I have found appearances a real challenge. The problem - appearance influences how people judge one another; appearances themselves are easily changed. So, although in animals appearances tend to be fixed (the chameleon is an obvious exception), humans can manipulate their appearances through clothing, comportment and a multitude of adornments (from make up, to hair…
In celebration of the oral contraceptive
Later this month we will be celebrating the birthday of the oral contraceptive pill which was officially born (received marketing approval) on 23 June 1960. The approval was given in the USA, and a year later Germany, Australia and the UK followed suit. The launch of ‘the pill’ must be one of the iconic events…
Same old, same old
Though I'm fortunate to work mostly from home, twice a week I put on a suit and head off to the City. This gives me some credibility with my neighbours, in that I visibly have a proper job and don’t spend my days “fiddling around” as a neighbour once rather dismissively described my working from…
Who am I?
Post election, we find Joe Collier in an introspective mood.. I value change greatly. As I age I look back and delight in how I have and can change, and that this is still going on. Indeed I treasure this capacity. In the last three years I have lost a great deal of influence but this…
The cruel denial of assisted dying
Whatever else, arguments for and against assisted dying must include the notion of cruelty. And, in my view to refuse the request for advice on, or help in, dying (the legal requirement of doctors at present) when asked for help by patients of sound mind, who are competent to make decisions, who are suffering unbearably…
Postcard from Norfolk
We live in strange times! I have been away from my London office for my daughter’s wedding and have been bemused by the news reaching me in the wilds of Norfolk. Scientists at the National Academy of Perverse Political Information (NAPPI for short) have been bewildered by the eruption of a yellow cloud of hot…
Silver Lining
Yesterday in Kew Gardens it was a clear, cool Spring day with one of those pale blue English skies. Unlike previous visits over the past 25 years since I have lived in this part of London, you could hear birdsong not drowned out by the constant drone of aircraft a few hundred feet overhead and…
Postcard from Herefordshire
As greyhares, we like to celebrate getting older and to embrace the experience. However, we have received a postcard from a friend in Herefordshire, proposing an alternative approach. Our correspondent is too young to have any direct knowledge of the subject (her friends comment that she seems to get younger every year) and we can…