Category Archives: Media

The Have I Got News For You gender bias spreadsheet

I haven’t been doing weekly posts about it this series, but I am keeping the HIGNFY gender bias spreadsheet updated – you’ll normally find the updated version of it available on that link by Saturday lunchtime after a show. The problem is finding something new to say about it after every show, when the figures [...]

Have I Got News For You returns – and so does my gender bias spreadsheet

As the new series of HIGNFY started on Friday, I’ve updated the spreadsheet I created last year about the gender of guests. You can find it by clicking here, and I’ll endeavour to update it every week during this series. The overall figures remain pretty much as they did through last year – overall 23.49% [...]

Thinking about The Political Brain

One of the first books I read this year was Drew Westen’s The Political Brain, which I’ve found absolutely fascinating. Westen is a clinical psychologist and a supporter of the Democrats in the US, who had been progressively frustrated over a period of years by the party’s inability to fight back against the Republican method [...]

Being pro-politics is not the same as being pro-politician

Lib Dem Voice have produced a remake of the old ‘where is the British West Wing?’ posts of a few years ago by asking ‘where is the British Borgen?‘ (The answer to that question is ‘waiting for someone to forget the poor ratings previous dramas about politicians got or for someone to come up with [...]

It’s easy to forget one of modern history’s most important figures

In the category of ‘small, but annoying, errors’ we have this from the Guardian: Obama will make history in another way on Monday, becoming the first US president to be sworn in four separate times. THat should be ‘the first since Franklin Roosevelt’, of course, who got his four inaugurations the old-fashioned way by being [...]

Series 44 of Have I Got News For You is over

And so the gender balance spreadsheet is up to date for the last time this year. It was a 30% series – 30% of the guests (including 3 out of 10 of the hosts) were women. The overall figures are now that 23.46% of guests and 22.95% of guest hosts have been women. This series [...]

The first task of Saturday is complete

And the spreadsheet breaking down Have I Got News guests by gender is now updated. After last night, the figures are now: 29.63% of guests this series, and 23.43% overall, have been women 3 out of 9 guest hosts this season have been women, and 23.08% overall Charlotte Church broke a run of six straight [...]

Review: A Dance With Dragons by George RR Martin

I dropped out of the ‘reviewing every book I read habit’ while attempting it last year, and I’m not planning to pick it up. However, I do like writing the occasional book review, and as part of the concerted effort to blog here more often, expect to see the occasional one dotted in amongst the [...]

It’s Saturday morning…

…and so the Have I Got News For You spreadsheet has been updated again. Amazingly, despite there being two female guests on it last night, the sky hasn’t fallen and I can now report that: 29.17% of guests this season have been women 23.4% of guests overall have been women 22.65% of guest hosts have [...]

First impressions of Ad Lib magazine

Jennie’s already beaten me to it, but I thought I’d share some thoughts on Ad Lib magazine, the party’s replacement for Liberal Democrat News, as it arrived in the post this morning. (I would advise reading Jennie’s post as well, of course – her points about the gender balance of contributors are very important) To [...]