The case for road rationing
Here’s the quandary. How in future can we make the kind of rapid advances we have made during the Covid…
Have big cities had their day?
About 15 years ago I noticed a few surviving chattel houses in Barbados and wondered what they were. As it…
Remote workers of the world, unite!
A few nights ago on Twitter, I quipped that I was planning to launch a trade union for remote workers.…
The danger of following ‘the science’
I have decided to divorce my wife after 31 years on scientific grounds. Though perfectly happy, on reassessing my original…
Why our greatest inventors are supreme hucksters
People often tell me I have a strange way of looking at the world. Obviously, it doesn’t seem strange to…
Why I won’t patent my brilliant idea
In the past 30 years, I have driven about 8,000 miles in France in right-hand-drive cars. And I would be…
Saying yes slowly is what’s hampering progress today
One of my long-held beliefs is that evolutionary biology should be taught extensively in schools. There may be some objections…
Finally, we’re unboxing the teleporter
This week’s Wiki Man may read a bit oddly. You see, I haven’t ‘written’ it at all; I’ve dictated it…
What if Oxford PPE graduates on TV were made to wear pink conical hats?
You can’t discuss racial inequality without using the N-word. And you can’t debate social justice without adding the C-word and…
Cars weren’t invented for transportation, but conversation
When I first heard Abba’s magnificent 1982 swansong ‘The Day Before You Came’, I’d never come across the Americanised use…
What should you charge for a virtual conference?
From time to time, every industry must adapt to some inconvenient technological advance. Suddenly, some part of what you offer…
The £39.99 gadget that will transform how you work at home
Hours of googling have left me unable to find the essay on domestic horticulture, written by a Victorian aristocrat, which…
The stupidity of the ‘spare bedroom’
The Tesla Model 3 is an astounding achievement, but one thing baffles me: why do electric cars lack even the…
Did the behavioural scientists have a point?
For all the abuse heaped on the Behavioural Insights Team early in the crisis, let’s not forget that the only…
Have you caught the remote-working bug?
One of the few benefits to emerge from this pandemic is that the world’s population has been given a crash…
Croquet is the perfect sport for social distancing
In Mr Alton’s absence, I thought readers might want a column about sport. The problem is that I’m largely indifferent…
Is this the end of commuting?
The brother of a friend in Durban was once given a generous donation by a wealthy aunt. ‘I hate to…
What bees can teach us about efficiency
The newspapers are full of stories about how small groups of engineers from Formula 1 teams have been able to…
Ad infinitum: 200 years of Spectator adverts show how little changes
200 years of Spectator adverts show how little changes
The keys to ending lockdown – introverts and brown M&M’s
Once we’ve flattened the curve of infection with mass self-isolation, the next debate will concern how to soften the restrictions…
My Japanese toilet has made me a lockdown hero
Compared with every other household chore, progress in bum-wiping has been glacially slow. It’s only in living memory that schools…
NHS workers deserve our applause – but so does the telecoms industry
Next time there is a highly deserved round of public applause for NHS workers, do add one additional clap for…
The trick that will let you have a conference call from your home phone
For the past 12 years, Roger Alton and I have shared this half page like Box and Cox: he writes…
Will quarantine for travellers become normal again?
It wasn’t a coincidence that the US government chose Ellis Island as an immigration station. The crucial word is ‘island’.…
Why the BBC licence fee makes sense
A consensus seems to be forming that the BBC licence fee is for the chop. In a digital age, the…
