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…
The lazy corpspeak of the Foreign Office establishment
Mark Sedwill is a serious man. He has a master’s in economics from Oxford. He worked in Cairo, Nicosia, Baghdad…
In Chicago, forget deep dish. The real pride is the beef
Chicago residents bristle when you ask them whether they eat deep-dish pizza. “Yeah,” they sigh, “we might occasionally when someone…
AI won’t be humanity’s ‘co-pilot’
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
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?
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
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
This morning, OpenAI – the firm behind ChatGPT – rehired its chief executive, Sam Altman, after it fired him on…
Inside the Armistice Day protests
The Metropolitan Police today staged their largest-ever operation with two marches – the pro-Palestinian march and a smaller counter-protest –…
