certain degree of trepidation at the opening night for this star vehicle for Tom H...

I had a ball at this - as, it seems, did most of the critics. theartsdesk.com/theatre/much...

I think 'South!' is definitely worth reading. He knew that he'd never raise money to do the exploring he wanted to if he couldn't turn it into a bloody good story, and it shows!