A selection of articles written by Peter for the press on both sides of the Atlantic.
A Link Between the Boston and Birmingham Bombers
Published by The Times, May 2013
No one, so far as I know, has yet pointed out a potentially significant parallel between Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, the Boston marathon bombers, and Irfan Naseer, Ashik Ali and Irfan Khalid, the three ringleaders of the Birmingham terrorists, who …
The Pope Should Hold the Biggest Art Sale Ever
Published by The Times, March 2013
Is the new Pope Francis, Jorge Mario Bergoglio, from Argentina, serious about helping the poor? He appears to be a humble man, and seems keen to appear a humble man. In his native country he became famed for his Spartan lifestyle, living not in the bis …
Ice Age Art and the Discovery of Fatherhood
Published by The Times, February 2013
All Ice Age art is mysterious. As the exhibition that has just opened at the British Museum confirms, our distant ancestors were accomplished artists, but what they were trying to achieve with their images (if anything) is far from certain. The publici …
Copy the Ryder, Make the Turner Prize Biennial
Published by The Times, October 2012
Here’s a simple cultural test. Does the name Grenville Davey mean anything to you? I thought not. Jeremy Deller? Me, neither. Tomma Abts? No again. Now try these: José Maria Olazábel; Lee Westwood; Rory McIlroy? Yes, of course – Europe’s Ryder Cup-winn …
We Have All Lost Our Bite
Published by The Times, July 2012
On the face of it, Martin Amis and Barclays Bank have little in common. But it was while reading Lionel Asbo, Amis’s new novel, that the penny finally dropped for me. What they have in common is that, in the government’s tepid reaction to the Barclays …