Media – Page 8 – Ian Birrell

Frightened by foreign bodies

Published in The Observer (14th April, 2013) The British Dream by David Goodhart (Atlantic); The Diversity Illusion by Ed West (Gibson Square) A couple of years ago I […]

Arts / Books / Haiti / World

Natural disaster, man-made hell

Published in The World Today (February 8th, 2013) The Big Truck That Went By: How the World Came to Save Haiti and Left Behind a Disaster by Jonathan […]

Arts / Books / Italy / World

Lothario who seduced a nation

Published in The Observer (3rd February, 2013) The Pike: Gabriele D’Annunzio – Poet, Seducer and Preacher of War by Lucy Hughes-Hallett (Fourth Estate) When Liane de Pougy, one […]

Africa / Arts / Mali / Music

Music is vital to political struggle across Africa – not just in Mali

Published in The Observer (27th January, 2013) At dinner last month after a concert by the Congolese rapper Baloji, I found myself sitting next to his drummer, Saidou […]

Africa / Arts / Mali / Music

Musicians of Mali fight for their nation’s soul

Published in The Independent on Sunday (January 20th, 2013) The image of Mali has long been a gentle one. It is a land of magical music and mouth-watering […]

Africa / Arts / Mali / Music

Mali’s magical music

Published in The Guardian (January 18th, 2013) This week, the world has finally focused on the tragedy that has befallen Mali. It took bombing raids from French aircraft […]

Arts / Books / Economics

Outrageous fortunes

Published in The Observer (November 4th, 2012) Plutocrats: The Rise of the New Global Super Rich by Chrystia Freeland (Allen Lane) Who is the richest person to have […]

Africa / Arts / Books / Ethiopia

The giant bought low by tall tales

Published in The Observer (August 19th, 2012) Ryszard Kapuscinski: A Life by Arthur Domolawski (Verso) The tale of Lulu, Haile Selassie’s lap dog that was allowed to piss […]

Arts / Books

Would I lie to you? You bet I would

Published in The Daily Mail (August 17th, 2012) The (Honest) Truth About Dishonesty by Dani Ariely (HarperCollins) Eight-year-old Jimmy comes home from school with a note from the […]

Arts / Books / Politics

Why conservatives are fair and liberals are weird

Published in The Observer (April 22, 2012) The Righteous Mind: Why Good People are Divided by Politics and Religion by Jonathan Haidt (Penguin) When Barack Obama won the […]

Arts / Music

The term ‘world music’ is outdated and offensive

Published in The Guardian (March 23, 2012) Life’s a mashup these days, isn’t it? Not just online but in the real world too. From arts to science, from […]

Arts / Books / Nigeria

Disorder, dereliction…and decency

Published in The Observer (January 29th, 2012) Looking for Transwonderland: Travels in Nigeria by Noo Saro-Wira (Granta) Nigeria does not top many people’s lists of the ideal holiday […]