The new status symbol of the super rich: headlice
To help out friends, I sometimes collect a boy from his primary school near Sloane Square. This part of London…
Mother’s always angry: Jungle House, by Julianne Pachino, reviewed
But who – or what – is Mother? And are her exasperated warnings about ever-present danger exaggerated?
Fast and furious: America Fantastica, by Tim O’Brien, reviewed
As the avalanche of lies issuing from the White House morphs into the pandemic, Covid becomes in an engine of justice in this rollicking satire on Trumpworld
In the dark early 1960s, at least we had the Beatles
The first half of the decade saw towns bulldozed, the Beeching cuts, everyday racism, political scandal and the threat of Armageddon. But there was also Beatlemania…
The hubris of the great airship designers
Rushing to build the world’s largest flying machine was perhaps Britain’s greatest imperial folly, with a disregard for safety measures dooming the R101 to disaster
A strong whiff of goodbyes: The Pole and Other Stories, by J.M. Coetzee, reviewed
‘The cogs are seizing up, the lights are going out.’ As Elizabeth Costello clears her desk in this collection of stories, we feel that Coetzee may be doing the same
Religion provides the rhythm
From the Gospel journeys of Aretha Franklin to the late-life monasticism of Leonard Cohen, the great musical artists of the 20th century were often quasi-religious figures
Sex and the Famous Five
Before drawing tenuous comparisons between Enid Blyton and David Bowie, Nicholas Royle invites us to consider the erotic potential of Timmy the dog
The splendour and squalor of Venice
In his celebration of Venetian art, Martin Gayford is keenly alert to the city’s spectacular contradictions
Breakfast wine is where it’s at
In the old days (2019), mimosas and Bloody Marys were really the only the socially acceptable forms of alcohol that…
How mass immigration is worsening the housing crisis
Sometimes, what matters in politics is how one issue merges with another to produce an explosive reaction. In the 2010s,…
Starmer caught in Thatcher U-turn
Stop the presses: Starmer Chameleon has U-turned once again. In predictable fashion, he last night sought to row back on…
How progressivism locks the left into a suicide pact
For decades the American left has attempted to build a winning political coalition by convincing as many factions as possible…
It’s time for Humza Yousaf to end this gender bill farce
The first minister of Scotland, Humza Yousaf, has a painful choice following his latest defeat in the Court of Session…
What Joey Barton gets wrong – and right – about female football pundits
Joey Barton, the ex-Manchester City, Newcastle and QPR player, is in hot water again – this time over a series…
Is terrorism really a mental health problem?
When news first broke of the terrorist attack last Saturday in Paris, the French government rushed out a statement describing…
Prince Harry loses (again)
Good old Prince Harry has done it once again. In spite of all his strenuous efforts to avoid press intrusion,…
Hunter’s latest indictment is bad news for Joe Biden
Surprise! Surprise! Hunter Biden faced new charges on Thursday, after the Department of Justice accused him of failing to pay…
Answers to Spot the Shakespeare Play
1. Romeo and Juliet 2. Much Ado About Nothing 3. All’s Well That Ends Well 4. Hamlet 5. Twelfth…
Christmas quiz – the answers
Fairly odd 1. Lilt 2. For driving at 25mph in a 20mph zone 3. India 4. President Joe Biden…
The disgraceful, ducking, diving, dodging college presidents
It was a clarifying moment, wasn’t it? The presidents of MIT, Harvard and the University of Pennsylvania testifying for the House…
