Pippa Bailey

London

Assistant Editor and Writer at The New Statesman

Assistant editor & writer @newstatesman | DMs open | Subscribe to the https://t.co/7G8UYGRCrY

Articles

Church and an all-girls school gave me great freedom to be uncool

2 weeks ago | newstatesman.com | Pippa Bailey

You know you’re getting on a bit when you spend your Friday evening lamenting: the problem with kids these days… Last week I went for dinner with my friend C—, and over a curry we discussed – prompted, as is 95 per cent of conversation nowadays, by Adolescence – what future might await her young children, and how she can keep them safe. To what extent should she allow them to make their own mistakes, to find their own way?
Adriana Brownlee interview: “As soon as you think of records, it gets dangerous”

2 weeks ago | newstatesman.com | Pippa Bailey

There are few settings more removed from the rigmarole of modern life than standing on the summit of one of the world’s highest peaks. Yet this is the point in a climb when real life intervenes, says Adriana Brownlee, who in October last year became the youngest woman ever to climb all 14 8,000-metre mountains. Exhilaration “turns into stress.
What is school for?

3 weeks ago | newstatesman.com | Pippa Bailey

In 1939 the American educator Harold Benjamin published a book of satirical essays, The Sabre-Tooth Curriculum. One tells the story of a Stone Age man called “New-Fist-Hammer-Maker”. New-Fist sets up a school that teaches “fish-grabbing-with-the-bare-hands”, “woolly-horse-clubbing” and “sabretooth-tiger-scaring-with-fire”. But then, an ice age comes, and the environment changes so that the Palaeolithic people can no longer grab fish with their bare hands or catch woolly horses to club them.
In defence of cabaret-style seated gigs

4 weeks ago | newstatesman.com | Pippa Bailey

One side effect of flying solo for a month is that – recognising that just because I could quite happily spend every evening at home watching television, that doesn’t mean that I should – I’ve taken to saying yes to any and all invitations. That’s how I found myself this week watching the singer-songwriter Ashley Campbell perform at London’s Brasserie Zedel with my friend Emma, J— and C—, a couple from South Florida, and Stanley Tucci.
Snow White review: Disney’s modernised remake falls flat

1 month ago | newstatesman.com | Pippa Bailey

How to remake Disney’s 1937 animated film Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs in the era of woke? The simplest answer might be: don’t. Disney’s latest live-action adaptation – which follows Cinderella (2015), The Jungle Book (2016), Beauty and the Beast (2017), Aladdin (2019), Mulan (2020) and The Little Mermaid (2023) – has been mired in controversy since its casting announcements four years ago.
I am content to be (temporarily) alone - bar the nightmares

1 month ago | newstatesman.com | Pippa Bailey

Another March, another month spent alone while M— traipses around Canada in an SUV full of guitars and blokes who’ve all spent a bit too much time in each other’s company – aka going on tour. This year is different to last, of course, because we now live together, and so while he is not home, his stuff – old copies of Classic Rock, unidentified guitar cables, the stray plectrums – still surrounds me. People ask how I am, their faces prearranged into looks of sympathy.
From Becky Barnicoat to Nick Trend: new books reviewed in short

1 month ago | newstatesman.com | Pippa Bailey |Michael Prodger |Finn McRedmond |Megan Gibson

Humans of every religion and none have made pilgrimages since ancient times: for example, the sacred mountain of Tai Shan, 300 miles south of Beijing, has a history of worship dating back to the Neolithic period. Pilgrims sought – and seek – the help of gods, saints and spirits for protection on journeys, spiritual healing or cures for physical ailments, to give thanks, or perhaps to make a political statement.
Best nail files for natural and acrylic nails

1 month ago | the-independent.com | Simon Calder |Pippa Bailey

More of us than ever have turned to doing our own manicures rather than going to the salon this year, and a good nail file is key to that immaculate professional finish. Even if you don’t want to faff around with cuticles and polish, everyone can appreciate a neat shape and no snags. For such a simple job there is a lot of variation in both material and shape when it comes to choosing a nail file.
Esther Ghey's Under A Pink Sky review: an urgent warning

1 month ago | newstatesman.com | Pippa Bailey

“Let’s kill her tomorrow at 6,” Girl X texted. “I can’t because its a school night,” Boy Y pinged back. These are far from the most graphic of the messages exchanged between the killers of 16-year-old Brianna Ghey in the months leading up to her murder. But they are shocking in their mundanity. On 11 February 2023, two schoolchildren, Girl X and Boy Y, lured Brianna to Culcheth Linear Park in Warrington, where she lived, with the promise of drugs.
Esther Ghey’s extraordinary forgiveness

1 month ago | newstatesman.com | Pippa Bailey

“Let’s kill her tomorrow at 6,” Girl X texted. “I can’t because its a school night,” Boy Y pinged back. These are far from the most graphic of the messages exchanged between the killers of 16-year-old Brianna Ghey in the months leading up to her murder. But they are shocking in their mundanity. On 11 February 2023, two schoolchildren, Girl X and Boy Y, lured Brianna to Culcheth Linear Park in Warrington, where she lived, with the promise of drugs.