David Deutsch: The Enlightenment, ‘irrational memes’ and how Wikipedia turned woke
The Amazon reviews for David Deutsch’s The Beginning of Infinity don’t alert you to the fact that this is a…
Unesco are idiots
Of all the moronic decisions made by cultural organisations over the past 50 years, probably the most insulting and retrograde…
Can American restaurants thrive in Britain?
To mark the arrival of Carbone in London and the imminent opening of Straker’s in New York, The Spectator’s Angus…
Let them eat swan
How to react to Nigel Farage’s suggestion that immigrants are killing and eating swans? You can react like LBC’s Iain…
Kate Moss’s new Bowie podcast is far too safe
In January, it will be ten years since David Bowie died. I remember Bowie songs playing out of every London…
Why In Our Time must go on
‘Hello’. It’s strange to think that Melvyn Bragg has said that for the last time on In Our Time. That was…
The brilliance of BBC Alba
During lockdown, a friend and I moved into a flat that had a difficult relationship with the TV aerial. Ineptitude…
Lunch with Thomas Straker, the chef the restaurant world loves to hate
‘It was a heavy week,’ sighs Thomas Straker, explaining why he recently ended up on a drip in New York.…
Can Trump get Netanyahu to end the war in Gaza?
Benjamin Netanyahu has landed in Washington for talks with Donald Trump about the war in Gaza. These, combined with Israel-Hamas…
Is your restaurant halal?
Dos Mas Tacos opened recently next to Spitalfields Market, one of London’s trendiest and busiest areas. Two beef birria tacos…
Are the ‘lanyard class’ the new enemy?
Globalisation, liberalism, neoliberalism, managerialism, internationalism, multiculturalism, human resources, wokeness, identity politics, progressivism, EDI, DEI, corporatism, proceduralism, elitism, environmentalism, transnationalism: there…
The creeping Dubai-ification of London
In December 2023, a TikTok influencer called Maria Vehera opened a packet of ‘Dubai chocolate’ in her car and filmed…
My Marco Pierre White obsession
Pierre White, Marco. Chef. Michelin stars: five (all handed back). Wives: three (all handed back). Restaurants owned: number unclear. Hours…
Bring back beef dripping!
For several years, a debate has raged (mainly on Twitter, now X) over whether animal fats are actually better for…
‘The worst echo chamber is your own mind’: the unconventional life of philosopher Agnes Callard
Agnes Callard is a professor of philosophy at the University of Chicago and she lives with her current husband and…
Do people find Trump as scary anymore?
In the Spectator offices, my colleague Mary Wakefield and I often end up talking about young people while we’re making tea. She…
Nick Cave’s right-hand man Warren Ellis on AI, Gorecki and staying young
In the next few days Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds play Leeds, Glasgow, Manchester and London. There are still…
Pity the restaurant critic
An atom is made of protons, electrons and neutrons, and protons are made of quarks, and a quark is the…
Police clashes and violence spread across Britain
It has been a weekend of riots. They began on Friday night in Sunderland, and were repeated in Bristol, Stoke,…
Appreciate Gareth Southgate, for one last time
Gareth Southgate probably won’t be in his job in seven days’ time. If England win the final against Spain on Sunday, it will be Sir Gareth, and he’ll…
Israel says it’s ready for another war
According to my phone, I’m in Beirut-Rafic Hariri International Airport. Except I’m not. The Israel Defence Forces have scrambled the…
When did Gareth Southgate get quite so ruthless?
Gareth Southgate, England’s semi-intellectual, waistcoat-strapped manager, knows he’s on his last chance at Euro 2024. He’s failed to bring a trophy home three…
The TikTok stars taking on the Tories
‘Sorry to be breaking into your usual politics-free feed,’ chirrups Rishi Sunak in his first-ever TikTok video. He is awkward,…
Bugs, biscuits, trench foot: from the front line of the uni protests
On the grass in front of UCL’s main building, on Sunday night, there were about 30 tents and the portico…
City folk go wild for wild garlic
For a certain type of Barbour-clad middle-aged man, the best time of year is late summer, and the arrival of…
