Portrait of the week: King’s Speech, Trump shot and Rouen cathedral in flames
Home The government funnelled three dozen bills into the King’s Speech, highlighting one to make a specific offence of spiking…
Am I slightly psychopathic to be so obsessed with gangster TV?
Most of my favourite TV shows seem to involve gangsters in one way or another: The Sopranos, Breaking Bad, Top…
Meet the MAGA megafans
Milwaukee, Wisconsin If you want to see how Donald Trump has changed his party, look at what attendees wore to…
How would we handle an avian flu pandemic?
Concerns have been raised in recent months after an outbreak of avian flu caused by the virus H5N1 was detected…
How Augustus would have solved the prisons crisis
The Labour party is preparing to get weak on crime and release one batch of criminals to bang up another.…
Arise, Sir Gareth!
I detected a degree of surprise among those people who were uncommonly cheered by Sir Keir Starmer’s election victory that…
Could Ukrainians ever trust a Putin peace deal?
Last week at the Buxton International Festival I joined a big audience for an onstage interview with Anna Reid. She’s…
Under pressure: what might life look like on another planet?
Over the past three decades, astronomers have discovered planets orbiting Sun-like stars throughout the universe. This discovery ended 2,500 years…
Are we in for 40 days of rain?
Rain or shine Has a wet St Swithin’s Day (15 July) ever been followed by 40 wet days or a…
A major operatic rediscovery: Birmingham Opera Company’s New Year reviewed
This prophecy Merlin shall make, for I live before his time. One of the most thrilling aspects of the Tippett…
Vapid and pretentious: Visit From An Unknown Woman, at Hampstead Theatre, reviewed
Visit From An Unknown Woman, adapted by Christopher Hampton from a short story by Stefan Zweig, opens like an episode…
Don’t bother calling the doctor
‘If you are calling about sinusitis, sore throat, earache in children, infected inset bite from the UK not overseas, impetigo,…
The myth of collective wisdom
After 250 years of American independence, a nation home to many of the smartest and most talented people in the…
Are you a Gail’s or a Wimpy voter?
Liberal Democrat activists were reportedly told to ‘get out the Gail’s vote’, targeting people who visit the over-priced artisanal cafés.…
The cognitive dissonance of the Democrats
Believe it or not, I planned to write the gist of this column before Saturday night. However, a caveat. Unlike…
From the front line of the battle to save Kharkiv
Kharkiv region Moonlight shines on the wings of the reconnaissance drone as it glides over the field. Within minutes, the…
