High life
Desperately boring times but very healthy ones. No parties, no girls, not too much boozing, lots of smoking and reading…
Raiding the sonic store cupboard
There’s a certain merit in bluntness. ‘Quarantine Soirées’ was what the Budapest Festival Orchestra called its response to the crisis,…
2450: Titled Men
The unclued lights consist of one author, two titles and four characters; ignore one accent. The titles (three words and…
Saviours of the world
Alan Johnson describes how four young men from Liverpool revived Britain, healed America and brought joy to millions
The slow puzzle movement
I could list all manner of things I don’t try, because I know I won’t like them, like skydiving and…
Trying not to get killed
Recollections of My Non-Existence is the Rebecca Solnit book I have been waiting for. I was born four years after…
The bittersweet lure of the past
At first glance, nostalgia does not seem like a subject much suited to exploration via the medium of the pop…
An idyllic vision of the future
The French economist, statistician and polymath Thomas Piketty sprang to fame in 2013 with a daunting tome, Capital in the…
Be not so fearful
Here is a sobering thought for anyone involved in the world of finance. Those who charge interest when they lend…
Notes on a scandal
Kevin Katke was quite a man. He had no military training, no political background and no espionage experience. Nonetheless, his…
Where the soul sits alone
If you seek out the home of an admired writer, you might find, as with Ernest Hemingway’s house in Havana,…
A soldier’s life
First shown on BBC Scotland, Harry Birrell Presents Films of Love and War (BBC4, Wednesday) was the documentary equivalent of…
Strategies for survival
Late in his life, I asked my uncle René about his exploits in wartime France. What I knew was that…
Lockdown in the little coronavirus café
‘Now I am cabined, cribbed, confined, bound in To saucy doubts and fears.’ Shakespeare got there first, as ever, and…
Boris can learn from Churchill as he battles coronavirus
As Boris Johnson self-isolates for seven days after testing positive for coronavirus, he must follow the example of his hero,…
Derbyshire police should leave those dog walkers alone
The vast majority of Brits are behaving sensibly in this Covid-19 lockdown. It’s a shame the same can’t be said…
What Boris Johnson’s coronavirus diagnosis means for the government
Boris Johnson has tested positive for coronavirus. The Prime Minister took a test for the virus on Thursday at the…
Corbyn is wrong to say coronavirus proves the need for socialism
Jeremy Corbyn’s claim that the Conservative government’s economic response to the coronavirus package shows that his policies were right proves…
Coronavirus is forcing Biden to borrow from Trump’s campaign playbook
What does a leading U.S. presidential candidate do when a deadly and highly contagious virus is spreading throughout the mainland…
Twit of the Day
It’s our third outing, so by now you should know the game. But as we missed yesterdays, here’s an update.…
Corona care: stay up to date. The experts aren’t infallible – let alone the media
There are a lot of basic data errors being made in the media as we try to get our head…
How localism and community spirit can see us through the corona crisis
Rather than more centralisation of powers with the government and bureaucrats in Canberra, a better approach to managing coronavirus would…
Sit down, have a Corona, and let’s talk about the nanny state
Yesterday, we poor taxpayers paid the ABC to reprimand us for stockpiling alcohol in case of a lockdown. This prompted…
This crisis will show us who the leaders truly are
It’s possible for both of the following statements to be accurate: 1. To stem this coronavirus pandemic, economic activity needs to be completely…
