@richardswsmith.bsky.social
The launch of the Cancer Plan is a good day to think more deeply about cancer. Despite all the impreovements in research and treatment there is more cancer than ever--because cancer is a disease of the old and one of the ways we are programmed to die.
richardswsmith.wordpress.com/2023/11/08/t...
richardswsmith.wordpress.com/2023/11/08/t...
The end of cancer would mean the end of humanity
Cancer enters our lives almost every day. Somebody we know has cancer. We are tested for cancer. A famous person dies of cancer. Food we enjoy is found to cause cancer. The media announce a breakth…
richardswsmith.wordpress.com
February 4, 2026 at 9:36 AM
The launch of the Cancer Plan is a good day to think more deeply about cancer. Despite all the impreovements in research and treatment there is more cancer than ever--because cancer is a disease of the old and one of the ways we are programmed to die.
richardswsmith.wordpress.com/2023/11/08/t...
richardswsmith.wordpress.com/2023/11/08/t...
Some of the pain comes back to me. I was full of longing for my family and home. I fought back tears, not always successfully. Breathing was difficult. The pain virtually never went away.
richardswsmith.wordpress.com/2019/08/21/h...
richardswsmith.wordpress.com/2019/08/21/h...
Homesickness–my most serious “disease” in 67 years
Seven years ago I wrote this blog on how homesickness was my biggest source of suffering in 60 years of living. It’s still the case seven years on, which seems extraordinary and lucky. Last w…
richardswsmith.wordpress.com
February 2, 2026 at 9:45 AM
Some of the pain comes back to me. I was full of longing for my family and home. I fought back tears, not always successfully. Breathing was difficult. The pain virtually never went away.
richardswsmith.wordpress.com/2019/08/21/h...
richardswsmith.wordpress.com/2019/08/21/h...
Vote-counting is not only a vital political art but one that’s really hard to master. Very few people can master it because... it is an art “peculiarly subject to the distortions of sentiment and romantic preconceptions."
richardswsmith.wordpress.com/2019/08/20/t...
richardswsmith.wordpress.com/2019/08/20/t...
The difficult skill of vote counting, LBJ, Robert Caro, and Brexit
In his wonderful book Working Robert Caro describes how difficult it is for politicians to know how their fellow politicians are going to vote, and how his ability to do so with great accuracy was …
richardswsmith.wordpress.com
February 1, 2026 at 10:00 AM
Vote-counting is not only a vital political art but one that’s really hard to master. Very few people can master it because... it is an art “peculiarly subject to the distortions of sentiment and romantic preconceptions."
richardswsmith.wordpress.com/2019/08/20/t...
richardswsmith.wordpress.com/2019/08/20/t...
“There is now virtually an interpretation of the story to suit every predilection – the psychoanalytic, philosophic, political, post-colonial and gender-based.”
richardswsmith.wordpress.com/2019/08/17/w...
richardswsmith.wordpress.com/2019/08/17/w...
We all make at least one journey into the Heart of Darkness
“It seems to me,” writes Joseph Conrad in Heart of Darkness, “I am trying to tell you a dream—making a vain attempt, because no relation of a dream can convey the dream-sensation, that commingling …
richardswsmith.wordpress.com
January 31, 2026 at 11:23 AM
“There is now virtually an interpretation of the story to suit every predilection – the psychoanalytic, philosophic, political, post-colonial and gender-based.”
richardswsmith.wordpress.com/2019/08/17/w...
richardswsmith.wordpress.com/2019/08/17/w...
What does it feel like to be living in an emerging fascist state? How are people affected? These feel like urgent questions when masked men are murdering US citizens in Minneapolis.
richardswsmith.wordpress.com/2026/01/30/1...
richardswsmith.wordpress.com/2026/01/30/1...
Richard Smith's non-medical blogs
What does it feel like to be living in an emerging fascist state? A “Jane Austin meets Hitler” novel tells us What does it feel like to be living in an emerging fascist state? How are ordinary peop…
richardswsmith.wordpress.com
January 30, 2026 at 11:09 AM
What does it feel like to be living in an emerging fascist state? How are people affected? These feel like urgent questions when masked men are murdering US citizens in Minneapolis.
richardswsmith.wordpress.com/2026/01/30/1...
richardswsmith.wordpress.com/2026/01/30/1...
Hastings Banda, like me an Edinburgh graduate, liquidated his opponents, saying they should be “food for crocodiles,” and became a ruthless and absolute leader of Malawi.
richardswsmith.wordpress.com/2019/08/17/w...
richardswsmith.wordpress.com/2019/08/17/w...
Why do doctors make great tyrants?
Searching for a blog I wrote comparatively recently on stopping tyrants, I discovered this blog I posted in the BMJ in 2013, a blog I’d completely forgotten. Simon Sebag Montefiore, the son …
richardswsmith.wordpress.com
January 30, 2026 at 9:48 AM
Hastings Banda, like me an Edinburgh graduate, liquidated his opponents, saying they should be “food for crocodiles,” and became a ruthless and absolute leader of Malawi.
richardswsmith.wordpress.com/2019/08/17/w...
richardswsmith.wordpress.com/2019/08/17/w...
