Uzbekistan by high-speed rail
I am in Tashkent, the capital of Uzbekistan. I am standing in a historic complex of madrasas and mosques, courtyards…
Wikipedia’s harmful untruths
There was a time when Wikipedia felt like a miracle: a spontaneous, self-governing lexicon arising from the turbid chaos of…
Keir Starmer should call another EU referendum
It can’t be much fun, being Sir Keir Starmer right now. If the people across the country chanting ‘Keir Starmer’s…
America’s obsession with British decline
As Sigmund Freud pointed out way back in 1905, everyone feels a bit schizo about Mum. On the one hand,…
Vegas’s seedy soul will save Sin City
I vividly remember the first time I saw Las Vegas. It was decades ago, and a friend and I did…
Elon’s coming for your marriage
When Elon Musk quietly enabled “waifu mode” for his Grok chatbot earlier this year, the outrage was swift and familiar.…
Why do so many of us want to be alone?
When was the last time you had a truly classic racist cab driver? Mine was a few years ago, coming…
Why the world is obsessed with white women
Until a couple of weeks ago, the clothing company American Eagle was mainly known as a kind of low-rent Levi’s.…
The Online Safety Act is plumbing new depths of stupidity
As anyone who has endured a pointless argument on the internet probably knows, there’s a decidedly useful rule for such…
The 2020s are too far-fetched for fiction
I write thrillers for a living. All kinds of thrillers. At one point I was in the business of penning…
The greatest photography exhibition of all time
I am sitting on a neat little park bench in a tiny medieval town in rural Luxembourg, and I am…
Is AI eating your brain?
Do you remember long division? I do, vaguely – I certainly remember mastering it at school: that weird little maths…
A lament for the lads’ mags
Do you remember the lads’ mags? I do because I worked on them for years. FHM, Maxim, all those gloriously…
I tried the world’s worst drink
I am standing in a sunny courtyard in the little town of Gijduvan, waiting for a drink. Just in case…
The lost art of getting lost
One of the quietly profound pleasures of travel is renting cars in ‘unusual’ locations. I’ve done it in Azerbaijan, Colombia,…
The optimism of younger countries
There’s a strange, near-psychedelic effect that hits you when you travel from an aging country to a young one. It’s…
David Lammy and the trouble with foreign taxis
After decades on the road, I’ve collected a few rules that have served me well. Rule one: always go inside…
My battle to avoid boredom
Four days ago I was so bored that I considered starting a terrorist groupuscule. I had no demands, no ideology,…
What’s wrong with eating horse?
There’s not much to do in Almaty, Kazakhstan. You can take a peek at the pretty wooden Orthodox cathedral, which…
Taking the fast train back to imperialism
I’m on a high-speed train. Forty years ago, such a statement would have been notable and specific: essentially, it meant…
Has Donald Trump saved the world?
Like the definition of an old man in a hurry, since his inauguration Donald Trump has been pumping out orders…
Is Ukraine heading towards a Korean-style demilitarised zone?
It is the strangest place, the demilitarised zone (DMZ) that separates South Korea from North Korea. It is simultaneously a…
How debauchery turns to tragedy in places like Vang Vieng
I still remember the first time I saw Vang Vieng, in Laos. It was many years ago, before the Chinese…
My glimpse into a childless world
If you are looking for a pointer for the future of the world, the free-diving fisherwomen on the matriarchal, shamanistic…
Has AI just killed the podcast bro?
It’s a well-known psychological phenomenon: that time seems to slow down if you experience lots of new and unusual events.…
