Joan Bakewell articles



Article archive:


Articles: 2013

 * Dog mess makes me barking mad - If you hate seeing dog poo on our streets or in the parks, do something about it - 6th December 2013
 * Last Tango shows that the old deserve a starring role - I hope it will soon become the norm for the old to be part of the mainstream of daily life - 26th November 2013
 * Dying wishes sometimes take on a life of their own - A will doesn't quite set the seal on your earthly preferences - 12th November 2013
 * Messing with our cherished traditions is a risky business - There are changes creeping up on us that we deplore, and runny jam is one of them - 1st November 2013
 * Britain is turning into one big rubbish tip - What is being done to tackle this country’s growing litter problem - 27th October 2013
 * A Cavalier disregard for the Civil War - Cromwell signing King Charles's death warrant is fascinating history for children - 18th October 2013
 * Trading a pawn shop for a payday pariah - Gold is suffering and instead we have loans made at extortionate interest rates - 4th October 2013
 * A fancy dress horror show - Twitter forced the removal of offensive Hallowe’en costumes stigmatising mental illness - 27th September 2013
 * Come to London – the door's open - The annual Open House weekend is a joy for all those who love architecture, design and cities - 20th September 2013
 * Japanese shunga can teach the prudish West a thing or two about sex - Having seen the British Museum exhibition catalogue, Joan Bakewell will look at geisha girls differently in the future - 13th September 2013
 * Our tattooed tribes don’t know where to stop - The passion for asserting your individual self seeks ever new forms of making your mark - 6th September 2013
 * Sir David Frost: With David, I felt like I was in safe hands - David was blessed with a stratospheric confidence and insouciance about pulling off the impossible - 2nd September 2013
 * A peerless way to take pleasure in our salty past - I have loved piers all my life but I wonder how they can survive - 30th August 2013
 * Public art is fine, but please keep it in proportion - London is increasingly littered with irrelevent sculptures - 20th August 2013
 * I daren’t travel light – I might be invited to a palazzo - Packing is not the art that it used to be - 6th August 2013
 * Head to sunny Dorset for a little 're-abling’ by the sea - Is it best to live longer in the South, or peg out earlier in the creative powerhouse that is the North - 26th July 2013
 * Learning times tables isn’t the whole answer - The question every three-year-old wants answered and every parent dreads is: Why? - 9th July 2013
 * Watch out for pitfalls on a trip down memory lane - Currently there is a hankering for the supposed 'good old days'. But does memory always serve us well - 14th June 2013
 * Nothing beats Benjamin Britten on a moonlit beach - The 100th anniversary of the composer's birth sees Peter Grimes performed as it should be - 7th June 2013
 * The value of art lies in quiet inspiration - Everyone should be in less of a hurry, taking the time to idle away an hour or two and 'see into the life of things' - 31st May 2013
 * Women who stepped into the blood and rage of Woolwich - Confronting the violence showed extraordinary calm and courage - 24th May 2013
 * Young IDS should pick his battles with care - Only a foolhardy politician would ask pensioners to sacrifice their free bus pass - 1st May 2013
 * I love my life. That’s why I’ve made a living will - Death must be faced up to – but how much of a say should we have in our own - 25th April 2013
 * At 80, you hold on and prepare for what’s next - We know our bodies are beginning to fail – initially in modest but detectable ways, and soon, no doubt, with greater impact - 16th April 2013
 * Just like the Queen, we’ll all have to go to hospital one day - NHS hospitals have changed since the days of severe matrons and strict visiting hours. For a start, they're swarming with people - 5th March 2013
 * Only willpower can shrink our ever-growing waistlines - As food has changed, weight worries have grown into a kind of game that women play with their size and shape - 19th February 2013
 * The National Theatre puts Stockport on the map - 'Port' at the Lyttelton Theatre brings the Lancashire town out of the shadows - 4th February 2013
 * Pride and Prejudice for the modern woman - Let us imagine how Jane Austen’s most famous work might be updated, 200 years on - 26th January 2013
 * People power has now been seized by a vocal minority - The apathy at the heart of Europe's jaded democracies allows unpopular decisions to be imposed on the majority - 18th January 2013
 * What would you save from a fire? I rescued Eeyore - The small personal items that tell the story of someone's life have been one of the sad casualties in the Australia fires - 11th january 2013
 * Why have we cut short the 12 Days of Christmas? - People have been chucking out their Christmas trees since Boxing Day, but we should savour the full 12 Days - 4th January 2013



