A surefire international hit: Lungs reviewed
No power on earth can stop Lungs from becoming an international hit. Duncan Macmillan’s slick two-handed comedy reunites Matt Smith…
A last dose of vitamin D before the clocks go back: Royal Ballet’s triple bill reviewed
Were those gerberas in Francesca Hayward’s bouquet on opening night? Gentlemen admirers take note: no woman, ballerina or otherwise, has…
The truth about food photography
While looking at the photographs of food in this humorous exhibition at the Photographers’ Gallery, I thought of how hopelessly…
BBC wildlife documentaries are just a chance to tell us all off
Older readers may remember a time when landmark BBC wildlife documentary series were joyous celebrations of the miraculous fecundity of…
Patently insincere: Kanye’s Jesus is King reviewed
Grade: B– Kanye West has found Jesus Christ. Lucky old Christ. If I were Christ I’d have hidden out a…
From Brexit to Beethoven: John Humphrys returns to radio
Some listeners will have had quite a shock first thing on Monday. Turning on at six to Classic FM they…
Scooby Doo with better CGI: Doctor Sleep reviewed
Wheeeere’s Johnny? Nearly 40 years ago Jack Nicholson went berserk in a snowbound Rockies hotel, smashing an axe through a…
In his new piano concerto Thomas Ades’s inspiration has completely dried up
There’s nothing like a good piano concerto and, sad to relate, Thomas Adès’s long-awaited first proper attempt at the genre…
Alcohol is the perfect cure for deafness
![[Photo: debyaho]](https://www.spectator.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/2Novhighlife.jpg?w=410&h=275&crop=1)
New York A busy ten days, or nights rather, with some heroic drinking thrown in for good measure. Hangovers…
My journey to the heart of prehistoric England
‘Can I get a taxi around here?’ The man standing behind the counter of the convenience store looked at the…
I’m getting another horse — but it’s not for me
![[Photo: middelveld]](https://www.spectator.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/2Novreallife.jpg?w=410&h=275&crop=1)
Sitting on the train to Surrey, I was halfway home and texted the builder boyfriend to say when I would…
The man with the inside story on Tiny Rowland
![Tiny Rowland, 1991 [Business Collection/Shutterstock]](https://www.spectator.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/2Novwildlife.jpg?w=410&h=275&crop=1)
Kenya At his house on Kenya’s coast our neighbour Paul Spicer kept a photograph of himself as quite a…
Bridge
Peter Fredin may not be the best bridge player in the world, but he gets my vote for the most…
Seizing the moment
‘If the ball came loose from the back of the scrum, which it won’t of course…,’ said Boris, about his…
no. 578
White to play. Dahl-Kolbus; Isle of Man, 2019. In this game between two Manx players, White had promoted a pawn…
Much have I travelled
In Competition No. 3122, to mark the demise of the 178-year-old travel company, you were invited to submit a poem…
2432: Getting dry
Unclued lights (one of two words) give an event, its organiser, some participants, its winners, and the prizes. Across…
to 2429: Homo
The unclued lights are linked with MAN (at 7A). AXE and AGE were also allowed at 40A. Thanks to various…
Universities don’t need to be lectured about racism
I’ve been contacted by a professor at a leading Russell Group university who is worried about the spread of progressive…
Seven things we’ve learned from the rugby World Cup
New Zealanders can teach the world a lot about sportsmanship. Steve Hansen after last Saturday’s All Blacks defeat by England…
Dear Mary: Is my brother being gaslighted by his boss?
Q. My brilliant brother, who graduated last year, could find nowhere to live in London so we were all delighted…
Stringfellows for the sex robot age: Bob Bob Cité reviewed
Bob Bob Cité is a restaurant dangling like testicles from the underside of the Leadenhall Building in the City of…
Why are artlessly ambiguous headlines called ‘crash blossoms’?
‘Hospitals named after sandwiches kill five,’ ran a headline in the Times in June. When it was tweeted by the…
John Singer Sargent’s Madame X
Baron François Gérard would be astonished that his vast 1825 painting of The Coronation of Charles X is the inspiration…
