Best dog in the world? Certainly, @suzanneraine.bsky.social argues, best British dog in the world! It’s all about LABRADORS on the Garlic&Pearls podcast!

What role should parliaments play before, during, and after a crisis or emergency? With the Institute for Government and the UCL Global Centre for Democratic Constitutionalism, we have put together an amazing lineup. /1 @efieldingd.bsky.social @timdurrant.bsky.social @drhannahwhite.bsky.social

In the first of our Garlic&Pearls podcast Christmas Corkers @suzanneraine.bsky.social takes a punt at the 2025 Christmas No1 and crowns 1984 as the top British Christmas chart; I explain how and why the French Christmas No1, by venerated crooner Tino Rossi, remains unchanged since 1946! 🤔

Would you Adam and Eve it? This week on @garlicandpearls.bsky.social my old china @suzanneraine.bsky.social tests my language skills with a creative code that’s definitely not brown bread! Yes - it’s RHYMING SLANG! Tune in: podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/g...

This was a truly extraordinary day. I am so grateful to all the fellows of @selwyn1882.bsky.social for electing me and to Bishop Sarah for conducting the installation. We all offer her our warmest congratulations on her appointment as Archbishop of Canterbury.

University of Cambridge@cam.ac.uk · 10mo ago

Congratulations to Dame Sarah Mullally on becoming the first woman Archbishop of Canterbury. Dame Sarah was in Cambridge to install the new Master of Selwyn College @@selwyn1882.bsky.social, Suzanne Raine @suzanneraine.bsky.social, yesterday evening. 📸 Nigel Cooper

@suzanneraine.bsky.social was installed as new Master @selwyn1882.bsky.social @cam.ac.uk yesterday by the Bishop of London, Dame Sarah #Mullally, who was announced today as the next Archbishop of Canterbury.

University of Cambridge@cam.ac.uk · 10mo ago

Congratulations to Dame Sarah Mullally on becoming the first woman Archbishop of Canterbury. Dame Sarah was in Cambridge to install the new Master of Selwyn College @@selwyn1882.bsky.social, Suzanne Raine @suzanneraine.bsky.social, yesterday evening. 📸 Nigel Cooper

Sermon of Sarah #Mullally, Bishop of London, at the installation of @suzanneraine.bsky.social as the first female Master of @selwyn1882.bsky.social, @cam.ac.uk, deputising during the vacancy of the See of #Canterbury, the evening before the announcement of her as Archbishop-designate of Canterbury!

Choral Evensong and Installation of Suzanne Raine as the 14th Master of Selwyn College

YouTube video by Selwyn College Chapel

youtube.com

Riveting ep of @garlicandpearls.bsky.social this week as @suzanneraine.bsky.social and I welcome expat food writer Chris Newens, author of Moveable Feasts: Paris in Twenty Meals, who reveals surprising findings about Paris food! Tune in! @profilebooks.bsky.social podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/g...

Would you like to know HOW TO EAT EVERYTHING IN PARIS today? Tune in to our revelatory @garlicandpearls.bsky.social chat with Chris Newens, author of terrific food memoir Moveable Feasts! Insights galore! A sample… @profilebooks.bsky.social @robertloyko-greer.bsky.social @suzanneraine.bsky.social

Recent events have highlighted the importance of diversifying transport corridors, with railways central in the foreign policy strategy of Russia, China and the West. But it is not without risk, warns Sophia Nina Burna-Asefi.

Why Central Asia Focuses so Much on Railways

Recent events have highlighted the importance of diversifying transport corridors, with railways central in the foreign policy strategy of Russia, China and the West. But it is not without risk.

rusi.org

Another Summer Short this week on @garlicandpearls.bsky.social in which I and @suzanneraine.bsky.social ponder the histories and meanings of our respective emblematic headgear. Yes - it’s the béret and bobble hat face-off. podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/g...

It"s time for my annual reposting of this piece. Somehow things happen in August- is it because we aren't paying enough attention and things just slip? Or is it that rogues take advantage? @engelsbergideas.bsky.social engelsbergideas.com/essays/bewar...

Beware the Ides of August

World-altering events often happen in the middle of August. Is this a coincidence or is it something about the time of year?

engelsbergideas.com

This week on the nonpareil 🇫🇷 🇬🇧 podcast @garlicandpearls.bsky.social @suzanneraine.bsky.social and I probe the many meanings of the high vis/gilet jaune, including as a fashion statement. Tune in!

Tune in tomorrow for the first of a short (naturally) series of zappy summery @garlicandpearls.bsky.social podcasts in which @suzanneraine.bsky.social and I compare and contrast similar things that our two nations do very differently…

This week on @garlicandpearls.bsky.social another French myth - Club Med. Was/is it really, as its founder hoped, ‘the antidote to civilisation’? Is it possible to return to the state of nature… at an all-inclusive resort? I investigate with fellow holidaymaker @suzanneraine.bsky.social Tune in!