Articles: 2013

 * Here’s why Christmas is always worth all that effort - Christmas is a chore, but the surfeit of good food and goodwill it inspires is a worthy reward - 26th December 2012
 * Community spirit is piling up alongside the parcels - Now we've told Royal Mail that we'd prefer our parcels to be left with neighbours, it's so much better - 6th December 2012
 * Naked bodies daubed with paint? What fun art can be - There’s nothing to stop us all having a go at making art - 27th November 2012
 * A spirit of culture always reigns in Manchester - The legacy of the city’s great benefactors lives on in its arts centres, festivals and libraries - 23rd November 2012
 * Christian and atheist soldiers both pay the ultimate price - Many of those who died fighting will not have their representative at London’s Cenotaph - 31st October 2012
 * Eric Hobsbawn was a giant of the Left who took my teenage mind to task - The Marxist historian Eric Hobsbawn was an intellectual colossus who loved life - and a good gossip - 12th October 2012
 * Zen and the art of slowing everything down a little - Returning from a trip to Japan, it seems that in Britain we're always rushing to be where we are not - 2nd October 2012
 * It's not just teenagers hitting the bottle - Drinking amongst the over-65s has reached a critical level - with damaging results - 11th September 2012
 * Donating a kidney is a remarkable gift – especially coming from an 82-year-old - The altruistic donation of organs to needful strangers is on the increase - 7th August 2012
 * Our weather is a daily psychodrama - Rather our changeable climate than predictable sunshine - 28th July 2012
 * Junk mail and clothes shopping - the Royal Mail's nice little earners - Junk mail and returning unwanted goods bought online are boosting the Royal Mail's coffers - 6th July 2012
 * A lost age of self-reliance - At last the National Health Service is portrayed doing what it does best - 28th June 2012
 * There has to be more to life than having it all - Loneliness and depression follow fast when older people are ditched outside the mainstream of social life - 15th June 2012
 * Shutting down a library at midnight is tragic - The stealthy closure of a library is a backward step - 1st June 2012
 * There’s nothing like a dame of a certain age - The guests at the Royal Academy’s party for the Queen were a picture to behold - 25th May 2012
 * Our museums are thriving, but for how long? - A network of worthy institutions and people sustains our exciting arts scene - but every one is being squeezed by austerity - 16th May 2012
 * We’re back in the days of make-do-and-mend - We’re all learning the virtues of post-war thriftiness - 14th April 2012
 * Wanted: tent poems that are perfectly pitched - A wonderful poetry scheme adds to the ongoing makeover of our seaside resorts - 27th March 2012
 * As Dame Edna might say: live life to the full, possums - I first met Edna when Barry Humphries was developing her character in the Sixties - 20th March 2012
 * After 40 years, why should I be forced to sell my property? - We should not be made to move house at the whim of government policy - 6th March 2012
 * Cheap day return to Chichester - three fares - When it comes to train tickets, it’s always pique time - 1st February 2012
 * My accent is too posh for the BBC - As this latest fuss proves, the way we talk is still very important to a lot of people - 20th January 2012
 * The Brits can give Hollywood a run for its bucks - We have the directors and creative talent but not the big budgets that US film-makers enjoy - 13th January 2012
 * Sex in society: too much raunch, too young - The sexual freedoms gained in the Sixties have nothing in common with today's dismaying bombardment of explicit images at children - 7th January 2012



