The myth that Russia and Ukraine are fighting over
It seems strange now that any of us ever imagined that Putin might not invade. He thinks of Ukraine as…
Women-only train carriages insult us all
Sooner or later, somewhere in the UK, we’ll have trains with women-only coaches. It’s an idea which keeps rolling around,…
Is Britain heading for an opioid crisis?
Almost everyone here that I’ve spoken to about it assumes that the opioid crisis in the United States won’t ever…
Why must younger generations constantly ‘work on themselves’?
If I could lift one thing from younger generations, unpeel one idea from their anxious minds, it would be the…
Arthur Labinjo-Hughes’s death and the problem of evil
Since I first read about the torture and murder of six-year-old Arthur Labinjo-Hughes, I’ve had what feels like an A-level…
How to spin a storm
If, in the days after Storm Arwen, the north of England began to suspect that the south didn’t much care…
Has Covid turned us into a nation of hermits?
If there’s one thing I misjudged completely, it’s how creepy and long-lasting the effects of lockdown on all of us…
The dangerous pleasure of hating men
I have Netflix, and in particular the series Maid, to thank for the startling discovery of how easy it is…
Why I left the Church of England: an interview with Michael Nazir-Ali
Michael Nazir-Ali on his decision to join the Catholic church
How would making misogyny a hate crime have helped Sabina Nessa?
I’m not sure very many of our politicians, the London Mayor or even the Met can really be said to…
Is it cruel to crush your child’s dreams?
I think it’s for the best if we ban all children’s books containing the word ‘dream’. Dream big, little dreamer,…
What’s the harm in opening the church doors?
The end of summer 2021, the end of the great British staycation. I sat on the grass outside the post…
How Nextdoor became the new Neighbourhood Watch
Long before the official numbers began to rise, back in 2014, it was clear that knife crime was on the…
The bogus business of stigma-busting
Our society is bristling with social stigmas, we’re told, even in the progressive West, even in London. Life is so…
The word ‘mother’ isn’t offensive. The Catholic church should say so
I’m used to waiting for the Catholic church to make sense. I’m a convert to Catholicism, and Catholic ideas sometimes…
Apple’s cowardly surrender to the mob
A few weeks ago, more than 2,000 employees of Apple Inc. signed a petition that led to the sacking of…
The Proustian power of handwriting
Towards the end of April, my mum sent me a letter. She doesn’t write as a rule — we speak…
‘This was a horrible pandemic – but it wasn’t the big one’: Michael Lewis interviewed
Michael Lewis on the scientists who saw Covid coming – and were ignored
The islanders who met their god – Prince Philip
Some time around 2006 my then flatmate, a filmmaker, had a good idea: why not make a programme of reverse…
Our mental health is going up in smoke
As we creep back into the open, as the Covid wards empty and the mental health clinics fill up, how…
In defence of Flannery O’Connor
I have a thought for the students of Loyola University in Baltimore, Maryland: this Easter, why not resurrect Flannery O’Connor?…
The ‘long Covid’ time bomb: an interview with Tim Spector
Britain’s leading epidemiologist on the ticking time bomb of long Covid
The war on cars is backfiring
For most London-based politicians, there’s a threat that’s worse than Covid. You’ll begin to notice it as we ease out…
The case for immunity passports
For more than 20 years, I’ve been raging away at pointless rules. When my blood’s up, there’s not a foam-flecked…
The importance of daydreams
I miss daydreaming. It’s a small problem to have in a pandemic, but it nags at me. Laptop, cooker, home-school,…
