Cultural Capital: barbara ehrenreich

Mark Watson's most recent New Statesman column describes his angst at how suddenly everyone, everywhere, seems to be dancing -- with Strictly Come Dancing, Dancing on Ice, and the new competitive shows on the BBC and Sky that are seeking out "Britain's best dancer":

At what point did dancing earn the right to be presented as a matter of such importance? And how come I missed the meeting?

Oh, Mark -- ... read more

For Jenni Murray in the Guardian, Barbara Ehrenreich's Smile or Die: How Positive Thinking Fooled America and the World "chimes with your own thinking, yet flies so spectacularly in the face of fashionable philosophy, that it comes as a profoundly reassuring relief". Christopher Hart, in the Sunday Times, describes it as "a portrait of America's desperate insistence on facile optimism", although he notes that "some historical ... read more