Last Tuesday, election day for the mid-terms in the US, found famed American historian and presidential envoy Deborah Lipstadt thousands of kilometres from home. Instead, she was addressing a seminar at the Kaplan Centre for Jewish Studies at the University of Cape Town. Lipstadt, who achieved celluloid fame via her portrayal by Rachel Weisz in [...]
One of Queen Elizabeth II’s favourite aphorisms was, apparently, “I have to be seen to be believed”. Yesterday, after the pomp, circumstances and flummery of her state funeral at Westminster, and later, her final committal at Windsor, her grandson Prince William, the Prince of Wales, tweeted “5.1 billon people watched the queen’s funeral, 63% of [...]
For the least populated area in America, the Mountain West state of Wyoming has received outsize attention across the world in recent days. That’s because it was the site of the landslide defeat in a primary election of US congresswoman Liz Cheney, a three-term US Representative. Cheney is the daughter of a Republican dynasty headed by [...]
There are a lot of reasons right now to read or reread the works of Canadian author, Margaret Atwood. Her 1985 theological dystopian novel The Handmaid’s Tale, recently brought to the screen as a miniseries, obtained fresh urgency in the light of the extraordinary US Supreme Court decision last week to remove the constitutional right to [...]
On the issue of the widening and constriction of our sovereign borders, the propulsive fuel for populists far and wide, the virus is a global crisis, though infection rates and governmental responses differ widely. US President Donald Trump’s cry of “America First” and Boris Johnson’s “take back control” Brexit had winning voter appeal. Writing in [...]
The apparently reckless US president has mastered the art of blurting out falsehoods - particularly in the witness box Here’s a teaser as political enthusiasts absorb the results this morning of the hugely significant midterm elections for control of the US Congress. What is the difference between embattled local home affairs minister Malusi Gigaba and [...]
Never underestimate the power of the negative — especially when it comes to election campaigns. Scare tactics often trump logic at the ballot booth. If you are feeling somewhat scratchy following the budget hair shirt our maestro minister of finance had to wear on Wednesday in parliament, look away from these shores for some relief. [...]
