It ain’t me, Bob
It’s always a bit extraordinary how much an art form lives on the legends it has created. Everyone is looking…
Aussie life
Like many public-facing organisations trying to have their zeitgeist and eat it, the Australia Institute is getting down with ‘youff’. They’ve…
Language
I’ve been intrigued recently by the verb ‘to unsee’. It turns up as a trendy way of saying that something…
I’m being driven mad by Microsoft Outlook
Call me a cynic, but I suspect this week’s headlines about a revival of Heathrow’s third runway plan amount to…
Is a soul the only thing unavailable in Harrods?
The Harrods bookshop, which I browse for masochistic reasons, is mesmerising: an homage to the lure of ownership. The first…
‘The worst echo chamber is your own mind’: the unconventional life of philosopher Agnes Callard
Agnes Callard is a professor of philosophy at the University of Chicago and she lives with her current husband and…
Can anyone stop France in the Six Nations?
Winter’s almost done and spring’s on the way. We can tell because the Six Nations is about to muscle into…
How Ipso surrendered to the trans lobby
Two months ago, the Independent Press Standards Organisation (Ipso) upheld a complaint against The Spectator for referring to Juno Dawson,…
Not a complete waste of time: Netflix’s La Palma reviewed
Netflix is the television equivalent of pasta and ready-made pesto: a slightly desperate but acceptable enough stand-by when you’ve got…
From the army to Folly House: the story of Jamie Snowden
It is around 3 a.m. in Northern Ireland in the early 2000s as two British soldiers share a dank ditch…
How to solve a problem like the Chagos Islands
Very soon – as soon as the mutual courtesies now being exchanged between the new American President and his British…
Miserable but compelling: Mike Leigh’s Hard Truths reviewed
Pansy is meant to be a sympathetic figure, but I felt sorrier for those who had to put up with…
The need to feel seen: Perfection, by Vincenzo Latronico, reviewed
A young couple in thrall to the beauty of their Instagrammed life soon grow dissatisfied with reality, and ennui follows them wherever they go
What I can’t tell you about Lamu
Lamu Ever since we arrived on the syrupy, sweltering Swahili coast – where else would your Best Life columnist be…
Beware this terrible new AI email feature
A friend of mine got a nasty shock last week after a Google Meet call, thanks to a new AI…
The maudlin, magical world of Celtic Connections
Is it possible to find a common thread running through the finest Scottish music? If pushed, one might identify a…
Heaven is a Trad Dad
M y husband earns more than me. A lot more. I am, of course, extremely fortunate to be in such…