Articles: 2011

 * Under cover in Prague for a date with the heroic Vaclav Havel - The BBC had to resort to subterfuge to interview the then Czechoslovak dissident in 1967 for Late Night Line Up - 23rd December 2011
 * Don’t waste the treasure inside your turkey - Giblets make superb soup. Why on earth throw them away - 13th December 2011
 * Walking in London is so much fun - Walking shouldn't be just about getting from A to B - 30th November 2011
 * Baroness Trumpington sticks two merry fingers up at old age - Tweeting has made a sudden celebrity of the baroness after her performance in the House of Lords - 18th November 2011
 * Joan Bakewell on the St Paul's protest - As the Occupy London protest at St Paul's Cathedral enters its fourth week, the Anglican Church has finally woken up to the opportunities it presents - 6th November 2011
 * Next we'll be told to hurry up and die - When we move out of a house we are giving up more than a space. We are giving up our identity - 20th October 2011
 * The BBC should save local radio’s bright colours and milky coffee - Regional stations should be saved from the corporation's Delivering Quality First cuts - 6th October 2011
 * Women are doing it for themselves - Since Miriam O’Reilly won her case, women in working in television have stopped moaning about their plight and begun doing something about it - 22nd September 2011
 * Why can we never abide gipsies and those with no fixed abode? - The fit of rage at the travellers resisting eviction from Dale Farm in Essex is puzzling - 2nd September 2011
 * not going to stay the long course for the Olympics'' - Despairing of the whipped-up hysteria about the Games, I turn for solace to the glory that is the BBC Proms - 27th July 2011



Articles: 2010

 * cares for the elderly?'' - This week's report on the treatment of the elderly is a timely reminder that we must radically rethink the way we view the older generation - 16th February 2010
 * Damazer transformed the landscape for ideas'' - He sees no reason why culture should not be shared by all - 15th April 2010



Articles: 2009

 * this noisy, twittering world, loneliness is never talked about'' - 31st December
 * patronising of older people! We’re not witless'' - Believe it or not, in Flintshire you get slipper safety training - 12th December
 * fuel payments but don’t touch our free travel!'' - Beware older people when government looks for savings - 26th September
 * the law caught up with over-65s'' - As two legal cases challenge a compulsory retirement age, we need a revolution in attitudes - 16th July
 * Dr Death should have been given a welcome in Britain'' - Assisted suicide is illegal in this country, but is fast becoming one of those hot topics that won’t go away - 15th May
 * cheers for a Bill of rights for the old, gay, disabled, female and taken-for-granted'' - We have seen times and the law change attitudes. The new Equality Bill is the next step - 1st May
 * not afraid - especially of fear itself'' - No one was measuring anxiety at Dunkirk or during the Cuban Missile Crisis - 17th April
 * turban and cross: in multifaith Britain, who dares to set the dress rules?'' - Where will it end? There is even firefighting dress for pregnant staff - 3rd April
 * me the money: why secrecy about cash corrupts public life'' - Secrecy is rarely done for privacy but to mask the maximising of our earnings by sly means - 27th March
 * points system counts so heavily against our arts scene'' - Visa rules need to be more flexible in their requirements - 6th March 2009
 * of overnight care adds to fears of the elderly'' - The loss of 24-hour wardens in sheltered housing encapsulates of the worries older people have about their later years - 28th February 2009
 * the cultural vandalism - don't let them close our precious libraries'' - Mega-libraries appeal to eager councils, but such ego trips misunderstand the value of books - 20th February 2009
 * please, let's save our righteous indignation for some real outrage'' - Carol Thatcher loses her job, but gaffs by the Royals are just laughed off - 6th February 2009
 * The BBC's record is good, but it's wrong not to broadcast the DEC appeal - 26th January 2009
 * What's wrong with the House of Commons? - I'd rather hang out with the funky lords than the squares in the Commons - 23rd January 2009
 * Women will win equality only when pay is dragged out of the closet - What are people afraid of? What is wrong with being paid the same for the same work? - 9th January 2009



