Barack Obama
The popularity of ‘Amazing Grace’ owes much to its melody
The song has evolved from Christian hymn to secular anthem for humankind. But the powerful tune we know today was not its original one
A treatise on greed: The Vaster Wilds by Lauren Groff reviewed
The American author turns her attention to colonial injustice in a tale about a servant girl who flees a blighted English settlement in 17th-century Jamestown
Mad men plotting: The Unfolding, by A.M. Homes, reviewed
Fifteen years ago, A.M. Homes published The Mistress’s Daughter, an explosive, painful account of how she met her birth mother,…
Has Cuba’s revolution finally fizzled out?
In 1968, the US anthropologist Oscar Lewis arrived in Cuba with a tape recorder and a mission to capture the…
Will Hunter Biden finally bring down his father?
It was meant to be a kumbaya moment for the Democrats. Barack Obama, the still revered 44th President, would make…
Barack Obama will make you cringe: Renegades: Born in the USA reviewed
Barack Obama wants the world to know how much he loves singing. In his new podcast, which takes the form…
At last, America has a gaffe-prone president again
The welcome return of the gaffe-prone president
Are we back in the Obama White House?
Like most Greek stories, the tale of Pandora’s box is fraught with ambiguity. Most of us, when we first encounter the story,…
Biden’s speech impediment
Does Joe Biden write his own speeches? Surely not. Yet his campaign says Biden was his own speechwriter for the address he made…
Brace yourselves for President Harris
Although the electors for the presidential election of 2020 do not cast their votes until December 14, and their votes…
Barack Obama, the real narcissist president?
For four years now, Democrats and the media have droned on about how much of a narcissist Donald Trump is.…
Here comes President Joebama
‘So you’re seeing a team develop that I have great confidence in,’ said former president Barack Obama this week when…
The next American empire
Americans have never been sure of their standing in the world, and the world has never been sure of Americans’…
Will we ever know the truth about Russiagate?
Writing in mid-October, anno domini 2020, it is sobering to speculate that when the results of a certain upcoming political…
Their Majesties the Presidents
For anyone who’s a little bit worried about the current state of the Union, Andrew Gimson’s book is a godsend.…
The Michelle Obama Podcast is wholesome, intimate and suspiciously vague
Back in March, I made a long-odds bet that Michelle Obama would be the Democratic party’s vice-presidential nominee. I knew…
All pageantry, no progress: Wednesday night at the DNC
‘I’m in love — but not with anybody here. I’ll see you in a couple years,’ Billie Eilish crooned during…
For the Democrats’ sake, I hope the DNC viewership is low
I almost gave tonight’s DNC performance a miss. How could they top the fey chap pretending to be a bat…
Will Biden get away with his bad record on race?
If there’s been one hallmark of the Trump campaign’s messaging against Joe Biden, it’s that the former VP is the…
Milwaukee is a victory for Silicon Valley’s shadow state
The real venue for the Democratic National Convention will not be Milwaukee, but the online platforms that will facilitate and…
Kamala Obama?
Kamala Harris is no radical. Indeed, no matter how vaguely inclusive the label ‘progressive’ may be, Harris’s long record as…
Obama’s disappearing legacy
This article is in The Spectator’s August 2020 US edition. Subscribe here to get yours. The presidency of Barack Obama was heralded…
What will Biden do?
The oddities of Joe Biden’s third presidential campaign are impossible to ignore. He is the oldest man ever nominated by…
Biden offers no change and no hope
For too long, Republicans and the media refused to take Joe Biden seriously as a presidential candidate. It’s hard to…
J’Accuse Barack Obama!
When President Obama was in his 75-day transition to the Presidency, he initiated correspondence with Supreme Leader Khamenei of Iran…
