America
The true cost of make-believe money
I like Bill Maher. He’s a rare practising left-wing comic who’s actually funny. But last week, his routine on cryptocurrency…
China envy
From spending to lockdown, the West is copying Beijing
Portrait of the week
Home ‘I think we have got a good chance of being able to dispense with the one-metre-plus from 21 June,’…
A new cottage industry
Cottagecore, not to be confused with cottaging, is an aspirational lifestyle trend. The word is relatively new —although you’ll find…
Britain is not America
‘If people in Wales had access to as much media coverage of decisions that affected Wales as they do of…
George Floyd was a victim of American gun culture
The triple guilty verdict on Derek Chauvin for the murder of George Floyd was greeted with general relief across the…
Supermajority
‘Wizard,’ said William. ‘Super,’ said Ginger, in William and the Moon Rocket (1954). More recently we have had Alex Salmond,…
Putin’s on manoeuvres – are we ready?
‘What follows plague?’ I asked a medieval historian at the start of the pandemic. ‘War,’ he replied. In recent days,…
Reparations for slavery don’t add up
Last week, a bill cleared the US House Judiciary Committee that would establish a 13-person commission to consider federal reparations…
Why Sikhs are worried about the Indianapolis mass shooting
Last week, the New York Times mapped the location and number of casualties of mass shootings that have occurred on US…
Portrait of the week
Home The Duke of Edinburgh, who was married to the Queen for 73 years, died at Windsor Castle, aged 99.…
Money to burn
Consumers, not ministers, will lead the recovery
Biden’s party is over
Washington, DC The Democratic party is dying. That may be hard to believe since Democrats control both houses of…
Language barriers
I haven’t yet read the report published by the Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities. But, looking at the recommendations,…
Why fear a society that’s tearing itself apart?
In my teens, rubbishing the implacable edifice of the United States felt like kicking a tank in trainers. Richard Nixon’s…
California dreaming
Prince Harry’s very questionable new job
Letter from Los Angeles
When I arrived a month ago, one wouldn’t believe LA was suffering a major pandemic. The roads were still busy…
Diary
When I finally head back to church this weekend, after a year of Covid-avoidance, it is going to feel a…
Strait lines
Is Britain heading for war over Taiwan?
There’s no ‘my’ in truth
Caroline Rose Giuliani, the daughter of the former mayor of New York, Rudy, has been talking to the press about…
Diary
Santa Monica is a soothing place to be locked down. I moved here from New York for four months in…
Letter from Texas
Austin ‘If I owned Texas and Hell,’ General Phil Sheridan famously said, ‘I would rent out Texas and live in…
Where will vaccine passports take us?
Desperate to find someone to commemorate with a statue for having done great things, but who isn’t a white male,…
Desperate Times
The US press has lost its way
Passage to India
Can Biden’s America contain China?
