13 things I finally understand about Love Island

By the time Love Island fever had gripped the nation last year, it was too late for me to join in. I had so many questions – and now that I’ve watched it, I’ve finally got answers.

Oh boy, it’s bad form to call a grown woman a ‘good girl’

There is a world of difference between a man or woman self-describing as a boy or a girl, or using the term to refer to their peers, and the word being assigned to them.

Some times we have no choice but to feed a troll

Does debunking constitute “feeding”, even though it exposes claims as false? It certainly demonstrates that someone was annoyed enough to devote time and energy to setting the record straight.

The Good Fight season two, episode twelve (day 485): shifting sands

When Jay is arrested and threatened with deportation it seems there’s been a mistake … but the investigator is about to learn a shocking truth.

The Good Fight season two, episode eleven (day 478): Assholes to Avoid

I wonder if Aziz Ansari has seen this episode. I wonder if the editors of Babe.net have seen it. A defamation case about a date gone wrong has the firm divided.

It’s wishful thinking to suggest that Scotland is racism-free

When the headlines proclaimed that Scotland has a problem with racism, just like the rest of the UK,
many were quick to cry “Unionist fake news!”. No-one likes to be told bad things about the country in which they live.

Why machine gunning is just another day out for trigger-happy Americans

BANG. I jump out of my skin, but my instructor Cliff doesn’t even flinch. As he resumes his explanation of how to aim and fire the Heckler and Koch MP5 submachine gun, I’m bracing myself for the next one. The shooter is mere feet away, separated from us by a handful of metal partitions that

You don’t have to be a sociopath to be a Tory, but it helps

Ross Thomson MP didn’t mean to cause offence by clowning around in Iraq, so any offence that has resulted must be someone else’s fault.

Truth is stranger than fiction in this ‘truth no-one’ era

Is Homeland merely throwaway Sunday-night entertainment, or could it be something more sinister? Is there a mainstream-media conspiracy to churn out “Russiaphobic” propaganda and reboot the Cold War?

The Good Fight season two, episode four (Day 429): family values

Lucca’s disastrous recent sartorial choices are explained, and the scope of Diane’s “fuck-it-all” extravaganza widens.