Hey, Hay!

Over the next few days I’m signed up to attend a few online events at the Hay Festival Winter Weekend.

Tonight, I was riveted by a discussion on the state of the world as 2020 draws to an end, featuring historian and broadcaster David Olusoga, BBC Europe Editor Katya Adler and Guardian journalist and broadcaster Jonathan Freedland. You can see them all looking pensive in the Extras, along with author John Lanchester (I loved his book ‘Capital’) who I saw at a separate event reading an extract from his new collection of short ghost stories. That’s short stories about ghosts, not stories about short ghosts...

David, Katya and Jonathan certainly had plenty to discuss - the US election, Brexit, Black Lives Matter, a global pandemic and climate change - just for starters - and, as you’d expect, they did a great job of it. But my eye kept being drawn to Olusoga’s impressive collection of stringed instruments!!

If you haven’t heard his recent interview with Barack Obama it’s still available on the BBC Sounds app and is well worth a listen.

But not before you’ve had a listen to Propellerheads featuring Shirley Bassey, performing ‘History Repeating’ https://youtube.com/watch?v=yzLT6_TQmq8