How Dickens would draw the bald eagle of America
“I should want to draw it like a Bat, for its short-sightedness; like a Bantam, for its bragging; like a Magpie, for its honesty; like a Peacock, for its vanity..."
richardswsmith.wordpress.com/2019/08/16/h...
“I should want to draw it like a Bat, for its short-sightedness; like a Bantam, for its bragging; like a Magpie, for its honesty; like a Peacock, for its vanity..."
richardswsmith.wordpress.com/2019/08/16/h...
How Dickens would draw the bald eagle of America
“I should want to draw it like a Bat, for its short-sightedness; like a Bantam, for its bragging; like a Magpie, for its honesty; like a Peacock, for its vanity; like a ostrich, for its putti…
richardswsmith.wordpress.com
January 29, 2026 at 12:32 PM
How Dickens would draw the bald eagle of America
“I should want to draw it like a Bat, for its short-sightedness; like a Bantam, for its bragging; like a Magpie, for its honesty; like a Peacock, for its vanity..."
richardswsmith.wordpress.com/2019/08/16/h...
“I should want to draw it like a Bat, for its short-sightedness; like a Bantam, for its bragging; like a Magpie, for its honesty; like a Peacock, for its vanity..."
richardswsmith.wordpress.com/2019/08/16/h...
Reposted
ICE agents are using an app developed by Palantir that draws on the health records of millions of Americans to find and detain illegal immigrants
www.bmj.com/content/392/...
www.bmj.com/content/392/...
January 27, 2026 at 5:05 PM
ICE agents are using an app developed by Palantir that draws on the health records of millions of Americans to find and detain illegal immigrants
www.bmj.com/content/392/...
www.bmj.com/content/392/...
Midsummer Night's Dream is “Pure pleasure, exploring, experimenting, most poetical"....Shakespeare letting rip, having huge fun, running his unequalled imagination at its fastest and wildest.
richardswsmith.wordpress.com/2019/08/15/a...
richardswsmith.wordpress.com/2019/08/15/a...
An exuberant and wonderfully entertaining performance of The Dream
As I listened to a radio programme on a Midsummer Night’s Dream I took notes and they describe the play as “Pure pleasure, exploring, experimenting, most poetical.” It is Shakespeare letting rip, h…
richardswsmith.wordpress.com
January 28, 2026 at 12:51 PM
Midsummer Night's Dream is “Pure pleasure, exploring, experimenting, most poetical"....Shakespeare letting rip, having huge fun, running his unequalled imagination at its fastest and wildest.
richardswsmith.wordpress.com/2019/08/15/a...
richardswsmith.wordpress.com/2019/08/15/a...
Reposted
"ICE OUT" on Lake Nokomis in Minneapolis, as seen from my flight leaving MSP airport
January 26, 2026 at 6:28 PM
"ICE OUT" on Lake Nokomis in Minneapolis, as seen from my flight leaving MSP airport
In 1962 when I took the 11-plus it was a life-defining exam: if you passed you went to a grammar school and had a good education; if you failed you were tossed into schools that were little more then child prisons.
richardswsmith.wordpress.com/2019/08/14/r...
richardswsmith.wordpress.com/2019/08/14/r...
Reflections on sitting between two Nobel prize winners
As I sat some 30 years ago at a meeting in Germany between two Nobel Prize winners, I reflected on when I was at primary school and was facing the prospect of doing the 11-plus exam. In 1962 when I…
richardswsmith.wordpress.com
January 27, 2026 at 9:19 AM
In 1962 when I took the 11-plus it was a life-defining exam: if you passed you went to a grammar school and had a good education; if you failed you were tossed into schools that were little more then child prisons.
richardswsmith.wordpress.com/2019/08/14/r...
richardswsmith.wordpress.com/2019/08/14/r...
Reposted
Vanity, vanity, all is vanity. Beautifully painted, but would you really want one of these hanging in your living room? As the Doomsday Clock inches forward, Evert Collier thinks you would. Today is his day.
January 26, 2026 at 8:18 PM
Vanity, vanity, all is vanity. Beautifully painted, but would you really want one of these hanging in your living room? As the Doomsday Clock inches forward, Evert Collier thinks you would. Today is his day.
One lie among millions.
January 26, 2026 at 11:12 AM
One lie among millions.
Reposted
Boys messing with men's heads du jour: David with quite nasty head of Goliath, 1626, by Nicolas Regnier of Antwerp & Rome. Today is his day.
January 25, 2026 at 10:39 PM
Boys messing with men's heads du jour: David with quite nasty head of Goliath, 1626, by Nicolas Regnier of Antwerp & Rome. Today is his day.
Lying makes the world go round because complete honesty destroys relationships and business (and, of course, politics): “Did you like my book?” “I loved it.
richardswsmith.wordpress.com/2019/08/13/a...
richardswsmith.wordpress.com/2019/08/13/a...
