Adam Stoner

As I rushed out the front door of […] 37 Fitzroy Street in London and stepped into a beautiful June day in 2007, the only thing I was certain of was that I had to get away before anyone realised what I was doing. I left with only a briefcase containing my passport, a few papers, a thumb drive, and two cell phones. Had I attempted to take more, or had I tried to bring my wife and children with me, I knew it would make my escape impossible...

As I rushed out the front door of […] 37 Fitzroy Street in London and stepped into a beautiful June day in 2007, the only thing I was certain of was that I had to get away before anyone realised what I was doing. I left with only a briefcase containing my passport, a few papers, a thumb drive, and two cell phones. Had I attempted to take more, or had I tried to bring my wife and children with me, I knew it would make my escape impossible...

She reigned for over 70 years and earlier this month was reduced to a box on a plinth. 

How humbling those images were. A figure larger than life and so ingrained into the public psyche, suddenly startlingly small; a Standard covered coffin adorned by her subjects. Adorned by the living.

Make no mistake: This is the fate that befalls us all. 

It doesn't matter whether you're a Queen or a King, a saint or a sinner, a celebrity or a civilian – we all die...

She reigned for over 70 years and earlier this month was reduced to a box on a plinth.

How humbling those images were. A figure larger than life and so ingrained into the public psyche, suddenly startlingly small; a Standard covered coffin adorned by her subjects. Adorned by the living.

Make no mistake: This is the fate that befalls us all.

It doesn’t matter whether you’re a Queen or a King, a saint or a sinner, a celebrity or a civilian – we all die...

She reigned for over 70 years and earlier this month was reduced to a box on a plinth.

How humbling those images were. A figure larger than life and so ingrained into the public psyche, suddenly startlingly small; a Standard covered coffin adorned by her subjects. Adorned by the living.

Make no mistake: This is the fate that befalls us all.

It doesn’t matter whether you’re a Queen or a King, a saint or a sinner, a celebrity or a civilian – we all die...

Marcus Aurelius was an Emperor – he was Emperor of Rome. His son was an asshole, destroyed most of Aurelius' work but his diary remained. 

Here's one of the greatest leaders of one of the greatest Empires writing not for longevity or legacy but therapy. 

Marcus Aurelius is one of the most famous stoics. He was also a lot of other things. But his Meditations – his diary – is a beautiful bit of literature that, even 2,000 years down the line, is still wonderfully modern...

Secondary school. Some time during secondary school.

I don’t know when, exactly, but it’s a year group school assembly. I’m sat on one of those green, uncomfortable plastic chairs. The ones that lock together on the side, with a hole in the back. Joe is on my left, Tom on my right. Mr Thompson’s the Head of Year and talking, as one does in an assembly...

Secondary school. Some time during secondary school.

I don’t know when, exactly, but it’s a year group school assembly. I’m sat on one of those green, uncomfortable plastic chairs. The ones that lock together on the side, with a hole in the back. Joe is on my left, Tom on my right. Mr Thompson’s the Head of Year and talking, as one does in an assembly...

Here's the Met Office's Chef of Science, Professor Steven Belcher:

"I wasn't expecting to see this in my career, but the UK has just exceeded 40 degrees Celsius for the first time. In some ways, of course, 40 degrees is an arbitrary figure because we see the impact of heat waves at lower temperatures. But for me, it's a real reminder that the climate has changed and it will continue to change...

Here’s the Met Office’s Chef of Science, Professor Steven Belcher:

I wasn’t expecting to see this in my career, but the UK has just exceeded 40 degrees Celsius for the first time. In some ways, of course, 40 degrees is an arbitrary figure because we see the impact of heat waves at lower temperatures. But for me, it’s a real reminder that the climate has changed and it will continue to change...