Notebook
What koalas and Lib Dems have in common
Margaret River, Western Australia I’m here for a food festival, and to help along my autobiography. The Blonde had cashed…
Whatever happened to real Christmases?
As I strolled through the aisles in a large department store, I almost choked when I read a large display…
Only blockbusters can film in London now
I’ve spent much of the autumn and winter shooting my new TV series for BBC1. New Blood looks at the…
A president in the family
This time last year I was running around excitedly telling all my friends that I had an African president in…
Fear, loneliness and nostalgia: a return to Johannesburg
Oddly enough, the cabin service people on the plane are constantly eating during the night, helping themselves to the first-class…
Sorry, America, but it looks like Joe Biden is your next president
I have a sinking feeling that Joe Biden might be the next president of the United States. In a brilliant…
I found the future of privacy among the treasures of Venice
Almost all of Venice’s greatest treasures are on public view. Anyone who visits can look across from the Doge’s Palace…
‘Keep out the Mexicans and al-Qaeda’: with Donald Trump and his fans at the Iowa State Fair
The Iowa State Fair ‘Donnnaaallldd!!! Donnnaaaaallldd!!!’ Donald Trump was surrounded by fans. He looked happy. He took a bite out of…
Please come on holiday to poor, broken Greece. It needs you
At the weekend, I tried — and failed — to get some money out of an empty cashpoint near Omonia…
Susan Hill’s French notebook: My struggle to avoid local cuisine
An overnight stop on the Ile de Ré taken between the St Malo ferry and the Quercy, where we always…
Letter from Kathmandu: China's beating India in the aid wars
After the first earthquake we were told that the chance of another one was 200 to 1. A fortnight later,…
How the other half of the press parties – a war correspondent’s letter from Washington
This week has been all about the election, the US presidential election that is. It is 18 months away but…
‘About time too!’: Joan Collins curtseys to Prince Charles
The day of my investiture at Buckingham Palace dawned bringing freezing rain and fierce winds, which lashed at the windows…
Sam Waley-Cohen’s Grand National notebook
‘How’s your shoulder?’ someone asked recently, and it was only then I realised, for the first time in a while,…
Letter from Cuba: The tourists are coming – but don’t expect Walmart just yet
Sloppy Joe’s — which starred in the film of Graham Greene’s Our Man in Havana — was always likely to…
The dark comedy of the Senate torture report
Like many journalists, I’m a bit of a know-it-all — when information is touted as ‘new’, especially in government reports,…
Confusion, snobbery and Pegida – a letter from Dresden
Sachsenschweine — Saxon pigs — said the graffiti as my train moved out of Berlin on its way to Dresden.…
Black flags and Christmas lights: a letter from Beirut
Blue and white Christmas lights twinkle over the shops near my apartment in Beirut’s Christian quarter; pricy boutiques display elaborate…
Penelope Lively’s notebook: Coal holes and pub opera
I have been having my vault done over. Not, as you might think, the family strong room, but the place…
David Hare’s notebook: The National Theatre belongs to taxpayers, not corporate sponsors
The nicest day of the year was spent at Charleston in May. The Sussex farmhouse shared by Duncan Grant and…
Alexander McCall Smith’s notebook: America vs my diet
The trouble with going on an American book tour is that I know it’s going to play havoc with my…
Edie Campbell’s catwalk notes: the joys of the hunt ball, and mystery of Grozny fashion week
It seems as though I have just been on some grand tour of the absurd. It helps that I work…
Pippa Middleton on wine, fishing and Kim Kardashian
A few days ago I went truffle hunting in Piedmont. It’s been a bumper year for white truffles in northern…
Valérie Trierweiler’s notebook: Christmas as a singleton
Christmas will be a very warm occasion for me. I’ll be spending it with the Massonneaus — my family —…
The subversive wonders of Kilkenomics – where economics meets stand-up
‘What is a Minsky moment, anyway?’ asks Gerry Stembridge, an Irish satirist. ‘I’ve been reading about them in the papers…
