Why do so many of us want to be alone?
When was the last time you had a truly classic racist cab driver? Mine was a few years ago, coming…
Clive of India must not fall
The only MP I have ever really wanted to marry is Thangam Debbonaire. The former Labour MP for Bristol West…
2716: Cluelessness
Eight entries – only four of which comprise one word – possess titular properties. Across 11 Playful killer whales swimming,…
Portrait of the week: Palestine Action arrests, interest rate cuts and an Alaska meeting
Home Sir Keir Starmer, the Prime Minister, said: ‘The Israeli government’s decision to further escalate its offensive in Gaza is…
Don’t believe the doomsday talk about London
It is one of the joys of sport that friendships forged in changing rooms and on playing fields can be…
Spectator Competition: Hard lines
For Competition 3412 you were invited to submit a poem about the struggle of writing a poem.This challenge drew a…
Britain is broke – and we all need to face it
Sometimes when I go to bed, I think that if I were a young man I would emigrate,’ said James…
Why is sport so obsessed with Goats?
It was late at night in rural France and Martin wanted to discuss Goats. And he didn’t mean livestock. ‘You…
Who still supports Keir Starmer?
Successful political leaders hold in their minds some idea of what Mrs Thatcher called ‘Our People’. In this context, I…
Disconcerting but often delightful new Bach transcriptions
Grade: B Everyone loves the music of Johann Sebastian Bach. Rather fewer people love the sound of an unaccompanied organ,…
Europe is giving up on free movement
Ten years ago on 31 August 2015, Angela Merkel told the German press what she was going to do about…
Woody Allen without the zingers: Materialists reviewed
Celine Song’s first film, the wonderful Past Lives (2023), earned two Oscar nominations. So expectations were riding high for Materialists.…
How Princess Anne is celebrating her 75th birthday
When a previous milestone was looming in the life of Princess Anne, her 21st birthday, the late Queen asked her…
I love how awful My Oxford Year is
The punters are saying My Oxford Year is a disaster. ‘Predictable, uninspiring and laughable,’ complains some meanie on Rotten Tomatoes.…
Medics make the worst patients
Provence Apart from three Covid years, the German rock cover band Five and the Red One (named, so they say,…
My angry Fairy Liquid battle
‘Please do NOT wash up!’ reads the makeshift sign I have fixed above the kitchen sink. It instructs our B&B…
The unorthodox appeal of the Shergar Cup
With DJs and MCs inviting the crowd to dance on the parade-ring steps as if they were on a beach…
Letters: Nigel Farage’s biggest weakness
Bad friend Sir: Tim Shipman’s examination of Reform’s success in attracting female voters contains an important warning for Nigel Farage…
Give J.D. Vance a glimpse of real Britain
We’re used to strange sights in north Oxfordshire. The first person I ever met in our small Cotswolds town was…
Down with exclamation marks!
Punctuation is a gendered thing. I’ve been trying to stop myself overusing exclamation marks and it’s been difficult. Exclamation marks…
The rise of cringe
No one wrote programme notes quite like the English experimentalist John White. ‘This music is top-quality trash,’ proclaims his 1993…
