Savagely original Shakespeare
Enraged by African-American deaths, Peter Sellars channels his art into dance and re-interpreting the classics
Ayatollahwatch
The Dalai Lama, the Pope and the Ayatollah Khameini walk into a press conference … The Dalai Lama re-affirms his…
Business/Robbery etc
The moral high ground is, they believe, exclusively the preserve of environmental activists in their war against fossil fuels. This…
Culture buff
Edward Albee posed the question in 1962: ‘Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?’ The answer, it seems, is no one. There’s…
Drunken notes
I’m a bit drunk, so let’s just get this over with: I love Malcolm Turnbull. Now, hold your tomatoes, proles.…
Australian letters
Harsh words Sir: Noreen J. Pryor’s harsh words and insinuations about Rowan Dean in particular and the Spectator in general…
Mentor
for Marisa Foz del Barrio You divorced on the first day it was legal, were imprisoned three times as a…
Anglesey: la dolce vita in north Wales
We teased our friends by saying that our holiday would be on a far-away island. The Maldives, perhaps? No, Anglesey,…
Mentor
for Marisa Foz del Barrio You divorced on the first day it was legal, were imprisoned three times as a…
Ex libris
When I first studied chess I thought it was a golden age for chess literature. There were the classics such…
No. 384
Black to play. This position is from Inarkiev-Salem, World Blitz, Berlin 2015. How did Black conclude the attack? Answers to…
Rocker to writer
In Competition No. 2920 you were invited to submit an extract from a novel written by a rock star of…
Dear Mary: How can I greet friends without clashing specs?
Q. As an old trout, large in height and breadth, I have taken a leaf out of the documentary Advanced…
Thanks to the rugby the Scots have a real grievance at last
The Scots do not know what to do. For once, they have a justified grievance. In recent years, this once-proud…
The human factor
Just over 30 years ago, Margaret Thatcher’s government decided to look at local government finance. A young aide, John Redwood,…
I’m not surprised that my friend Donald Trump is leading in the polls
As everyone knows, journalists tend to take themselves seriously, especially American journalists, who take themselves very, very seriously. Dan Rather…
To tip or not to tip
As I grow older, I find myself increasingly reluctant to travel, which is why it’s been a few years now…
To tip or not to tip
As I grow older, I find myself increasingly reluctant to travel, which is why it’s been a few years now…
Curry and Modafinil with Winston Churchill
The bar at the Special Forces club has the marvellous rule for newcomers that they should talk to the person…
Curry and Modafinil with Winston Churchill
The bar at the Special Forces club has the marvellous rule for newcomers that they should talk to the person…
Whipsmart: a new cliché that’s beginning to smart
A friend of my husband’s asked me to explain why the usually impeccable critic Francine Stock had recently used the…
Sabs don’t want to stop fox-hunting; they never did
Devotee of the old ways though I am, I can just about understand why a misguided animal lover might oppose…
The fine art of talking bunkum
At the last minute, a friend invited me to a ‘Distinguished Speakers Dinner’ at the Oxford and Cambridge Club earlier…
The fine art of talking bunkum
At the last minute, a friend invited me to a ‘Distinguished Speakers Dinner’ at the Oxford and Cambridge Club earlier…
