Barometer
European bogeymen Michael Gove said ‘remain’ campaigners were spreading tales of bogeymen. But what is a bogeyman? Appropriately enough, the…
Diary
The Queen’s 90th birthday celebrations start this week with the real thing and barely stop until her official birthday in…
Duty calls
From ‘The Volunteer Training Corps’, The Spectator, 8 April 1916: If we were the Government, we would state plainly that in the…
Australian letters
Navy sunk Sir: As a proud ex-Wren during World War ll, I heartily endorse your editorial on the Royal Australian…
Letters
Safe keeping? Sir: James Delingpole will be relieved to hear that not everyone follows the fashion for demanding repatriation of…
Portrait of the week
Home George Osborne, the Chancellor, said that if Britain left the European Union, households would be on average £4,300 a…
All the world’s a stage
In this much-heralded Shakespeare anniversary year, one might expect a certain respect for the works to prevail. In Holland it’s…
There may be trouble ahead
Jane Got a Gun is being sold as a rousing feminist Western although the truth is that it’s about as…
The female gaze
Tamara Rojo programmed three female choreographers for her English National Ballet spring bill because, she said, she had never danced…
Picture books for grown-ups
Art Spiegelman, the American cartoonist behind Maus, the celebrated Holocaust cartoon, dreamt up a good definition of graphic novels: comics…
Death and the Bard
Listen http://feeds.soundcloud.com/stream/260046943-the-spectator-podcast-obamas-eu-intervention-the-pms.mp3 How did the Bard kick the bucket? The 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s death reignites interest in a great…
Death and the Bard
Listen http://feeds.soundcloud.com/stream/260046943-the-spectator-podcast-obamas-eu-intervention-the-pms.mp3 How did the Bard kick the bucket? The 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s death reignites interest in a great…
Shakespeare400
The feeding frenzy over the 400th anniversary of William Shakespeare’s death has reached its peak. Recently we’ve had Shakespeare’s complete…
Shakespeare400
The feeding frenzy over the 400th anniversary of William Shakespeare’s death has reached its peak. Recently we’ve had Shakespeare’s complete…
The Jezza effect
Corbyn the Musical feels like it comes from the heart. Did the writers live through the 1970s when the hard-left…
The Jezza effect
Corbyn the Musical feels like it comes from the heart. Did the writers live through the 1970s when the hard-left…
Whose opera is it anyway?
Disguises and mistaken identities are a staple of opera, but usually as part of the onstage, not the offstage, action.…
Whose opera is it anyway?
Disguises and mistaken identities are a staple of opera, but usually as part of the onstage, not the offstage, action.…
Written on the body
Sue Armstrong’s programme on Radio 4 All in the Womb (produced by Ruth Evans) should be required listening for anyone…
Written on the body
Sue Armstrong’s programme on Radio 4 All in the Womb (produced by Ruth Evans) should be required listening for anyone…
Campus diary
I have always firmly believed that the role of a university is to foster scholarly pursuits. To those who have…
Bridge
Bridge is such an unforgiving game; you can’t afford to take your eye off the ball for a single moment.…
Should, could, would
Here’s what should happen. The Coalition, led by Malcolm Turnbull, should win the forthcoming July 2 election with a slightly…
If you’re riding the FTSE rebound you might still want to sell in May
When the FTSE100 fell close to 5,500 in February, we all said ‘Mr Bear is back’. On Tuesday the index…
Oxford in my day was another, better world
I was in the attic killing some Taleban on Medal of Honor when Girl interrupted and said: ‘Dad, what’s this?’…
