Pankaj Mishra’s important article (How to think about Islamic State, 25 July) should be compulsory reading for all politicians, policymakers and students of politics around the world. His assessment of their raison d’être, popularity and potential for longevity provides an antipode to what he refers to as the “abysmal intellectual deficit” we’ve seen offered by many western leaders. He is to be commended on offering Guardian readers a deeper understanding of Isis.
Daniel Graham
London
• Despite being a consummate professional, Cilla Black (Obituary, 2 August) once made the mistake of letting her political sympathies become public. Appearing at the London Palladium during the 80s, she reportedly delivered an encomium of Margaret Thatcher, which was roundly booed by the audience.
Robin Wendt
Chester
• I was alarmed to read that “the male ant dies quite soon after it emerges, its genitals exploding” (The science of the swarms on flying-ant day, G2, 4 August). Surely Pamela Stephenson Connolly could suggest strategies to help prevent this kind of thing happening in future.
Mike Hine
Kingston on Thames, Surrey
• Peter Jones’s letter (4 August) on the misuse of the word “average” reminds me that Bill Gates and I have an average net worth of around $30bn. I haven’t taken much comfort from it.
Mike Clarke
Bourton-on-the-Water, Gloucestershire
• So Harold Pinter thought Cumberbatch would never make it to the top with a name like that (Report, 5 August). But it has great possibilities. It was my mother’s childhood name, and her friends christened her Eileen Cucumberpatch.
Bridget Gubbins
Morpeth, Northumberland
• Visiting a greengrocer’s shop, I asked for a melon (Letters, 5 August). The assistant, with a broad Scottish accent, asked “Would you like tae bugger one?” I looked aghast, and then he reassured me: “There are plenty of bugger ones out the back!”
Carrie Hill
Bath
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