This collection of essays arises from a decade of engagement with the public culture of Britain and America. Some have been published in print or on-line; some are appearing here for the first time. I describe them as confessions, since they reveal aspects of my thinking which, if I am to believe the critics, ought to have been kept to myself. I have weeded out material of an academic kind, and have tried to include only those essays that touch on matters of concern to all intelligent people, in the volatile times in which we live. Scrutopia, Christmas 2015