Jewish notes
Is opposition to Israel anti-Semitic? What is anti-Semitism, and who deserves the label anti-Semite? These are questions that arose from…
Recover reparations, restore independence
Covid-19 is teaching us much about ourselves and our leaders
Simon Collins
‘What did you do in the war, grandad?’ ‘I stayed in.’ If this really is a war, as we are…
Anne Glenconner
It is said that Shakespeare wrote King Lear in quarantine from the plague. Some have been suggesting that this year’s…
Smith not Mill
For a long time in this country, conservatism was the political creed that dare not speak its name. The term…
Separation anxiety
Theatres have taken to the internet like never before. Recorded performances are being made available over the web, many for…
Revolutionary Army of the Infant Jesus: Songs of Yearning
Grade: A It has taken 33 years — during which time this decidedly strange Liverpool collective have put out only…
Like a prayer
In the autumn of 1632, a man called Kaspar Schisler returned home to the small Bavarian town of Oberammergau. He…
French fancies
The selection of a film for family viewing is a precise and delicate art, particularly with us all now confined…
Low life
In France the rule for going for a walk stipulates an hour in duration or a kilometre in distance. We…
Love story
In Competition No. 3143, a nod to García Márquez’s 1985 novel, you were invited to submit a short story entitled…
Portrait of the Week
Home The number of people who had died from the coronavirus disease Covid-19 in the UK by Sunday 5 April…
A cascade of wishful thinking
Ah well. It was a nice try. A few years ago I wrote a book called The Great Acceleration, arguing…
Keeping faith
Imagine being on indefinite lockdown, imprisoned in a dark, underground, 6’ x 12’ cell, freezing in winter, boiling in summer…
Puzzle no. 599
A position adapted from Vojtech Plat–Ravi Haria, Hull GM tournament, 2019. The d6-pawn is crucial here, but White needs a…
This war is the same as any other
‘We don’t talk about the war.’ Yet those of my generation and older reference it daily. The coronavirus is an…
The Spectator’s Notes
It is good of President Trump to offer Boris Johnson his best wishes and the best American pharmaceuticals (though no…
A new ‘sharing economy’ offers a path to herd survival
The phrase ‘sharing economy’ was coined a decade or so ago to describe collaborative new business models made possible by…
Bridge
I think it was Warren Buffett who said: ‘Bridge is such a sensational game that I wouldn’t mind being in…
At your own risk
If there were regulatory oversight of chess openings, some would come with a litany of disclaimers. ‘You may lose more…
Radio 3 presenters
Anyone who has listened regularly to Radio 3 over the decades — not to mention the Third Programme, which Radio…
For love or money
There can’t be many programmes that bring to mind quotations from both Henry Kissinger and Boney M., but BBC2’s The…
