Hobbies
Korea, Suwon, Part 1
Samsung City Suwon is a city of about a million people, about an hour south of central Seoul by train. I suppose you could call it a scaled-up Korean version of Guildford, on the edge [more…]
Joe Slater
Arts
The (Postwar) Fall of France, Part Four
A sure-fire way to spoil the mood at Paris dinner party is to airily remark, when the conversation turns to literature, that you have read and enjoyed Le Grand Remplacement (The Great Replacement), by Renaud [more…]
Arts
The (Postwar) Fall of France, Part Three
Note: This text is not a translation, but is largely based on Le Suicide Français by Éric Zemmour (2014), from which it quotes heavily, both directly and silently. The analysis is Zemmour’s, not mine, and [more…]
Arts
The (Postwar) Fall of France, Part Two
The black and beur (French-Arab) communities have always had complicated ties with France. The early waves of European immigrants — the Italians, the Spanish, the Poles — came from proud, independent peer cultures, and the [more…]
Arts
The (Postwar) Fall of France, Part One
Has there ever been a stranger accession to power in a western democracy recently than that of Emmanuel Macron? In 2014, he rose from nowhere to Minister of the Economy and then in 2017 was [more…]
Arts
A meeting with an illegal migrant
Liège, autumn 2018 It was pouring with rain in Liège, so I decided to store my backpack in a station locker before spending a few hours traipsing in the wet around the place. Unfortunately, the [more…]
Arts
Korea’s Nelson
Mokpo, 2016 Forming a dramatic and beautiful backdrop to the depressed centre of Mokpo was Mount Yudal. It is smaller than the Wrekin, but its cliffs and crags made it seem much higher. After a [more…]
Arts
At the Kim Dae-jung Museum
Mokpo, 2016 When I left the hotel the following morning, the receptionist was away on an errand – she had left the whole establishment unattended. I waited for five minutes, studying the lobby décor. It [more…]
Arts
Slow train to Mokpo
After a month near Suwon studying the language, I felt ready for the road. I didn’t really have a travel plan. I just wanted to see as much of the country as I could over [more…]