A thirsty business
‘Golden’ is often used to describe the hue of some wines in the glass. But there is another resemblance. Gold…
The Spectator’s Notes
Much of this is not Liz Truss’s fault. The great big adjustment all over the West is that the era…
J.D. Wetherspoons
The J.D. does indeed come from J.D. ‘Boss’ Hogg in The Dukes of Hazzard. But Tim Martin’s reason for ‘Wetherspoon’…
Dear Mary: Your problems solved
Q. I am at the stage of my life where I am often sending presents to newborn babies. These presents…
Letters
Free Kaliningrad Sir: Mark Galeotti was right to identify the exclave of Kaliningrad as a target for a strong western…
Portrait of the week
Home The Bank of England warned of a ‘material risk’ to financial stability as it stepped in to buy a…
A Tuscan gem
Siena, the jewel of Tuscan cities, was the mercantile and banking centre of medieval Europe. Bankers in Pre-Renaissance Siena preened…
The great leap backward
This month should have marked the end of Xi Jinping’s time as leader of the Chinese Communist party. The twice-a-decade…
Switchback
White to play and mate in two. Composed by Bruce Leverett, Chess Life, 1968. What is White’s first move? Answers…
Our understanding disability
This book reveals one man’s determination to enable his brother to live his best life. It is also a fable…
Among hawks and doves
Adapt or die. That brutal Darwinian dictum is too blunt to serve as the motto of Dinosaurs, Lydia Millet’s slim,…
High life
New York That Kim Kardashian dame being fined by the Securities and Exchange Commission for a ‘pump and dump’ scheme…
Three brave pioneers
The first three women doctors on the medical register in the UK had not only to study harder than their…
Weird and wonderful
The life of Emily Brontë is an enduring object of fascination. So small, the life, so sparse, so limited. Yet…
Real life
‘I’d like my money back please’ was what I was waiting to tell British Gas, if they ever stopped the…
Anthem for end times
It was so dark, my friend noted, you could have had sex or done a Hitler salute. No stage lights,…
Fallen idols
The definition of ‘pop star’ in the Collins English Dictionary is unambiguous: ‘A famous singer or musician who performs pop…
The lying game
I shied away from conspiracy stuff during the Trump era. Not the theories themselves, but the huge volume of content…
Senior moment
We men all think we’ve still got it, even when we’re well past 50 and young women look straight through…
The genius of bottomless brunch
I’m rather fond of the many service stations on the M4, since I am convinced they are all named after…
Switchback
Vishy Anand’s eyes lit up as he described a beautiful variation from his game with Shakriyar Mamedyarov, played at the…
Farrago of jabber
The Doctor is an acclaimed drama from the pen of writer-director Robert Icke. We’re in a hospital run by a…
The turf
For a Radio Four programme she was hosting Clare Balding once had the idea that it would be fun to…
