The dangerous narcissism of Earth Hour
Around this time in March each year, millions of people in developed countries spend 60 minutes of their lives reeling…
Bridge
Everyone knows him, but hardly anyone can pronounce his name — which is why Jacek Pszczola is universally called Pepsi.…
Pauline conversion
Paul Keres is the only chess player to have appeared on the euro currency, his face adorning the two-euro piece…
no. 449
White to play. This position is from Mareco-Nakamura, Pro-League, chess.com 2017. Can you spot White’s winning coup?Answers to me at…
Bravura bling
There was a nasty sound of pens being sharpened last week as Royal Ballet runaway Sergei Polunin prepared to unveil…
Internal affairs
Over 20 years ago I wrote about Giambattista Tiepolo in The Spectator. Shortly afterwards I went to visit Howard Hodgkin…
Hide and seek
Two films for you this week, one of which is surprisingly good and one of which does not surprise in…
Going underground
When Wireless Nights hit the Radio 4 airwaves in the spring of 2012, I was not at all sure about…
Let’s hear it for the boys
Girls creator Lena Dunham has received criticism from all sides. Detractors on the right see her as an exhibitionist provocateur.…
Beyond belief
As we know from all those newspaper articles and actress interviews, there’s a scandalous lack of high-profile British TV dramas…
All’s well that ends well
There’s a moment in the finale of Beethoven’s Appassionata sonata when the frenzied piano writing turns unexpectedly jolly. The late…
Denial has rarely looked so good
Ceci n’est pas une Partenope. Forget the warring classical kingdoms of Naples and Cumae: this is surrealist Paris in the…
Royal prerogative
No one should complain that My Country; a work in progress is a grim night out. It’s rare for a…
Rejecting the vote
If you ask anyone in a Western nation whether he or she believes in democracy as a system of government,…
The Thawley Essay Prize 2016
Mulga Creek Farm Sept 15th 2026 Dear Sis, I thought I would write a long letter this time seeing as…
Where’s the due diligence on renewables?
You know that lovely warm glow you get on a summer’s evening when it’s still 42 degrees outside and you’re…
Attacking the rule of law
The rule of law has been a trending topic this year, both in Australia and overseas. Much of the discussion…
Business/Robbery etc
It really works! When the big end of town puts its mind to it (along with a few million dollars),…
Tarnished crown jewel
With Malcolm Turnbull hanging on by a one-seat majority federally, the devastating result in the Western Australian state election leaves…
Whacky schemes
When the Rudd government greatly expanded the Renewable Energy Target in 2009, turning an innocuous Howard government initiative into the…
A to P
In Competition No. 2990 you were invited to submit a poem of 16 lines in which the lines begin with…
Saving the children
When a humanitarian tragedy disappears from our newspapers, there are two possibilities: that the crisis is over and life for……
Portrait of the week
Home Theresa May, the Prime Minister, said that on 29 March she would send a letter to Donald Tusk, the……
For a real Oxbridge education, go to Durham
‘Should I just have done with it and tell them they’re a bunch of tossers?’ I was on my way……
Diary
So I am feeling a bit better about my lack of radio experience. These are exciting times for free movement……