Are you a good liar? A test
Climbing into bed last night I listened to a radio programme that concluded “Dishonesty is the best policy.” Most people tell two important lies lie each day, and four fifths of lies go undetected.…
richardswsmith.wordpress.com
January 26, 2026 at 9:39 AM
Lying makes the world go round because complete honesty destroys relationships and business (and, of course, politics): “Did you like my book?” “I loved it.
richardswsmith.wordpress.com/2019/08/13/a...
richardswsmith.wordpress.com/2019/08/13/a...
Reposted
Self portrait - Edward Hopper, 1925-30.
Source : Whitney Museum, New York 🇺🇸
Source : Whitney Museum, New York 🇺🇸
January 25, 2026 at 6:00 AM
Self portrait - Edward Hopper, 1925-30.
Source : Whitney Museum, New York 🇺🇸
Source : Whitney Museum, New York 🇺🇸
“Both were in retreat: from cities; from politics; from gentlemanliness and propriety; from the expected; towards nature; and... towards the self, its roots, its forms of self-understanding, its fantasies, longings, dreads and ideals.”
richardswsmith.wordpress.com/2019/08/11/m...
richardswsmith.wordpress.com/2019/08/11/m...
Making and loving poetry
In his book The Making of Poetry: Coleridge, the Wordsworths and Their Year of Marvels Adam Nicholson tries to do the impossible—to show where poetry comes from and how it is made. But his failure …
richardswsmith.wordpress.com
January 25, 2026 at 9:30 AM
“Both were in retreat: from cities; from politics; from gentlemanliness and propriety; from the expected; towards nature; and... towards the self, its roots, its forms of self-understanding, its fantasies, longings, dreads and ideals.”
richardswsmith.wordpress.com/2019/08/11/m...
richardswsmith.wordpress.com/2019/08/11/m...
Reposted
in case you're curious about how angry Minnesota is about ICE, it was -20 today
January 24, 2026 at 12:38 AM
in case you're curious about how angry Minnesota is about ICE, it was -20 today
Often when I walk I wonder why I do anything else. We are intended to walk, whether it’s searching for food, a partner, or inspiration.
richardswsmith.wordpress.com/2019/08/10/a...
richardswsmith.wordpress.com/2019/08/10/a...
A walk along the canal from Bath to Bradford-on-Avon
Originating in the early 18th century, the Kennet and Avon Canal would once have been one of the major routes from Bristol to London. Instead of being carried in large lorries roaring along the M4,…
richardswsmith.wordpress.com
January 24, 2026 at 10:21 AM
Often when I walk I wonder why I do anything else. We are intended to walk, whether it’s searching for food, a partner, or inspiration.
richardswsmith.wordpress.com/2019/08/10/a...
richardswsmith.wordpress.com/2019/08/10/a...
Reposted
📢 The BMJ's Medics’ Revue is back 📢
Got a sketch, song, poem, or skit about medicine? Submit your entry by 28 February 2026.
Email [email protected] with your script, recording, or idea.
🎭 🎤🕺Perform in London’s West End on 15 May 2026
More details: bit.ly/4pO188H
Got a sketch, song, poem, or skit about medicine? Submit your entry by 28 February 2026.
Email [email protected] with your script, recording, or idea.
🎭 🎤🕺Perform in London’s West End on 15 May 2026
More details: bit.ly/4pO188H
January 22, 2026 at 3:35 PM
📢 The BMJ's Medics’ Revue is back 📢
Got a sketch, song, poem, or skit about medicine? Submit your entry by 28 February 2026.
Email [email protected] with your script, recording, or idea.
🎭 🎤🕺Perform in London’s West End on 15 May 2026
More details: bit.ly/4pO188H
Got a sketch, song, poem, or skit about medicine? Submit your entry by 28 February 2026.
Email [email protected] with your script, recording, or idea.
🎭 🎤🕺Perform in London’s West End on 15 May 2026
More details: bit.ly/4pO188H
The World Economic Forum, better known as Davos, has represented a global world order that is dying. This week it’s been the centre of the world, courtesy of a mad president. I went to Davos only once, in 2004, and it was the subject of my first blog.
richardswsmith.wordpress.com/2021/04/26/a...
richardswsmith.wordpress.com/2021/04/26/a...
A Davos diary I: an ingenue at the World Economic Forum
This is the first blog I ever wrote, in January 2004. I wasn’t sure what a blog was, and I thought it was a form of log, a ship’s diary. I wrote my blog accordingly (even with timings) as I spent m…
richardswsmith.wordpress.com
January 23, 2026 at 9:57 AM
The World Economic Forum, better known as Davos, has represented a global world order that is dying. This week it’s been the centre of the world, courtesy of a mad president. I went to Davos only once, in 2004, and it was the subject of my first blog.
richardswsmith.wordpress.com/2021/04/26/a...
richardswsmith.wordpress.com/2021/04/26/a...