Edward Johnson

John le Carré, who taught at Eton for a time, once said the trouble with that school was that it taught people to win, but not to rule. Now, as my Greek master used to say, one should beware of generalisations. Nevertheless, in the case of two recent Old Etonian prime ministers, I think le … Read more

The question One of my oldest friends has come into life-changing millions in inherited money. Or should I say his wife has. He’s begun acting like the old Harry Enfield “Considerably Richer Than You” sketch. While most of us must be careful with money, he’s embracing his hedonistic lifestyle. There are self-congratulatory WhatsApp photos of … Read more

The Monongahela River winds through the tight Mon Valley south of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, creating a main artery in the nation’s industrial heart, where the steel and coal industries have driven the region’s economy and shaped political landscapes since the late 19th century. In the weeks preceding the election, the region is once again playing an … Read more

Mark Zuckerberg is revamping his public image with new threads. With a trio of bold shirts worn in recent appearances, he’s communicating that he came, he saw, he conquered and he will win again at any cost. The fits might be sick, but we would do well to beware. During a live, packed-auditorium podcast interview … Read more

Euston Road, which runs along the north edge of London’s ­congestion charge zone, is a strange, compromised mishmash of what should be a grand city avenue. A six-lane thoroughfare crammed with traffic, it is also home to the British Library, the Wellcome Collection and three major railway stations, of which by far the ­ugliest and … Read more

(NEXSTAR) – Attention, Kmart shoppers: A Kmart location in Bridgehampton, New York, will be closing its doors in the coming weeks, effectively leaving only one remaining Kmart location — a downsized store in Florida — as the last in the continental United States. Those stores are two of the six Kmart locations left in total: … Read more

Cows may belch methane into the atmosphere at alarming rates, but new data shows they may play an important role in renewing farm soil. Research by the Soil Association Exchange shows that farms with a mixture of arable crops and livestock have about a third more carbon stored within their soil than those with only … Read more

Restaurants are wondering whether to put up food and drink prices or risk legal action over the sharing of tips and service charge payments with workers as new legislation comes in this week. Taxi firms, hairdressers and hotels, as well as restaurants, pubs and cafes, will be banned from withholding tips paid by customers – … Read more

Earlier this month, an unusual prize ceremony got under way. Five Nobel laureates gathered at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, not to receive further accolades themselves, but to present the Ig Nobel prizes. Now in their 34th year, these are awarded to researchers whose discoveries “make people laugh, then think”. One winner was Saul Justin … Read more

It’s nearly two years since OpenAI released ChatGPT on an unsuspecting world, and the world, closely followed by the stock market, lost its mind. All over the place, people were wringing their hands wondering: What This Will Mean For [enter occupation, industry, business, institution]. Within academia, for example, humanities professors agonised about how they would … Read more