Six of the Best 766

"We seem to have a collective aversion to focusing on the realities of an ageing society. Successive governments (and, let’s be honest, millions of us too) have shied away from the changes - to our food culture, exercise levels, and more – that might ease a mounting sense of dread about the future." John Harris is right, you know.

Jonathan Fryer has been to see Darkest Hour.

A 1984 trip to the Berlin Wall is recalled by Otto English.

"In July 1923 at the Lewes assizes, Mr Justice Avory handed an anonymous letter containing some ‘improper words’ to a respectable-looking woman. He asked her if she had ever used such foul language. ‘Never during the whole of my life, either in writing or talking, never,’ she replied." Bee Wilson looks at The Littlehampton Libels - a revealing picture of British life between the wars.

Ian Bostridge reviews a history of English church music.

Catherine Nichols argues that today's popular culture is obsessed with the battle between good and evil in a way that traditional folktales never were.