Language
Lake Superior State University in the US publishes a list of ‘banished words’– terms that have been so misused or…
Serious music
The other week this column blithely announced that the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra would be performing live that mighty and mightily…
Empire-bashing
Britain has become an irresistible target in recent times for sneering condemnation of its historical period of Empire, even in…
Joe Biden does America First
‘There have been so many accomplishments under this administration, it can be difficult to list them in a distilled way.’…
The nightmare continues
The Cultural Revolution may have been officially forgotten, but it will always haunt Xinran and her generation
What Turkey needs
This week’s earthquake in Turkey and northern Syria is a reminder that in spite of civilisation’s advance and human ingenuity,…
Portrait of the week
Home Rishi Sunak, the Prime Minister, rearranged the deck chairs. The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy was broken…
A sense of entitlement
How are you coping during this cost- of-living crisis? Have you made your way to the food bank yet? I…
2591: Get over it
The nine individual unclued lights form three sets of three, each set related to a theme word in a different…
On song
In Competition No. 3285, you were invited to supply an extract from the libretto of a musical based on the…
The dying days of abstinence
There is one advantage to a stay in hospital followed by confinement to barracks: time to read and to think.…
