10th July 2021, I’m tuning up and getting in harness for the Carthorse Orchestra to preview a bit of work about the early photography of Anna Atkins, the colour blue, Mesopotamian archaeology and persistence through time. Conferva linum, from the album, started in 1843, Photographs of British Algae: Cyanotype Impressions.  From the Rijksmuseum. Continue reading Tangled up

Rescheduled: An event to mark the launch of Critique of Fantasy by Laurence A. Rickels, (Punctum Books). Friday 3rd December 2021, 7:30pm – 9pm. At The Swedenborg Society, 20-21 Bloomsbury Way, London, WC1A 2TH. And a recording of the event is available here. Continue reading Fantasy! share with the pros

Peter Beard, photographer, born 22 Jan 1938, found dead 19th April 2020. A characteristically detailed obituary in the New York Times here, and me, on writing on nature, here. Continue reading Peter Beard

I’ll be talking sharks, Zidane and friction, at the French Institute, Edinburgh, at 7.30pm on Thursday 30thJan 2020, as part of the Night of Ideas, which takes the theme of Etre Vivant.  Venez! Au secours! Bienvenu! Put it in your diary. http://www.ifecosse.org.uk (My talk’s actually: ‘La Reconnaissance du requin / Shark Attack! Again’. And it’s free.)  Continue reading Liberté, Egalité, Requinité

You can listen again to my radio series, View from a Shark, and catch the one-off live broadcast from Tate Modern, Sharks: New Worlds, new words, by clicking through here. Continue reading I repeat, two times

Photographer Robert Jackson won a Pulitzer Prize for his photo of Lee Harvey Oswald being shot, on 25thNov 1963. In the picture, Oswald is accompanied by and handcuffed to detective Jim Leavelle, who, in a pale suit and hat, glares at the assassin. James Leavelle, detective, born 23 Aug 1920, died 29 Aug 2019. Continue reading Leavelle

Testing, testing, I’m going to be broadcasting on the radio. Melissa McCarthy’s View from a Shark is on Resonance 104.4 FM from Monday 16thSept 2019 at 6:15pm. Go via the link to listen to all episodes so far. Continue reading Radio on

Here’s Andy Martin writing about rejuvenation of the coral reefs, and cleverly slipping in a big-up for Sharks, Death, Surfers: An Illustrated Companion. Continue reading name-checking

Syndicated report on this Sharks vs Vampires event from 29th May 2019. Continue reading the back pages

Peggy Lipton, born 30 August 1946, died 11 May 2019, actor. Mother of the comparably-gorgeous Rashida Jones. “He was a great kisser but that was about it,” said Lipton of her one-time boyfriend Elvis Presley. I was watching Twin Peaks: the Return the other night on my computer, and the end credits rolled, as they do, listing the names of the actors who had appeared in … Continue reading Peggy Lipton