The Last Asylums

For decades after the Roman legions left Britain in the early fifth century, people expected them sooner or later to return. ‘During this bizarre interregnum,’ Pablo Scheffer wrote recently in the LRB, ‘a veneer of romanitas was everywhere.’ But unlike in other parts of the forme ...  Show more

In What is literature? (1948) Jean-Paul Sartre argued that writers and artists have a responsibility to engage with political and social realities. But is it still possible for writers to have political agency in a culture that instantly commodifies ideas? Lea Ypi, a professor of ...  Show more

The last of the so-called 'lunatic asylums' closed only 20 years ago. They were founded on ideas of paternalism and social progress and survived on the basis they offered safety. In this special crossover with the Nellie's Baby Podcast, William Ray and Kirsty Johnston look int ...

In the 1990s Britain closed down many of its long-stay hospitals and asylums and their patients were sent to new lives in the community. But the transition wasn't always easy. Some people had suffered abuse and found it hard to adjust to life outside. Lucy Burns has been speaking ...  Show more

This week, Oonagh Devitt Tremblay is intrigued by the multiple voices in Sarah Moss's new memoir; and Lucy Dallas speaks to artist William Kentridge.'My Good Bright Wolf', by Sarah Moss'Self-Portrait as a Coffee-Pot', by William Kentridge, streaming on Mubi Produced by Charlotte ...  Show more

This week we're joined by our Hospital Rooms project team and service users who talk about our collaborative work with Hospital Rooms, an arts charity focused on mental health. The episode gives a brief background on hospital rooms, shares the experiences of staff and service ...