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Martyn Pearce

Martyn Pearce

Pearls and Irritations

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Public life needs fewer empty notes – Message from the Editor

Public life needs fewer empty notes – Message from the Editor

Public life is loud, reactive and full of people mistaking noise for importance. But there is a difference between speaking when something must be...

yesterday 2

Pearls and Irritations

Martyn Pearce

Who restrains power when power refuses restraint? – Message from the Editor

Who restrains power when power refuses restraint? – Message from the Editor

Across this week’s pieces on P&I, the same question keeps appearing: who or what restrains power when the powerful decide restraint is optional?...

17.07.2026 10

Pearls and Irritations

Martyn Pearce

When reality catches up with satire – Message from the Editor

The Boys spent years exaggerating the Trump era. By its final season, political reality had become so grotesque that satire was struggling to stay...

10.07.2026 10

Pearls and Irritations

Martyn Pearce

The World Cup asks what we mean by “we” – Message from the (acting) Editor

The World Cup is compromised, commercialised and often grotesque – but it can still show us something true about belonging, about multicultural...

03.07.2026 10

Pearls and Irritations

Martyn Pearce

Message from the (acting) Editor

25.01.2026 20

Pearls and Irritations

Martyn Pearce