All talk and no trousers
Attacks on British elitism usually talk about Oxbridge, but Simon Kuper argues that it is specifically Oxford that is the…
Mission accomplished
Nigel Farage was never even an MP, but Michael Crick argues convincingly that he is one of the top five…
No fairytale
I once stood on a Dublin street with Shane MacGowan and watched little old ladies who can’t ever have been…
‘I’m plagued by worries of disaster’
Dominic Cummings on asteroids, AI and leaving No. 10
Disappointment all round
When I interviewed Paul Theroux 21 years ago at his home in Hawaii, there were already rumours that his ex-wife…
A light crack of the whip
Orgies! Gangsters! Drugs! Spies! Scandals! This biography promises much but I’m not sure it actually delivers, or not in any…
New-found freedom
In 2018 David Hockney went to Normandy to look at the Bayeux Tapestry, which he had not seen for more…
Driven mad
Why is buying a car such an ordeal?
Battered old bear
The Prime Minister may have lost his bounce –but perhaps that’s no bad thing, says Lynn Barber
One of the boys
This book made me almost weep with nostalgia, but heaven knows what today’s snowflakes will make of it. Fleet Street…
The strain of keeping mum
Are all children of famous parents told they must have a book in them? Since Allegra Huston’s wonderful memoir Love…
Trick or treat
The pros and cons of being hacked
New word order
I was going to write about Monument Valley, and I suppose I will eventually, but first I have to write…
Models and bottles
The spectacular extravagance of the VIP nightclub ‘experience’ could be the last bonfire of the vanities, says Lynn Barber
Game on
Lynn Barber picks up a Nintendo Switch for the first time
Out of order
In his autobiography, John Bercow takes his peerage as a given. But that might be scuppered by accusations of bullying, says Lynn Barber
A lovable, impossible man: Bryan Robertson, gifted curator and Spectator critic
Andrew Lambirth claims that Bryan Robertson was ‘the greatest director the Tate Gallery never had’; but on the evidence of…
‘I’ve had two totally successful marriages’: Stanley Johnson interviewed
If anything could make me feel sorry for Boris Johnson, it’s meeting his father, Stanley. Before we met, he sent…
Burnt out at 27: the tragedy of Janis Joplin
Janis Joplin hated the word ‘star’, but she loved the trappings. As soon as she made serious money she bought…
A life apart: an interview with Frank Field
Frank Field has announced today that he is forming the ‘Birkenhead Social Justice Party’ to stand at the next election.…
‘Panto pays better than being an MEP’: Ann Widdecombe interviewed
We could all forget about Ann Widdecombe for the past nine years while she was doing Strictly Come Dancing and…
Naomi Wolf is holed below the waterline
What is it about Naomi Wolf that inspires such venom? Perhaps that she’s American, brash, media-savvy and not averse to…
Andrew Adonis, a master of social media – and a model of social mobility
The news over Easter that Lord Adonis, the counterweight to nominative determinism, was standing as a Labour Remain MEP was…
The world according to Charlotte Bingham, Spies and Stars reviewed
Charlotte Bingham has had an extraordinary writing career. She wrote her first book, Coronet Among the Weeds (newly republished by…
A life apart: An interview with Frank Field
Frank Field was given a standing ovation when he won The Spectator’s Parliamentarian of the Year award two weeks ago.…
