The genius of William Nicholson
Even if you think you don’t know William Nicholson, it’s a fair bet that you’ve come across his work. If…
Witches, dragons and the Terrible Deev: a choice of this year’s children’s books
Highlights include boarding school antics, adventures in Persian folklore and a wealth of classic stories – including Hansel and Gretel, retold by Stephen King
Would you pay £65 for toothpaste?
Time was, you didn’t look forward to going to the dentist. Even for routine stuff, your highest aspiration would be…
A treasure chest of myths: The Poisoned King, by Katherine Rundell, reviewed
In the archipelago of Glimouria live many fantastic creatures: nereids, mermaids, riddle-posing sphinxes, and endangered dragons in need of rescue by an Outsider
Catherine Connolly’s victory was no landslide
Query: what kind of electoral landslide is it when most of the electorate doesn’t turn up? Not quite a landslide,…
The issues that will haunt the new Archbishop of Canterbury
We have it on the best authority that the meek shall inherit the earth and in the meantime in the…
Why I like Pope Leo
The Pope has given his first interview, with the news agency, Crux, and the nice thing about it is there…
In Our Time won’t be the same without Melvyn Bragg
The education system may produce ignoramuses (my daughter finished school in June, never having been taught a thing about Napoleon,…
Down with exclamation marks!
Punctuation is a gendered thing. I’ve been trying to stop myself overusing exclamation marks and it’s been difficult. Exclamation marks…
The masterpieces of Sussex’s radical Christian commune
Ditchling in East Sussex is a small, picturesque village with all the trappings: medieval church, half-timbered house, tea shops, a…
We should be outraged by Lily Allen’s ‘four or five’ abortions
If we want to understand why thousands of women a year in England and Wales have an abortion – 251,377…
Should Chris Coghlan be denied Holy Communion?
It is not, it’s fair to say, a universal view among Catholic priests that MPs who vote the wrong way…
Diane Abbott’s masterful Assisted Dying speech will come back to haunt us
If yours is a sentimental bent, you’ll have been terrifically moved by the spectacle of Jess Phillips MP giving Kim…
MPs have opened the door to infanticide
Well, it’s hello to prenatal infanticide now that Tonia Antoniazzi’s amendment to the Crime and Policing Bill has passed the…
Why isn’t the BBC telling us what caused the Ballymena riots?
Does anyone know what’s actually happening in Ballymena, in Northern Ireland? If you’ve just been following the news on the…
Who stamped out the postal service?
Tried to send a parcel lately? Or a letter? If it involves a trip to a post office, all I…
Pope Leo probably isn’t that liberal
Frankly, most people knew little about Robert Prevost before his election as pope, so there’s been a scramble to unpick…
Does Leo see himself as an American Pope?
In theory, we’ve got the first American Pope, Robert Prevost. Born and raised in Chicago, university educated in Philadelphia. Parents French/Italian…
The two young women who blazed a trail for modernism in Ireland
In 1921, the sternly abstract cubist Albert Gleizes opened the door of his Parisian apartment to two young women in…
Trans men using women’s toilets isn’t always a problem
The Equalities and Human Rights Commission’s clarification of the Supreme Court ruling on what is a woman is not as…
The Pope’s funeral was symbolic of the man
The funeral of Pope Francis is perhaps his last chance to set his mark on the papacy. The ever so…
Pope Francis had his priorities right
After he emerged from the Gemelli hospital in Rome last month, Pope Francis put out a reflection on ‘hospital’. Some…
How Pope Francis kept the faith
As timing goes, a pope simply can’t do better than to die just after Easter Sunday. The moral of the…
Where the King went wrong on Maundy Thursday
It is an unfortunate truth that the picturesque Maundy Thursday service celebrated today in Durham, in which the King distributes Maundy money to deserving individuals, is…
Why shouldn’t Livia Tossici-Bolt try to prevent abortions?
How do you breach an abortion buffer zone protection order? Why, by being within 150 metres of any part of…
