Make mine a triple
It does no harm, once in a while, to assume that the creators of an opera actually know what they’re…
Desire and sacrifice
Eliot guarded her privacy closely, but her novels explore themes of sacrifice and restraint, and her heroines are studies in the impossibility of having it all
Quick thinking in the dark
The answer is, we shall never know – but one Norwegian colonel’s quick decision may have ensured Churchill’s premiership and the success of Dunkirk
Growing old disgracefully
Five women in their nineties dine together monthly, keeping loneliness at bay with gossip, advice and reminiscence
Out of the depths
Sexually assaulted as a teenager, Christiana Spens describes her life of perpetual anxiety – until the birth of her son ‘transforms everything’
Alexis the Great
Toby Young is struck by how prescient Tocqueville’s observations have proved on the social and political structures of the many countries he visited
Congress flattens TikTok CEO. So why won’t Biden ban his app?
Thursday was a sickening day for TikTok. Its CEO Shou Zi Chew came to Congress flanked by low-energy and likely…
Liz puts the Trussketers in the Lords
Even out of office, she’s still causing chaos. Details of Liz Truss’s resignation honours list have been leaked to the…
The trans counter-counter protest
On Saturday morning last week, the Save Our Children (SOC) coalition, which included Christian Lives Matter (CLM) supporters, gathered at…
Why Russian priests are being expelled from a monastery in Kyiv
In my hometown we have three Orthodox churches, two of which are formally aligned with the Moscow patriarchate. They mostly…
Love diversity, equity, and inclusion – or else
A decade ago, when I returned to University in my home state of Queensland to train as a teacher, a…
Deutsche Bank’s collapse would be a threat to the whole eurozone
It could be next month. It might be next week. Or it might well happen over the weekend. But today’s…
Why Haiti’s problems are America’s problems
Haiti tends to not get much attention in the American press, but it should. The country has descended into a…
Why did it take Seb Coe so long to see sense over transgender athletes?
World Athletics has decided to protect women’s sport by restricting it to females. From 31 March, transwomen will not be…
Dmitry Medvedev and the weakness of Putin’s Kremlin
It’s a long time since Dmitry Medvedev was last considered a potential liberal hope for Russia. Most recently, after all,…
Did Scotland’s minimum alcohol pricing work? A look at the data
As Nicola Sturgeon prepares to exit stage right, she’s been reeling off her greatest hits. Things she thinks she’s done…
France is on a knife edge
Thursday was a day of anarchy in France. In Lorient a police station was attacked, in Bordeaux a town hall…
Social media: radicalising the West into the climate cult?
Facebook users are aware of the suffocating control the platform exerted over the Covid narrative. The Silicon Valley giant became…
Trust is a big fat nothing burger
I was back at the Melbourne Cricket Ground for the opener of the 2023 AFL Season. This time last year,…
The powerful politics of Covid vaccines
When did Pfizer accumulate the 94 cases which would have qualified for the primary endpoint (the evaluable efficacy population) for…
The activism industry
The activist professional caravan has moved on. Hitting the social media headlines in 2017, the #MeToo movement disrupted the community…
Could the markets force Macron to back down on pension reforms?
Is Emmanuel Macron reaching his Liz Truss moment when financial markets finally determine his future? On 20 March Moody’s ratings…
Why Boris Johnson might escape a partygate punishment
After several months of anticipation, two contentious legal submissions from Lord Pannick KC and a bumper 52-page witness statement, Boris…
TikTok’s powerful friends in DC
TikTok’s CEO is gearing up for a grilling in Congress, but he’s got some new, powerful allies in his corner:…
