It’s hard to preserve the primacy of head over heart while watching this doc about refugees
Anybody who wants to maintain a strong and untroubled stance against mass migration to Europe should probably avoid BBC2’s Exodus:…
Partying like it’s 1899: two lieder recitals reviewed
If a symphony is, as Mahler famously put it, ‘like the world’, then songs and lieder are like seeing that…
Hideously watchable: Killing of a Sacred Deer reviewed
You know where you aren’t with director Yorgos Lanthimos. The Greek allegorist creates parallel worlds which superficially resemble our own.…
Oh dear Jesus… Liam Gallagher’s As You Were reviewed
Grade: C+ There was a certain thrill to be had from that first Oasis album, Definitely Maybe. Liam’s yob howl…
Why talking about death is a essential part of living
Mandy was 38 when she was told she was ‘in the end stage’, suffering from COPD and finding it more…
The death of cosy Christie
This is not Midsomer Murders. The new film adaptation of Agatha Christie’s Murder on the Orient Express is thick with…
Goodbye London, Reykjavik here I come
I have a message for the London mayor, Sadiq Khan: you and your policies stink! While the fuzz are busy…
The perils of the boar-hunting season
The French countryside around here is teeming with wild boar. They visit the shack at night to eat the pansies…
The poetry of kitchens
‘The colour of this kitchen is inspired by a blend of heather, bracken and the mountains of the Isle of…
Why Kenya matters
Laikipia Flying home across Laikipia’s ranchlands with Martin after a farmers’ meeting, I see the plateau dotted with cattle…
Bridge
Call me middle-aged, but the days when I enjoyed playing bridge all night are long gone — which is why…
Chigorin lives
Nigel Short, who challenged Garry Kasparov for the world title in 1993, has made a reputation for employing slightly offbeat…
no. 481
White to play. This position is a variation from Bologan-Short, Crete 2017. How can White now penalise Black for his…
A poem for Boris
In Competition No. 3022 you were invited to compose a safe poem that Boris Johnson could have on hand to…
2334: Sweet variations
5 (hyphened) and 14 are types of 37. Remaining unclued lights are other types of 37, given in a form…
to 2331: Anagrams
The suggested words were ESTER (1), REEST (20), TERSE (24), TREES (43), TERES (6D), RESET (9), TEERS (23), STERE (30)…
Teach First has turned me into a free speech martyr
I had the unusual experience last Sunday of appearing on a panel to defend free speech having been the victim…
How to stop the Grenfell Tower disaster from happening again? Ask the air industry
It took a spate of air disasters in the late 1970s, in particular the Portland crash of United Airlines Flight…
Mary answers your problems: How can I stop guests from showing up early?
Q. Twice in one week I have been found unready for my guests. Occasion one: in the garden, finishing my…
We discussed wine, horses and painting at Franco’s in Jermyn Street
An artist ought to draw on broad human sympathies and an intense commitment to his craft. In both respects, Charles…
Medicine
John Farquhar of Salisbury writes to say he is irritated. He is not just irritated, he has long been long…
Julie? No thanks
There is now a real prospect that Julie Bishop will become our next Prime Minister. Alas, such an outcome would…
Business/Robbery etc
There was no cost/benefit analysis; it was opposed by the government’s financial advisor, the Treasury; it has ballooned over 25…
A tale of two Andrews
The story of euthanasia in Australia could be dubbed a tale of two Andrews, the good one and the not…
