A singular mind
Roger Penrose on his Nobel Prize, the beauty of physics – and why AI is nothing to fear
The female disadvantage
I’ve always been perplexed why anyone lucky enough to be born male would want to swap sexes. But it seems…
The nuclear option
I love Suffolk. This Christmas I will be there with my family and we’ll almost certainly walk up the coast,…
What Covid revealed
The most significant and lasting change brought about by Covid is that it has woken the West up to the…
Frankincense and myrrh
‘And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down,…
Balancing act
Chancellor Rishi Sunak on austerity, hill farming and celebrating Christmas as a Hindu
Afore ye go again
Could it really be 40 years since one was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature? Borne up…
Barometer
Now and then Were households allowed to mix at Christmas during the plague? Samuel Pepys’s diary entry for 25 December…
Bride’s Notebook
I had a lockdown wedding. A 30-person, socially-distanced, sanitised church service was organised in under two weeks. Restrictions meant no…
Diary
Among the greatest bores right now are those friends who insist on telling you, usually as if it’s some kind…
Actress’s Notebook
To say that the past nine months have been tough is like saying a hurricane felt like a spring shower.…
Letter from Hawaii
In a normal week, I would jam with local musicians, but that stopped in March and we musicians miss the…
All in the worst possible taste
Potted Panto is a 70-minute parody presented by two burlesque comedians. Jeff is a tall, playful bungler and his colleague,…
Musician’s notebook
My November was bookended by two characteristic displays of grace. I ushered it in by falling on all fours while…
A fine romance
Sylvie’s Love is an exquisitely styled, swooning, old-school, period Hollywood romance and while it has been described as ‘glib’ in…
Single girl’s notebook
What this government needs is a good dose of the London mob, which at its height in the 18th century…
Blessed be the fruit
Laura Freeman is transported by J.C. Volkamer’s astonishingly beautiful ode to the citrus
A sketch writer’s notes
Eton’s free-speech rumpus must surely become a David Hare play, Goodbye Mr Had-Yer-Chips, starring Jeremy Irons as the headmaster and…
Spot the literary character
For answers, visit spectator.com.au/2020/12/answers-to-spot-the-literary-character. Got something to add? Join the discussion and comment below.
Christmas Crossword – Spectator Christmas party
At the Spectator Christmas PARTY(90) the TREE (42D) has a FAIRY (22), a STAR (78) and TINSEL strewn around (41,…
Low life
Every few years I’ve picked up one or other of Anthony Powell’s A Dance to the Music of Time series…
A broad church under threat
The future of conservatism depends crucially on its ability to withstand the new hard right, says William Hague
