FT

Just Enough Blues

George Michael’s career was driven by two imperatives: to be the biggest pop star in the world and to be taken seriously as an artist.

The Decadent Life of the Mind

“There aren’t a lot of freelance philosophers in the world anymore. I can wake up in the morning, dream up any text I like of any length and any degree of complexity, in any style and on any topic, and just sit down and write it.”

Incomparable

In recent years Sinéad O’Connor wrested her story back from a sneering media. But “if anyone truly wants to know me,” she wrote, “the best way is through my songs.”

Apropos of Nothing

Nonbeing belongs to that category of concepts that seem self-evident and self-explanatory, but have been objects of deepest perplexity for philosophers.