Angus Colwell

AI won’t be humanity’s ‘co-pilot’

16 January 2024 4:05 am

One of the world’s most powerful men was trapped in a central London basement this morning. Satya Nadella, the CEO…

Britain and US launch airstrikes against Houthis

12 January 2024 10:55 am

The US and the UK have launched airstrikes against Houthi rebels in Yemen whose continued attacks are disrupting trade in…

Is the West at war in the Red Sea?

26 December 2023 4:36 am

Britain and the US are getting ever more drawn in to the conflict in the Red Sea, as Iran-backed Houthis…

‘Rizz’, ‘vibes’, and what we lose with Very Online language

10 December 2023 7:30 pm

Welcome to our language: ‘rizz’. Here’s the OED definition: colloquial noun, ‘defined as ‘style, charm or attractiveness; the ability to…

‘OpenAI is likely to fail now’: writer and scientist Gary Marcus on the sacking of Sam Altman

22 November 2023 5:00 pm

This morning, OpenAI – the firm behind ChatGPT – rehired its chief executive, Sam Altman, after it fired him on…

In defence of Rickshaws

18 November 2023 9:00 am

Inside the Armistice Day protests

12 November 2023 6:00 am

The Metropolitan Police today staged their largest-ever operation with two marches – the pro-Palestinian march and a smaller counter-protest –…

Kamala Harris doesn’t get AI

2 November 2023 9:00 pm

At least Kamala Harris managed to avoid the dreaded phrase that we should ‘harness AI’s ‘potential’. But that was just…

Both sides deny being behind Gaza hospital strike

18 October 2023 9:15 am

Who is responsible for the bombing of a hospital in Gaza? This evening as many as 500 people are thought…

Netanyahu: ‘What we will do to our enemies will echo for generations’

10 October 2023 8:03 am

Just a week ago, Benjamin Netanyahu was urging Israelis to take a break. He said citizens should ‘go for a…

Enigma variations

2 September 2023 9:00 am

Martin Amis 1949-2023: How The Spectator covered his life

21 May 2023 8:00 pm

Martin Amis died in Florida on Friday, of oesophageal cancer at the age of 73. Some of The Spectator’s best…

Why are the Nat Cons so serious?

17 May 2023 4:27 am

The problem with socialism, the saying goes, is that it takes up too many evenings. Well, the National Conservatism conference,…

What the V&A Dundee exhibition doesn’t tell you about tartan

22 April 2023 9:00 am

Angus Colwell is not convinced that the V&A Dundee’s exhibition Tartan is what the city needs

20 years on: How The Spectator covered the Iraq war

20 March 2023 5:30 pm

This morning, two decades ago, ‘Operation Iraqi Freedom’ began. A bombing campaign of ‘shock and awe’ was launched, with George…

Xi’s nuclear warnings are a coup for Scholz

5 November 2022 4:09 am

Checks and balances on Vladimir Putin don’t come from inside Russia. The people around him supported forced mobilisation, pushed his…

Putin at 70: How The Spectator has covered his life

7 October 2022 8:00 pm

Vladimir Putin turns 70 today. Since he became Prime Minister of Russia in 1999, some of The Spectator’s greatest contributors…

Welcome to the weird world of the New Right: Subversive podcast reviewed

1 October 2022 9:00 am

Subversive is a podcast that documents the world of the ‘New Right’, a strange development in conservatism. Host Alex Kaschuta,…

What's behind Putin's no-show?

21 September 2022 5:43 am

Has Vladimir Putin carried out a cynical stunt, or ducked out of a seismic decision? That’s the debate among Kremlinologists…

Why would the Saudis bail out Biden?

10 March 2022 4:47 am

Is Saudi Arabia shunning Washington? Mohammed bin Salman has reportedly been refusing to phone Joe Biden, who wants the kingdom to…

Glorious and bracing interrogation of the world's smartest people: Conversations with Tyler reviewed

19 February 2022 9:00 am

Tyler Cowen is a man who leaves you at once in awe and perturbed. He is the Holbert L. Harris…

Omicron: cause for hope?

7 December 2021 1:31 am

It will be weeks before we know just how worried we should be about Omicron — but the first indications seem…

TikTok's fake news problem

28 March 2021 6:00 pm

Something troubling is happening on TikTok. The video sharing app is sometimes dismissed as a place where young people go…