Modern manners
Permanent ink
Brooklyn Shall I have my sister’s skin peeled off for display after she dies? Specifically, the tattooed bits — the…
Stop lecturing fatties – it’s really not their fault
I’ve noticed for some time now that thin people, genuinely slim ones, have a secret loathing of fatties. Kindly though…
Generation Snowflake: how we train our kids to be censorious cry-babies
We’re training our children to be thin-skinned, censorious and belligerently entitled
The day I stopped believing in the friendship myth
Should we be surprised that friendship isn’t always mutual? That is one of the findings of a team of researchers…
Dear Mary: What can you do when your new neighbours stiff you on a restaurant bill?
Q. We moved recently and new neighbours invited us to join them for dinner at a nearby restaurant. I planned…
How the 'dating apocalypse' led me to vajazzle my armpits
Why I went looking for love in the armpits of strange men
Joan Collins: The celebrity trend I just can’t stand
Not only are today’s young girls having to work hard on their abs, butts and glutes, now the likes of…
The internet’s war on free speech
The web was meant to empower us all. Right now, it’s empowering censors
Confess your guilty displeasures
It is now entirely cool to adore the uncool. But what about the things we can’t admit to not enjoying?
The slow (and ignominious) death of the British funeral
I mourn for the traditional ceremony
Dear Mary: When I woke up at 3 a.m., my dinner party guests hadn’t gone
How do you persuade your pleasant dinner guests to go home when they will stay into the early hours if…
The horrors of Soho House’s country outpost
It is summer and the listless metropolitan thinks of grass. It cannot afford to stay at Durslade Farmhouse, Somerset, a…
Cycling in Lycra is bad for the soul
Cycling in funny clothes is bad for the soul
Making friends with the axeman next door
What happened when I tried American neighbourliness in London
Why it makes sense to buy your banker lunch
We recently moved -offices from Canary Wharf to Blackfriars bridge. When you move after a long time in one place,…
It started with a cardboard box: discovering the joys of indoor gardening
A year or so ago, I inherited a cardboard box filled with plants. It was an offshoot from an enormous…
How baby names got so weird
How Wolf and Skylar pushed out John and Mary
It’s not work that’s stressful. It’s offices
It’s not work that’s killing us. It’s the irritation and confusion of modern office life
It starts with tidying your sock drawer. It ends with emptying your mind
It starts with tidying your sock drawer. It ends with emptying your mind
An old man’s guide to living dangerously
At 77, it is clear to me that increased longevity can be a curse rather than a blessing
Dear Mary: How can I make a conversation-stopping gaffe go away?
Q. What should a host do when a guest says something so embarrassing in front of the assembled company that…
I have seen the future, and it’s a racist, filthy-mouthed teenage robot
‘I’m a nice person,’ said the robot. ‘I just hate everybody.’ Maybe you know the feeling. The robot in question…
What I’ve learned reciting poems in the street
What I’ve learned from reciting verse in the street
Confessions of a Saga lout
Baby boomers like me aren’t giving up irresponsible hedonism as we age. We’re just getting worse at it
Your guide to the coming moth invasion
After this mild winter, you can expect a clothes-ruining epidemic. They’ve already got my best suit
