Adrian Masters is the Political Editor at ITV Wales. Born in Newport, Adrian trained in London and began his 18-journalistic career at Cardiff's Red Dragon FM as a reporter and newsreader. Before joining ITV, he worked for BBC Wales where he presented Dragon's Eye, the Politics Show, ampm and, on radio, Called To Order. Outside politics and broadcasting, Adrian writes about literature for the literary magazine, the Raconteur. He blogs about politics at the ITV Wales blog (http://itvwalesblog.com/author/adrianmastersitv/), books and music at http://adrianmasters.wordpress.com/ and is on Twitter as @adrianmasters84.

The pioneers of local TV

With Jeremy Hunt hosting an event on his Local TV initiative in Newport this Friday, it is worth remembering a similar experiment from the 1970s – and considering why it did not endure

‘Administrators are like pilots, imagining they guide the boat when they’re clinging to it’

War and Peace is a mammoth tome but one that speaks volumes about leadership, politics and social interaction. Here’s a guide to its content and how best to read it

‘Life without illusion is a ghastly affair’

Someone who’s not afraid of Virginia Woolf explains her craft and shares his perceptions of a writer who, despite her demons, was a true optimist

The Made-Up Men

In Mad Men’s Don Draper and F Scott Fitzgerald’s Jay Gatsby, we find two characters who say much about the nature of the American dream and the literally self made man

‘Nothing is so seductive, so disillusioning or so enthralling as life on the sea’

Never read a Joseph Conrad novel? If this doesn’t persuade you to pick one up, nothing will