Cats, whisky and modernity: the J.G. Ballard I knew
'The only truly alien planet is Earth,' Ballard once told me. A new film adaptation of Ballard's High-Rise shows what he meant
Bridge
There’s no doubt about it: I’m an addict. A BBO addict. Since the Bermuda Bowl began, nearly a fortnight ago,…
Black death
Joseph Henry Blackburne was the leading British tournament player towards the end of the 19th century. It could be said…
Why I’m stepping down after 28 years as The Spectator pop critic
In the past three decades, pop's place in culture has changed drastically, drifting out of reach and away from people's lives
Puzzle no. 382
White to play. This is from Blackburne-Schwarz, Berlin 1881. What is the best way to deal with the knight check?…
Threesome
In Competition No. 2918 you were invited to submit a poem composed entirely of three-letter words. ‘This is the most…
2232: Ups and downs
The unclued lights, in one case paired, are all suggested by a thematic phrase (two words), which is set out…
To 2229: Gnome
The PROVERB (35) (in ODQ), associated with the KENNEDY (19) FAMILY (31), was ‘A rising tide lifts all boats’. EDIT…
Charles Moore’s notes: Boris’s brilliance; Labour’s Joe McCarthy
Plus: The rage of Denis Healey; a clarification for Sir Geoff Palmer; and why there’s no party for my new book
Edmund de Waal’s diary: Selling nothing, and why writers need ping-pong
Plus: Literary speed dating at Yale, and an installation near Salisbury
Look beyond ‘Girl with a Pearl Earring’ in The Hague
Holland’s most painterly city is beautiful in autumn
The weird truth about the word ‘normal’
Praise, insult, sexual euphemism – what an extraordinary range of meaning
Manchester has marvellous wines, and it’s not finished yet
This was a great city once. It will be so again
Dear Mary: How can girls avoid freezing in cold marquees?
Also, how to tell people they have a massive blackhead, and how to deal with good friends who are bad musicians
We let programmers run our lives. So how’s their moral code?
When unethical behaviour is embedded in software, as it was at VW, bosses often don’t have a clue
What I learnt trying to buy lunch for an anti-Tory protestor
This wasn’t a ‘Trot’ or an ‘anarchist’; this was an ordinary woman re-engaged by Corbyn-mania
This year, Catholic conservatives are ready for Pope Francis
His Synod on the Family may not be the big reforming step he expects
Lingua malcolma
There is a breath of fresh air that has wafted through our political system over the last three weeks, ushering…
Portrait of the week
Home David Cameron, the Prime Minister, told the Conservative party conference in Manchester: ‘We need a national crusade to get…
This is the Tories’ golden chance to seize the centre ground
Now is the time to show why modern Conservatism is the surest way of bringing about a stronger, fairer society
How Putin outwitted the West
His Syrian intervention has made Obama and Cameron look weak and confused
John McDonnell’s true economic guru: the emperor Nero
The shadow chancellor is digging for imaginary treasure. Classicists know how that one turns out
The Tories are still anxious to reach out. And that’s a very good sign
They can redefine politics while Labour lurches to the unelectable left
Australian notes
There are elements of a fairy story, as the Mayor of Paris noted, in the marriage the other day of…
