Life
My night with Mussolini’s ghost
Dante’s Beach, Ravenna I came to Italy to write a biography of Benito Mussolini in the summer of 1998 and…
Aussie life
It’s hardly surprising that Doris Day’s jaunty homage to Marcus Aurelius ‘Que sera, sera’ was one of the 1956’s best-selling…
Language
At the start of each year, Lake Superior State University publishes a list of ‘Banished Words.’ These are the words…
In defence of BA’s new loyalty scheme
One of my favourite cartoons shows a couple sitting in luxury at the front of a plane, the wife peeking…
The Irish laugh in the face of EU regulations
Our house was suddenly shrouded in a thick, grey mass of cloud and it felt like a sea fog had…
Kemi should prepare for a political pounding
It is extraordinary to remember. When I was a small boy in Scotland, Christmas Day was not a holiday. My…
Blitz decision
‘To share is to do’, as no Latin proverb dared to suggest. The 2024 Fide World Blitz championship, held in…
My YouTube rabbit hole
How do you live with yourself when 179 air passengers are burned alive on a South Korean runway, and you’ve…
January deserves lemon pudding
January kitchens are my favourite. This isn’t anything against Christmas – I love the spice, the frenzy, the ritual of…
Dear Mary: should I tell people I’m WFB (Working from Barbados)?
Q. We live in a harmonious and social community in Berkshire and early last year our fun-loving neighbours invited us…
Farewell Justin Trudeau, the last of the lockdown tyrants
So farewell then, Justin Trudeau, last of the lockdown tyrants. Or should that be the last of the democratically elected…
Aussie life
Like many Speccie readers I was shocked by the public expressions of anti-Semitism which blighted the closing months of 2024.…
Language
The verb ‘to unsee’ turns up as a snappy, or trendy, way of saying that something is unforgettable—in a bad…
Hurrah for Constitution Hill
Hallelujah, he’s back. What we needed to take racing’s attention off the miseries of inadequate prize money, shrinking attendances and…
My run-in with the GP receptionist
‘We don’t have an appointment for you!’ yelled the woman sitting behind the reception hatch. My 87-year-old father stared back…
The hell of bra shopping
It’s probably haram to quote Cecil Rhodes these days, but he was bang on when he said: ‘Remember that you…