Articles: 2008

 * Read your children Bible stories. Here's why... - It's not often I agree with the Pope, but I'm with him wholeheartedly on this one - 19th December 2008
 * Stop fiddling and start burning with bright ideas - 5th December 2008
 * My Christmas message for Royal Mail: you can keep the card - Its generosity extends to waiving the 50p charge to collect your mail if no-one was home when the postman called - 21st November 2008
 * Enough excuses. The BBC must confront its moral crisis - Swearing, protests and controversy are nothing new. But shared values have been lost, and with them good judgment - The Guardian, 20th November 2008
 * Out of shadows, a glimpse of the hell in our midst - This week we have been given a glimpse of a world beyond our knowing: a world of sustained and devious cruelty to a tiny child - 15th Novemeber 2008
 * Ageism, pensions and the end of high heels - it's time I spoke up - The Guardian - 10th November 2008
 * Paying for sex - what's so wrong with that? - 59 per cent of people agree that prostitution is a reasonable choice of work - 7th November 2008
 * No-God squad climb aboard the atheist bus - The bus-funders are young people who feel that no one is listening to them - 24th October 2008
 * Women who deserve a stamp of approval - After the recent list of women worthy of stamps of achievement, our writer makes her own list - 16th October 2008
 * Why smacking is evidence of failure - 10th October 2008
 * A little thoughtfulness can make all the difference - This could be the future for all of us. By the time we reach our nineties most of our contemporaries will be dead and our children nearing retirement age. Growing old in our own homes and needing round-the-clock attention will be too costly: care homes await us all - 9th October 2008
 * The church where anything goes - except a wedding - What to make of this crackpot regulation? It's part of the tension between secular and religious interests - 26th September 2008
 * How bad is it for women newsreaders? - Selina Scott is suing Channel Five, claiming she was sidelined for being too old. And she is not the first woman to feel she has been axed in her prime. Joan Bakewell explains why we need mature women on our screens - The Guardian, 3rd September 2008
 * Prison - a cruel and unusual punishment for a woman - Jailing mothers for trivial offences is harsh on them and their children. But the Government has lost its nerve on reform - 1st July 2008



Independent articles: 2008

 * If I feel like having a cigarette, why shouldn't I? - 6th June 2008
 * I granted Mary Whitehouse the freedom to protest - 30th May 2008
 * Science or literature? Surely what we need is both - 23rd May 2008
 * No wonder the toffs are back with a vengeance - 16th May 2008
 * Giant white horses and the dangers of 'plop' art - 9th May 2008
 * For women around the world, life is getting worse - 2nd May 2008
 * The silent victims of the technology revolution - 25th April 2008
 * Please don't spoil my relationship with vitamins - 18th April 2008
 * Abu Qatada's leave to stay is a human right too far - 11th April 2008
 * Why can't the Speaker's wife use a bus pass? - 4th April 2008
 * Macmillan could afford to be optimistic in his day - 28th March 2008
 * Churches are the solution to the post office crisis - 21st March 2008
 * Alzheimer's research can no longer be sidelined - 14th March 2008
 * Let's see these soldiers' faces on our stamps - 7th March 2008
 * The art in our collections is for display, not for sale - 29th February 2008
 * A university drop-out is a sign of a wider failure - 22nd February 2008
 * It's a child's right to experience the joy of creativity - 15th February 2008
 * Meditation is more than flower-power indulgence - 8th February 2008
 * This could stir up some painful memories - 1st February 2008
 * Where next when we are already sated with luxury? - 25th January 2008
 * There's nothing charitable about buying privilege - 18th January 2008
 * I was faced with a life and death decision - 4th January 2008



Articles: 2007


Articles: 2006


Articles: 2005


Articles: 2004


Articles: 2003


Articles: 2002


Articles: 2001
