Could do better
And so those who kill by the polls now refuse to be judged by them. It was wrong of Malcolm…
Lost in the bush diary
Not too much should be made of my enforced overnight under the stars, halfway down the western slope of Mt…
Laying waste to our history
The Battle of Ideas will not be won by telling students what words they may or may not use
Doctor’s notes
Rumana was a sari-clad, olive-skinned woman who presented to my western Sydney practice. She had arrived months earlier to live…
Culture buff
Contemporary dance may not be to everyone’s taste but too many tired, grey performances of Swan Lake will encourage converts.…
Federal fiasco
The Prime Minister’s latest Captain’s Pick is far more damaging than any knighthood ever was
Australian letters
Illegal entry Sir: ‘Shoaib M Khan (nothing illegal about them – 2 April) is mistaken. It is well and truly…
Forget the republic, bring back the monarchy
Throughout much of the Middle East, monarchists offer a way to bring about modernity and tackle Islamism
Downtown Los Angeles
There’s a certain kind of Englishman who falls hard for Los Angeles. Men such as Graham Nash, who swapped the…
Sergey’s sensation
Sergey Karjakin, who in 2002 became the world’s youngest-ever grandmaster at the age of 12 years and seven months, has…
No. 403
White to play. This is a variation from Aronian-Svidler, Moscow 2016. In this game Aronian misplayed his attack and Svidler…
Gender reassignment
In Competition No. 2942 you were invited to submit a rhyme incorporating the lines ‘What are little girls made of?’…
Dear Mary
Q. What should a host do when a guest says something so embarrassing in front of the assembled company that…
A gentleman of Bordeaux
There was a moment during the war when De Gaulle was being more than usually impossible. Roosevelt, furious, asked Churchill…
The road to Panama
The 11 million documents leaked from Panama lawyers Mossack Fonseca tell us much that we know already. It’s hardly news…
High life
New York Even after all these years, I’m still at times floored by the scale of the place. And…
Long life
Forgive me if I feel a little depressed at the moment. There are a lot of contributory factors — among…
Long life
Forgive me if I feel a little depressed at the moment. There are a lot of contributory factors — among…
Low life
The younger grandson, Klynton, four, has got in the habit recently of thrusting his hands in my trouser pockets and…
Low life
The younger grandson, Klynton, four, has got in the habit recently of thrusting his hands in my trouser pockets and…
Dreadlocks
‘Why are you filming this?’ ‘For everyone’s safety.’ Those are the last words in a 46-second video that was watched…
