Fear Itself

Fear is always with us, says Rita in her latest dispatch from the States, and sometimes it's justified... “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s words are among the most well known American sound bites of the 20th century. They are often interpreted as ... Read More...

Snob City

Rita discovers that the town where she used to work has been voted the second snobbiest in America... The dog days of summer are traditionally silly season for the news media here as soaring temperatures drive political discourse into the stratosphere of the absurd and inspire heat-stressed Americans to act out ... Read More...

Book Wars

Of course Michael Gove didn't actually ban any American books from schools, but that didn't stop a good argument about British and American literature. Rita weighs in... Two contrary news stories from Britain caught this librarian’s attention recently as they both have to do with books. First was education minister Michael ... Read More...