There's a big storm heading for the U.K. and the BBC says: "Many temporary summer structures including tents could be damaged". Perhaps Club Med would have been better: Apple: bit.ly/4mosPnw Spotify: bit.ly/46xChjH

Muriel Zagha@murielzagha.bsky.social · last yr.

This week on @garlicandpearls.bsky.social we kick off our shoes and I retrace for @suzanneraine.bsky.social the history of Club Med! Tune in.

When I think of camping, these are the images that come to mind. Thankfully - as she nonchalantly cracks open a tin of beans - @suzanneraine.bsky.social paints a far more inspiring picture in this week’s episode of @garlicandpearls.bsky.social Tune in from your campsite or luxury suite!

I have been on ONE camping holiday in Britain in all my life. 🤔 Can @suzanneraine.bsky.social entice me back? Tune in and find out.

Garlic & Pearls@garlicandpearls.bsky.social · last yr.

It's holiday time! And nothing better than a spot of camping, which, as @suzanneraine.bsky.social explains to @murielzagha.bsky.social, was of course invented here. Apple: bit.ly/4f7omTL Spotify: bit.ly/3J3Udsg

While in Japan, emboldened by my ‘memorable’ British pickled onion initiation at the hands of @suzanneraine.bsky.social in an early ep of our podcast, I felt it my duty to our @garlicandpearls.bsky.social listeners to try umeboshi - salted ‘pickled (brined) plums’, though ume is closer to apricots.

If it feels like what we all really need is radical change, here's one which was tried earlier but may just work a second time:

Muriel Zagha@murielzagha.bsky.social · last yr.

This week on @garlicandpearls.bsky.social I don my red Phrygian hat and recount the story of the French Revolutionaries’ attempt to recalibrate time itself for a new regime and a regenerated humanity. @suzanneraine.bsky.social deploys some healthy British scepticism.

I was prepared to think this was bonkers but half way through I realised the French might have been on to something.

Muriel Zagha@murielzagha.bsky.social · last yr.

This week on @garlicandpearls.bsky.social I don my red Phrygian hat and recount the story of the French Revolutionaries’ attempt to recalibrate time itself for a new regime and a regenerated humanity. @suzanneraine.bsky.social deploys some healthy British scepticism.

This week on @garlicandpearls.bsky.social the concluding part of the 1217 Battle of Lincoln, complete with Louis of France’s last-ditch return with fleet, a retinue of knights and the flamboyant ‘magician pirate’ Eustace the Monk! St Bartholomew appears too! @suzanneraine.bsky.social

This week on @garlicandpearls.bsky.social the indefatigable @suzanneraine.bsky.social concludes her breathtaking narrative of the last clash between Louis of France and the English troops led by William Marshall - and the redoubtable Nicola de la Haie. What would Macron think,I ask myself.

podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/o... @suzanneraine.bsky.social and Ali Ansari pass the baton to @wjhurst.bsky.social and me for our @camgeopolitics.bsky.social regular podcast. A very tough act to follow.

Episode 54: What just happened?

Podcast Episode · On Geopolitics · 09/07/2025 · 44m

podcasts.apple.com

Part 1 of 2: a decisive turning point in the relationship between these islands and France, and one which most of us don't know that much about. With Great Knights and plucky heroines! @murielzagha.bsky.social

Garlic & Pearls@garlicandpearls.bsky.social · last yr.

Next week President Macron will make a state visit to the U.K. In honour of the occasion, Garlic & Pearls offer a two parter on the real turning point in the relationship between these islands and France @murielzagha.bsky.social Apple: bit.ly/45UHP7x Spotify: bit.ly/44hfpmY

Acting lawfully in anticipatory self-defence requires proof of something that hasn’t yet happened. It is difficult to make such laws work when nations are in a state of permanent mutual hostility.

Engelsberg Ideas@engelsbergideas.bsky.social · last yr.

The rights and wrongs of self-defence | @suzanneraine.bsky.social engelsbergideas.com/notebook/the...

The perfect companion for the heatwave is our illuminating podcast @garlicandpearls.bsky.social where I tell @suzanneraine.bsky.social the pulpy story of ORANGINA: ‘Secouez-moi, secouez-moi!’ podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/o...

A drink as iconic as Orangina is more than a drink, I tell @suzanneraine.bsky.social in this week’s ep of @garlicandpearls.bsky.social - it’s a carrier of 🇫🇷 identity. Listen to the story of ORANGINA! open.spotify.com/episode/3W5K...

I know but I'm not telling.

Garlic & Pearls@garlicandpearls.bsky.social · last yr.

This week we address the British fascination with pirates. Any guesses who we're describing here? Apple: bit.ly/4lomW9r Spotify: bit.ly/3Gf8Wj4

This week on @garlicandpearls.bsky.social @suzanneraine.bsky.social takes to the high seas with tales of PIRATES and the British obsession with the marine Robin Hoods. Pictured: Blackbeard, John Morgan, Anne Bonny and Mary Read. 🏴‍☠️ podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/p...