Best political news of the year: Andy Burnham, next-UK-Prime-Minister-presumptive, was an English major!

As described by his former Cambridge professor, John Mullan (author of the excellent book The Artful Dickens), Burnham was a voracious and curious reader – and a fan of Philip Larkin.  And, as seen in the viral “eyelash” moment, he’s still got GenX English major attitude to spare. (Perhaps, like me and all my friends, he can still recite “This Be the Verse” from memory?)

Columnist Giles Coren, affectionately name-checking, piss-taking, and making a great Milton joke, nevertheless concludes that “I’m glad, after three centuries, to have finally landed a prime minister with a bit of grown-up hinterland.” And this is why I am so warmed by this news, too – as I get ready to counsel another group of incoming college students who are more nervous than ever about what their degrees will lead to, and what they should choose, I‘m trying to help them see that as AI makes “the future” more uncertain than ever, the best way to ensure a full return on their college investment is to double down on the things college has always been here to help you do – look clearly at the present (and how we got here), “read” the text or situation in front of you (literally and figuratively) with care, and build a compassionate, curious, mature self that will bear you up through the thousand natural shocks that flesh is heir to (ha!) in ways no one can predict. Maybe all the way to No. 10 Downing Street.