Sam Leith

Who cares if there’s a blunder in Ian McEwan’s latest book?

8 September 2025 5:04 pm

Ian McEwan’s new novel What We Can Know isn’t even out yet, and already someone has spotted a goof. In…

Why shouldn’t adults play with toys like Lego?

1 September 2025 3:53 pm

“When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child:…

Angela Rayner’s not-so-scandalous ‘third home’

25 August 2025 6:15 pm

Angela Rayner, it’s reported, has bought a ‘third home’. The three-bedroom seaside flat on the south coast that she has…

Pacy, fast-moving and graphically lavish: Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 + 4 reviewed

2 August 2025 9:00 am

Grade: B+ Tony Hawk is an old guy these days. The most famous sk8r boi ever to have lived is…

Why Middlemarch is ‘the perfect beach read’

28 July 2025 5:03 pm

At the time of writing, I am not more than a few hours away from leaving this dismal hell-hole and…

Superman has always been ‘woke’

21 July 2025 5:06 pm

The moment I heard that there’d been a backlash against James Gunn’s reboot of the Superman franchise on the grounds…

Banning disposable vapes was a waste of time

14 July 2025 6:03 pm

When we’re debating the introduction of a new law – ban this, ban that, crack down on the other –…

There’s one thing readers enjoy more than a story like The Salt Path

7 July 2025 10:11 pm

Only last week, I was having lunch when The Salt Path came up in conversation. ‘That’s the one about the…

The bluster and waffle of George Freeman

30 June 2025 5:40 pm

Retromania is well and truly upon us. Neil Young just headlined Glastonbury. Noel Edmonds is back on the telly. And…

Does anyone really want AI civil servants?

15 June 2025 4:28 pm

Of course they’ve called it ‘Humphrey’. The cutesy name that has been given to the AI tool the government is…

Will Donald Trump’s defenders finally admit the truth?

9 June 2025 4:38 pm

So, there we have it. The President of the United States wants to bypass state governors and deploy the National…

Why are NHS staff refusing to be vaccinated?

2 June 2025 5:11 pm

Some wise person – I have a strong sense it may have been our own Christopher Fildes – once offered…

Means-testing winter fuel was obviously correct

26 May 2025 4:00 pm

I’ve seen a lot of people, lately, making the case that the big problem with Sir Keir Starmer’s government is…

Starmer’s EU e-passport plan would be the ultimate Brexit win

19 May 2025 4:21 pm

Last week, I was passing through Stockholm’s Arlanda airport on the way to a professional commitment in Sweden. A WhatsApp…

Congratulations to Graham King, the asylum billionaire

12 May 2025 11:43 pm

It’s always heartwarming to hear of a person who starts from humble origins and, through sheer entrepreneurial vim, makes something…

Gene-editing won’t save our fruit

5 May 2025 6:32 pm

The other day, I had a dismaying experience while making my usual frugal lunch. Usually, a cheese sandwich does me.…

How the EU youth mobility scheme could save Brexit

28 April 2025 4:57 pm

Rachel Reeves sounds surprisingly perky. The Chancellor of the Exchequer has, of course, been forced – we may think, through…

Winning little narrative adventure: South of Midnight reviewed

26 April 2025 9:00 am

Grade: A– For this winning little narrative adventure we are in the South – all gris-gris gumbo yaya, decaying mansions…

Keir Starmer’s Easter message wasn’t offensive

21 April 2025 4:00 pm

Fun though it is to bash Keir Starmer for everything he says or does, there’s surely a point at which…

Schools should butt out of parent WhatsApp groups

14 April 2025 6:39 pm

As if schools didn’t already have their work cut out for them controlling the behaviour of their students, they’re now…

AI slop is flooding the zone

5 April 2025 9:00 am

There are two accounts of the negative effects for humanity of the explosion of generative AI: one minatory, one trivial.…

The police raid on a Quaker meeting house is unforgivable

31 March 2025 11:39 pm

Is there anyone in the Met Police, I wonder, low-minded enough to think of things in PR terms? “I’ve got…

Ridiculously fun: Assassin’s Creed – Shadows reviewed

29 March 2025 9:00 am

Grade: A Sometimes you want to admire the pluck and inventiveness of an indie developer. At other times, you just…