Why the crusade against Alastair Cook?
England's captain isn't a great tactician – but he is a great man. His critics would do well to remember that
Simple pleasures in Soho
Nothing is pretending to be anything else, and the stars are agreeably low-wattage
Labor partisan’s economic tale
The old saw about economics being a dismal science turns out, on the evidence of this short but interesting piece…
Hip, hip hooray for Tony Abbott’s carbon tax repeal
Barring any more sudden Ricky Muir-like surprises, it looks as if the Senate will repeal the carbon tax; so allow…
The Oz turns 50
It works the sophisticates into a lather, but Chris Mitchell’s Australian is the only serious newspaper in the country
Diary Australia
To Darwin, for the wedding of dear friends. An idle morning in that gem of a city provided me with…
Australian notes
‘We have the full range of politics here tonight — from the hard Left to the soft Left.’ The ABC’s…
Going Global
Listen http://traffic.libsyn.com/spectator/TheViewFrom22_10_July_2014_v4.mp3 Two glorious playhouses grace the south bank of the Thames. Shakespeare’s Globe and the National Theatre stage the…
North star
There are festivals of everything, everywhere. So why get excited about the Ryedale Festival (11–27 July) apart from the fact…
I, spy
There can’t have been this many books about the first world war since — just after the first world war.…
My Grandmother Said
It was the First World War. Her husband was away. So she knew fear, but also found new freedom in…
Simple pleasures in Soho
Occasionally a critic must review a restaurant in which they are prepared to spend their own money. So here is…
Why the crusade against Alastair Cook?
A jaw-dropping moment on the front page of Her Majesty’s Daily Telegraph the other day: ‘How to fix England’, read…
Fit as a filly
Fretful horses who waste their energies — and often their racing potential — ceaselessly pacing their stable dormitories are known…
Going Global
Listen http://traffic.libsyn.com/spectator/TheViewFrom22_10_July_2014_v4.mp3 Two glorious playhouses grace the south bank of the Thames. Shakespeare’s Globe and the National Theatre stage the…
North star
There are festivals of everything, everywhere. So why get excited about the Ryedale Festival (11–27 July) apart from the fact…
Boringly beautiful
Aesthetically speaking, last week’s performance by the Nederlands Dans Theater 1 was one by the slickest of the season. Fashionably…
Keep it clean
I am still listening to the new Coldplay album, and liking it more and more, and not just because everyone…
Keep it clean
I am still listening to the new Coldplay album, and liking it more and more, and not just because everyone…
I, spy
There can’t have been this many books about the first world war since — just after the first world war.…
