Tag: the British Museum

Keir Starmer, likely the next PM of the United Kingdom. (Official UK Parliament photo)

2,110 words

You can’t appease everyone

When Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer was paying attention at Reigate Grammar School in the 1970s and I wasn’t, he may have come across that old conundrum; What happens when an unstoppable force meets an immovable object? (It’s an illegitimate question, by the way, due to its inappropriate use of temporality, but that’s for another day.) If he was not previously aware of this intellectual teaser, he will be now. (more…)

Luz Long

2,353 words

Part 1 of 2 (Part 2 here)

In addition to our sporting mission, we Germans also have the major political mission to fulfill. — Luz Long[i]

Carl Ludwig “Luz” Hermann Long (1913-1943) was a world-class German athlete who competed in both high and broad jump competitions and is best known for winning the silver medal in the broad jump at the 1936 Olympics.

He was one of the most visible ambassadors of sports in the Third Reich, sometimes even acting as standard bearer at sports events, and Long really was the ideal Aryan poster boy: tall, blond, and blue-eyed, with both a competitive and chivalrous streak to boot. (more…)