Real life
My pro-vaxxer friends have been a lot nicer to me since they started testing positive for Covid. I’m calling my…
A re-gift to Donald Trump
For Democrats, like the ‘insurrection’ of January 6th, the Trump policy of separating illegal-immigrant parents from their children in 2018…
The Spectator’s Notes
At the National Trust’s annual general meeting last week, the voting was much more unusual than the public will have…
Don’t let China’s climate sins cloak its crushing of Hong Kong
China’s failure to bring anything new to COP26 surprised no one. The world’s worst carbon emitter offered no advance on…
Letters
Carbon deceit Sir: At this week’s climate change conference, countries will be urged to follow the UK’s ‘lead’ in setting…
When push comes to shove
One thing that surprised every-one during lockdown was how many people derived unexpected pleasure from living under imposed restrictions. Can…
Open book
365 Stories I Want To Tell You Before We Both Die is a podcast that experimental filmmaker Caveh Zahedi started…
Who dares wins
BBC1 continuity excitedly introduced the first in the new series of Doctor Who as ‘bigger and better than ever’ —…
Scallop
‘You say scallops and I say scallops,’ sang my husband in his best Ginger Rogers accents. Since we both pronounce…
Anyone for Dennis?
In Competition No. 3223, you were invited to supply an acrostic poem in which the first letter of each line,…
Short fights
If you play chess like a wet rag, sooner or later you will be made to regret it. In Nigel…
‘I’m not a vampire’
If you’ve only heard one thing about Peter Thiel (and many have heard nothing at all) it is that he…
Deliver us from vinegar
Rich men often look out for bargains. I suppose that is why they are rich. But there can be problems.…
Debacle at Dieppe
In my mother’s final days we had a long conversation about the second world war. I asked if she’d ever…
The frailty of love
In the months before the outbreak of the first world war, Anton Heideck arrives in Vienna. Family life offered him…
Dear Mary: Your problems solved
Q. I will shortly be attending a major social gathering in London at which I can look forward to seeing…
The Tories’ health battle
Boris Johnson knows the value of three-word slogans. ‘Take back control’ and ‘get Brexit done’ helped propel him to his…
Cheesy feat
Go see Pablo Larrain’s Spencer, which stars Kristen Stewart as Princess Diana, and the next day you will wonder: did…
