Roundup

Some stuff I've done lately.

A podcast: http://www.nextbook.org/audio/podcast_feature401.mp3
Which I have finally persuaded myself to listen to all the way through, while being slightly amazed at how an American twang creeps into my voice when I'm talking to Americans.

Two articles for the Guardian: http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/story/0,,1844196,00.html
and
http://www.guardian.co.uk/medicine/story/0,,1851040,00.html

Part of the first was, in my mind at least, a response to an article about Harry Potter academia which enraged me (http://books.guardian.co.uk/departments/childrenandteens/story/0,,1838086,00.html). What I object to in this article is not only the lack of engagement with the academic side (and I agree that some of it is tosh, and interesting things could have been said about this) but the female self-loathing which oozes from it. The way the writer refers to herself and other women as "girly swots", as if any academia done by women couldn't possibly be serious. Honestly, we have enough to contend with without calling each other demeaning names. None of these people are "girly swots" - they are brilliant women. Whether or not you find their disciplines convincing is quite another matter. Harrumph.