Actors are notorious for their weird superstitions. Perhaps that can be put down to the obvious stupidity of a great many actors. Millennia before celebrities were demonstrating their essential idiocy on social media, though, sailors surely took the prize as the most superstitious profession on earth. Some superstitions appear to
New diet fads sweep the Western world about as often as a dieter sneaking off to the fridge. The Israeli Soldier Diet, the Atkins Diet, the Paleo Diet, blah, blah, blah. Perhaps the next diet fad will be the Mediaeval Peasant Diet. But, unless it’s accompanied by the Mediaeval
Sally Christine Reynolds Principal Academic in Hominin Palaeoecology Bournemouth University It’s sometimes difficult to imagine how the planet we call home, with its megalopolis cities and serene farmlands, was once dominated by dinosaurs as big as buses and five-storey buildings. But recent research has helped deepen our understanding of
Justin Vovk PhD Candidate, Early Modern History McMaster University On May 6, 2023, eyes around the world will be on Westminster Abbey in London as King Charles and Queen Consort Camilla are crowned. The coronation comes at a critical time for the monarchy. Fourteen Commonwealth countries, including Canada, still have
We are running yet another fantastic book giveaway for our members. We have three copies of educator Roger Childs’ new book ‘New Zealand’s History Curriculum – Education or Indoctrination?’ to give away. Book Review: On the 10th of April, we will give away three copies to three lucky BFD members.
It’s rather noticeable that the “indigenous” culture-vultures on both sides of the Tasman show no inclination to actually live the authentic lives of the cultures they play-act at. Raiwiri Waititi is no sooner going to turn in his natty suits for a grass skirt and grub in the mud
As the kerfuffle over the historical info boards on the Interislander ferries shows, the sort of person who is apt to describe themselves as ‘feminist, unionist, left-wing, pro-choice, cis-gender, disabled, Pakeha, pro-reindigenisation’ is uncomfortable with some facts about the “indigenous” culture she so fetishises. Most especially the undeniable fact that
You’d think that, outside the wilder fringes of women’s erotica, banging Neanderthals is not a topic of much interest. Just to show that there’s nothing you can’t get a scientific grant for, there is in fact a considerable amount of scholarship on, uh, “relations” between modern
For all that the outdated notion of a ‘missing link’ refuses to go away, the broad outline of human evolution is pretty well understood. But, within the broad brush of the “ascent of man”, there’s still plenty of fine detail left to be filled in. Among them, the exact
We are running yet another fantastic book giveaway for our members. We have three copies of educator Roger Childs’ new book ‘New Zealand’s History Curriculum – Education or Indoctrination?’ to give away. Book Review: On the 10th of April, we will give away three copies to three lucky BFD members.
The connection between Dennis Waterman and Rauparaha may not be obvious at first but bear with me. It was forty years ago Waterman and co-star George Cole from the wildly popular TV series ‘Minder’ released their Christmas song “What are we gonna get for ‘er indoors?” exploiting the success of
What a coincidence that just as the new ‘Pakeha bad Maori good’ compulsory NZ History curriculum is being launched a Karen like Laura Quin raises her anti-historical accuracy head. She has complained about information maps on board the Interislander Ferry being racist and ” yuk.” Cannibalism is yuk but it is
It’s very fashionable these days to witter about the “Islamic Golden Age” and ‘indigenous’ science. No doubt the type of people who bandy such nostrums about fondly imagine that they’re being terribly cosmopolitan and graciously ‘anti-racist’, or some such nonsense. What they’re really being is ignorant and
When it comes to regimes of mass murder, the popular imagination fingers one boogeyman to the exclusion of all others. Are you picturing a floppy-haired Austrian raving nutcase with a funny moustache? Of course you are. Yet, while there’s no doubt that Hitler and his Nazi regime are right
