Ben Sixsmith

Silesia

Online Editor at The Critic Magazine (UK)

Anglo writer in Poland. Online Editor and podcast critic for @TheCriticMag. Subscribe to THE ZONE.

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Articles

Yes, celebrities — like all of us — get old | Ben Sixsmith | The Critic Magazine

1 week ago | thecritic.co.uk | Ben Sixsmith

Unprincipled journalists are demonising the ageing process At 34, I find myself in the early stages of a boxing match with middle age. I can duck and weave — exercising, and cutting down on alcohol, and googling mysterious terms like “finasteride” and “minoxidil”. But still it lands its blows. Bam! Receding hairline. Bam! All-day hangovers. Bam! A deeper interest in poems about death. I’ll keep on fighting. But women must have it worse.
Alas, a new podcast just doesn’t work

1 week ago | thecritic.co.uk | Ben Sixsmith

Why does the podcast exist? Vine and Hitchens never explain its purpose This article is taken from the May 2025 issue of The Critic. To get the full magazine why not subscribe? Right now we’re offering five issues for just £10. Britain needs bold ideas for a better future and this reviewer has one: ban podcasts in which a vaguely counterintuitive pair of political commentators talk about a random assortment of world events.
Britain needs Tom Skinner

2 weeks ago | thecritic.co.uk | Ben Sixsmith

I am not the world’s most cheerful or optimistic man. Nor am I its most dour or pessimistic man, perhaps, but the latter claim has less comic understatement. Catch me at an average moment and I doubt I will be smiling. Ask me how I’m feeling and I doubt my “good” will totally convince you. So, I struggle to identify with Tom Skinner — businessman and social media sensation. Mr Skinner, who first achieved public recognition by appearing on The Apprentice, seethes with a very English joie de vivre.
Voters deserve to know what is happening in their country

3 weeks ago | thecritic.co.uk | Ben Sixsmith

Journalism should be about revealing what is true — not hiding it Fans of democracy tend to have one big problem: the voters. Yes, they love the idea of voting. But they don’t much like the people who vote. Often, they see them as dim, susceptible and prone to violent hatred. Well, it’s not entirely untrue — but I wish people would be more honest about it. For example, the government has committed to publishing data on the nationalities of foreign criminals in Britain.
Does Keir Starmer have any actual opinions?

3 weeks ago | thecritic.co.uk | Ben Sixsmith

The PM’s reasoning on sex and gender is genuinely pathetic What is a woman? Had you told someone in 2005 that this would be among the more vexed questions in politics two decades later, I suspect they would have laughed. Still, it is, and we have to deal with it — just as people in 2005 had to deal with Tony Blair, George W. Bush and landfill indie.
Kemi Badenoch is right about Adolescence

1 month ago | thecritic.co.uk | Ben Sixsmith

Why should watching it be an obligation? A keen-eyed reader of The Critic might have observed that we are not the most enthusiastic admirers of Kemi Badenoch, Leader of the Opposition. We have been known to post somewhat critical commentaries on her track record, and on her character, and on her speeches, and on her podcast appearances et cetera. I may have written one or two faintly unflattering pieces myself.
The rise and fall of Jess Phillips

1 month ago | thecritic.co.uk | Ben Sixsmith

The outspoken MP has had a sad and ironic career How did Jess Phillips MP, a proud campaigner for women’s rights, end up cancelling inquiries into the grooming and rape of girls? The MP for Birmingham Yardley and Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Safeguarding and Violence Against Women and Girls has had a sad and ironic career indeed.
Serious silliness

1 month ago | thecritic.co.uk | Ben Sixsmith

Five decades of Monty Python and the Holy Grail Like The Simpsons, Monty Python and the Holy Grail did a lot to shape my childhood vocabulary. “I’m not dead.” “It’s just a flesh wound.” “Your mother was a hamster and your father smelled of elderberries.” A young Ben Sixsmith would have fired orange juice out of his nose on hearing such quotes. My dad had stored the film on an old VHS tape.
The inequality delusion

1 month ago | thecritic.co.uk | Ben Sixsmith

British politics is being hamstrung by the uncritical pursuit of equal outcomes Dealing with bad arguments can be like playing Whac-A-Mole. Every time a bad argument pops its head up and you smack it with your verbal hammer, another one appears. Dealing with them one by one can be futile. Eventually, you have to ask yourself: where are these moles coming from? Trying to understand the strange decisions of public authorities in the UK can get frustrating.
What is next in Britain’s TV dramocracy?

1 month ago | thecritic.co.uk | Ben Sixsmith

A look at the series that might follow Adolescence After the hit Netflix series Adolescence exposed the hidden dangers of young white boys from two-parent families browsing Instagram, the British government discovered the tremendous explanatory power of fictional TV dramas (or, as Prime Minister Starmer likes to call them, “documentaries”). Soon, hundreds of millions of pounds were being invested into the production of more homegrown TV series to promote British values and soft power.