Dead Bloggers Society reading list

It is a truth universally acknowledged that blogging, or at least political blogging, is dead. Here's a provisional reading list on what it's up to in its afterlife, or at least the London region of it.

Paul Evans () still occasionally blogs at the wisely named Never Trust a Hippy. It was his post about Norman Geras that started me on this posthumous blogging spree.

James Bloodworth () is very much alive. In fact, he was recently named a bloodthirsty warmonger by Ceasefire Magazine. His trajectory from personal political blog to professional group blog (Left Foot Forward) is one of the symptoms of the death of political blogging. Two reading list items: "Steer clear of Russia Today if you are serious about human rights" in LFF and "Conservatives shouldn't be allowed to forget the crimes of the anti-communist right" in the New Statesman. James' bloodthirsty warmongering ambitions have recently crossed the Atlantic: his debunking of Pope Francis for the New Republic is great. I also recommend all his Spectator posts: Where Boris was right on inequalityVenezuela: a shining example of how not to help the poorMother Agnes has pulled out of the Stop the War conference - and yet she would have fitted in so wellRussell Brand: The Jeremy Clarkson of the leftMass immigration or the welfare state? Because we may not be able to have both; and It’s fine to be a ‘new’ atheist, so long as you don’t object to Islam.

Sarah Brown () is also very much alive. Her own site is kind of dormant, but she tirelessly posts at Harry's Place (which has become a much better blog these past year or so that she's been blogging there). I am very proud, too, to publish some of her thoughtful and thought-provoking posts at BfB. On the DBS reading list: why Spiked is wrong about the quenelle, and why context matters in understanding racist expression; and on the continued suffering of the Rohingya.

Flesh is Grass () is alive and well and has recently posted some must-read posts: on the fight against gender segregation on campus being allegedly taken over by the far right, and, closely related, on the racism of low expectations in relation to Islam.

FormerCorr posted for the first time this week at group blog Harry's Place with an excellent piece, "Do universities matter?", on the state of higher education on each side of the Atlantic.

Sam Geall () writes mostly about China. Read his - in turns entertaining and terrifying - review of 2013's environmental apocalypses.

Susan Greenberg () is someone whose blog, oddfish, I don't recall ever linking to, so her two reading list items, about real deaths, are actually from her archive: this beautiful short post recalls her late father, and this one retrieves her fine reportage of Vaclav Havel becoming president.

Scott Neil () blogs at Some Disco. His blogposts, forensic raids on contemporary global capitalism, are almost as short as tweets, so I can't recommend a particular one for the reading list. It kind of works like the Arcades Project or an early modern commonplace book.

Carl Packman () is also very much alive. He long ago migrated from Raincoat Optimism to Though Cowards Flinch, but has since (as a published author) become grown-up enough to have his own .com website. Here he is on why socialists can be happy at Christmas. He can be found at various other outlets, including Left Foot Forward, where he most recently wrote about India's failing democracy.

Rob Palk () hasn't blogged since August. Appropriately, his last post was about when he died and what he was doing when he did it.

Francis Sedgemore blogs as himself. He is represented on the reading list by "Alan Turing: The Good Queer". The point which Francis neatly makes about Turing is related to Hannah Arendt's important concept of "the exceptional Jew".

Kellie Strom () is an artist. He blogs at Airforce Amazons, where he recently posted the excellent "Syria (still) needs a No-Fly Zone". This was re-posrted at Left Foot Forward, and Kellie has written two follow up posts, the must-read "Happy ever after is not a realistic policy" and "They can't aim well", on Obama's shame.

Mira Vogel writes for Engage, where she recently posted "Triangulating Nigel Kennedy" (although it's more about the Stalinoid musical genius Robert Wyatt than Kennedy) on the Atzmonisation of our cultural avante-garde, or, rather, the mainstreaming of Atzmonite forms of Israel-hate.

Comments

Flesh said…
I enjoyed reading those recommendations, and the night was great thanks Bob.
Unknown said…
Why is Sarah's blog dormant ?

Popular Posts