Blog | catherinemayer

Resist polarisation. Embrace complexity. Speech to the Women's Equality Party conference, Nov 2023

Catherine Mayer

Nov 8, 20238 min read

Resist polarisation. Embrace complexity. Speech to the Women's Equality Party conference, Nov 2023

In late October, I fell on the towpath next to the Regent's Canal in London, breaking my wrist. A woman ignored me as I called out to her...

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Elif Shafak and Sandi Toksvig on friendship and Primadonna Festival

Catherine Mayer

Jul 11, 20234 min read

Elif Shafak and Sandi Toksvig on friendship and Primadonna Festival

Two of my favourite women talk about each other, books, storytelling, campaigning, challenges and joy. Elif on Sandi: It’s the smile you...

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Guest Post: Athena Stevens on Julian Sands

Catherine Mayer

Jun 28, 20234 min read

Guest Post: Athena Stevens on Julian Sands

Athena Stevens is an Olivier nominated actor and writer, as well as a director. When she absolutely has no other choice, she is an...

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Everything You Know Is Wrong: How the media misrepresented Paula Yates and continues to do so

Catherine Mayer

Mar 10, 202314 min read

Everything You Know Is Wrong: How the media misrepresented Paula Yates and continues to do so

The emails arrive every year without fail, sometimes in a flurry, and often pegged to the anniversary of our friend's death. A new...

31,876 views9 comments

Catherine Mayer

Dec 24, 20222 min read

My Christmas Tree of Life

Andy was never big on Christmas. Early in our relationship, he suggested we escape the whole business by travelling to a city he imagined...

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Merry Christmas to You and Your Lovely Dead. (And b*ll*cks to moving on)

Catherine Mayer

Dec 19, 20225 min read

Merry Christmas to You and Your Lovely Dead. (And b*ll*cks to moving on)

At a recent media awards dinner, Yasmin Alibhai-Brown mentioned to fellow journalists that she’d be moderating a discussion about public...

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Catherine Mayer

Dec 11, 20228 min read

Save the media – from the media!

On 10 October, I delivered the annual British Journalism Review Charles Wheeler Lecture to an audience of journalists including Matt...

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Women are Fighting for Survival. So is the Women's Equality Party

Catherine Mayer

Nov 29, 20227 min read

Women are Fighting for Survival. So is the Women's Equality Party

I grew up believing the world was getting better. Equality for women and other disadvantaged populations shimmered on the near horizon....

1,771 views1 comment

Catherine Mayer

Oct 24, 20224 min read

Why we celebrate Boris Johnson's loss

When Boris Johnson declared his intention to stand for Prime Minister, I posted a thread to try to articulate the pain that his candidacy...

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On Writing about the Royals (and Treating them as Humans)

Catherine Mayer

Aug 31, 20225 min read

On Writing about the Royals (and Treating them as Humans)

For two years, I shadowed him, interacted with him, enjoyed the odd walk with him and an even odder dinner. He elbowed his way into my...

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In For The Kill: On Love Island, La Roux and the Music Industry

Catherine Mayer

Jul 19, 20226 min read

In For The Kill: On Love Island, La Roux and the Music Industry

For the best part of my life, I’ve loved music and more than a few musicians, especially my late husband, guitarist-producer-composer and...

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Gang of Four: A note to journalists, gig-goers & all the folk who keep messaging me

Catherine Mayer

Feb 22, 20224 min read

Gang of Four: A note to journalists, gig-goers & all the folk who keep messaging me

No. I don’t share your excitement about the start of a tour, later this month, by a band called Gang of Four. Nor would my late husband...

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Speaking for Andy, again. An open letter to Spotify

Catherine Mayer

Jan 27, 20221 min read

Speaking for Andy, again. An open letter to Spotify

27 January 2022 Dear Spotify, If my beloved husband, Andy Gill, hadn’t died at the start of the pandemic, he’d have strong and clear...

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Catherine Mayer

Jan 20, 20225 min read

Speaking for Andy

I am lucky. Marriage, for me, was not restrictive, but a liberation. I could direct my energies outwards, focus on projects and passions,...

1,249 views0 comments

History Isn't Shit. Some Music History Might Be. A Startling Find about the Red Hot Chili Peppers

Catherine Mayer

Dec 19, 20216 min read

History Isn't Shit. Some Music History Might Be. A Startling Find about the Red Hot Chili Peppers

Every death drags behinds it a long tail of grief, disruption and sadmin, the painful process of sorting out the messes left by your dear...

4,369 views8 comments

Catherine Mayer

Nov 5, 20215 min read

You Won't Read About This In the Media

The call came in from a member of the public. A man was throwing puppies from a tower block. The police officers, who knew the building,...

1,376 views0 comments

Winning the battles, losing the plot: an avoidable tragedy

Catherine Mayer

Oct 8, 20218 min read

Winning the battles, losing the plot: an avoidable tragedy

Grief isn’t just the price of love—it’s the tithe for living. If losing my husband and stepfather at the start of the pandemic brought...

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Catherine Mayer

Aug 5, 20213 min read

Cooking up a future, carefully

A national newspaper commissioned a piece from me at high speed, part of a larger spread on how writers planned to spend their holidays...

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Catherine Mayer

Apr 26, 20216 min read

An Open Letter to Count Binface

Dear Binface, if I may, The other night, I suffered something of a meltdown on Facebook when I noticed that an old friend had endorsed...

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Catherine Mayer

Dec 30, 20203 min read

2020 Vision, 30 December, 11:00

I am resilient. I have survived 2020. I will survive its last gasp however much I dread the coming run of days. January 1st is my...

1,990 views1 comment