Who will my wife marry next?
Since I had a brush with death a couple of years ago, I have often wondered who my far younger…
Vote Rod!
It suddenly occurred to me that I need to stop dressing like a radical lesbian bag lady if I am…
The heyday of the gay guardsmen
In 1943 the music critic Desmond Shawe-Taylor placed an advertisement in Exchange & Mart offering a pair of trooper’s breeches…
Are any of the party leaders ready to be PM?
Since Rishi Sunak called the election last week, Tory MPs have been in a state of discombobulation. ‘It’s an absolutely…
The TikTok stars taking on the Tories
‘Sorry to be breaking into your usual politics-free feed,’ chirrups Rishi Sunak in his first-ever TikTok video. He is awkward,…
Could Michael Gove support Labour?
Now that Sir Keir Starmer has reaffirmed he is a socialist, interviewers are asking other leading Labour figures if they…
Why won’t Rishi honour our £1,000 bet?
When I interviewed Rishi Sunak in February, I told him I thought his Rwanda plan for ‘stopping the boats’ was…
Portrait of the Week: Sunak’s downpour, national service and the ‘triple lock plus’
Home Parliament was dissolved, leaving no MPs until the general election on 4 July. With hours to go, Diane Abbott had…
How many countries have conscription?
Halfway points Rishi Sunak told us we would have an election in the second half of the year, and we…
When Fauré played The Spectator
Gabriel Fauré composed his song cycle La bonne chanson in 1894 for piano and voice. But he added string parts…
Putin’s purge of his top generals
In the past month, Vladimir Putin has had five top generals arrested on corruption charges. More are likely to follow…
Craving some alien spider insanity? Sting’s the film for you
This week, a horror film – and with it, a whole load of alien spider insanity. If you’ve been hankering…
The right must unite
I mentioned here recently that to my mind Boris Johnson bears a fairish similarity to Dr Faustus, as Christopher Marlowe…
What Labour lacks
Has Keir Starmer promised anything so far, during this general election, that will make anyone’s life significantly better? The clearest…
Could Ozempic bankrupt the NHS?
The NHS spends around £6.5 billion every year treating obesity. People who are overweight cost the health service twice as…
The lion and the unicorn were fighting for the crown
Elizabeth I’s refusal to name an heir resulted in many claimants to the English throne in 1603 – with the son of the Queen of Scots finally prevailing
Hell is a rented garden
For the past few years, I have been a joyful Chelsea Flower Show attendee. Every May, my phone’s photo album…
Will the photo of your lost loved one be replaced by a chatty robot?
It seems entirely possible that AI simulacra could be fashioned from the digital remains we now inadvertently leave behind, says Carl Öhman
How to crack election jokes like a Greek
As the party of the lost and the party of the losers square up to each other, the next few…
My brilliant friend and betrayer, Inigo Philbrick
Orlando Whitfield remains tortured by his association with the charming art dealer convicted of wire fraud worth $86 million in 2022. But whose story is it to tell?
I’m taking mental notes for my old age
I know straight away, from the look on my friend Alice’s face, whether it’s a ‘bad carer’ day. Five years…
The glamour of grime: revisionist westerns of the 1970s
The success of Bonnie and Clyde in 1967 sparked Hollywood’s interest in making more modern-day westerns and road movies, with no clear boundaries between good and evil
The moon matters to China
China’s Chang’e-6 moon mission was launched on 3 May. It reached lunar orbit a few days later and began waiting…
