In-depth analysis of the day’s news, plus stories and gossip from Australian politics.
No. 412
Black to play. This is from Arnason-Keene, London 1981. How did Black bring his bishops to life? Answers to me…
An age of broken promises
An intelligent middle-aged, middle-class woman told me the other day that she plans to vote Leave on 23 June because she…
Confessions of an England fan
Listen http://feeds.soundcloud.com/stream/268140526-the-spectator-podcast-brexit-strategy-what-would-the.mp3 If you’re a proper football supporter, getting excited about England on the eve of a major tournament is…
Your problems solved
Q. When going out to dinner I’ve found some people will send everyone a list of the other guests so…
Paris notebook
In the few days I’ve spent in Paris, I’d say the terror alert level is fluctuating between a little antsy,…
Cover 11 June 2016 AU
The post Cover 11 June 2016 AU appeared first on The Spectator. Got something to add? Join the discussion and…
The rise of groomzilla
We had been engaged for maybe three weeks before it became apparent I’d be the one throwing hysterical wedding-related hissy…
Five-star fantasy
Tom Cruise is an exceptionally beautiful American man with an invincible smile, but he is a member of a cult…
ADD
The post ADD appeared first on The Spectator. Got something to add? Join the discussion and comment below.
Royal Ascot
It’s time to scuttle under a rock if you are a Folkestone or Cornish crab: 7,000 of them will be…
Trump
The post Trump appeared first on The Spectator. Got something to add? Join the discussion and comment below.
The man who changed the world
On 31 October 1517, as every child once knew, an obscure German monk nailed his 95 theses to the door…
Football
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El Sid
Was there life before darts? I am old enough, just about, to remember such a time. One minute, in or…
New
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Far from ideal
There were few subjects which escaped Oscar Wilde’s barbed wit: dentists, cynics, Americans, literary critics, democracy, the working classes, the…
The sport of kings
Queen Victoria disapproved heartily of the racing set and of her son Bertie’s involvement in the sport. But she must…
Del-con notes
After Turnbull, who? With three weeks to the election, and the government still labouring despite what should have been a…
The leap
This week the Prime Minister devoted a speech to what he regarded as six lies being told by his opponents…
Scarred by the past
In Indonesia in 1965–6 half a million communists and supposed communist sympathisers were murdered by a range of civilian and…
Edgehogs
Last week, commenting on Nigel Davies’s new book The Pirc Move by Move (Everyman Chess), I wrote about my win…
One country, two worlds
In October 1964, Charles de Gaulle visited Brazil. The country was six months into its military dictatorship. In April of…
Minus one
In Competition No. 2951 you were invited to remove a letter from a well-known book title and submit an extract…
A terrible beauty
It was only when I left Western Australia for university in England that I understood how vast and dangerous my…
To 2261: Long Jump
Clifton Fadiman wrote that cheese was ‘MILK’S LEAP TOWARDS IMMORTALITY’ (3/4/18). The remaining unclued lights (16, 21, 25, 35, 44…