Social media
Mumfluencers and the return of the cottage industry
Soon, social media may be banned for under-16s. But the real addicts are mums. I was a sitting duck for…
The rise of toxic femininity
At the end of last year, the government announced a programme designed to tackle the radicalisation of young men in…
No, the internet is not bad for your child
The forces arranged in favour of banning social media for under-16s are powerful and wide-ranging. The unlikely alliance includes the…
Britain’s X crackdown is no joke
The internet suddenly went down in Iran last night, as courageous Iranians continued to rise up against the Ayatollah. The…
Revenge of the invisible woman: Other People’s Fun, by Harriet Lane, reviewed
Things turn nasty when lonely Ruth finds herself taken advantage of once too often by selfish, glamorous Sookie, a faux friend from distant schooldays
Hex appeal: the rise of middle-class witches
In King James VI of Scotland’s Daemonologie, written in 1597, he vigorously encourages witch-hunting and, in particular, the tossing of…
When two worlds collide: Well, This is Awkward, by Esther Walker reviewed
A high-powered childless fortysomething social media exec’s life is turned upside down by the arrival of her 11-year-old niece
What’s really behind Reform’s rise
It is the question dominating bars and fringe debates this party conference season: what exactly is driving Reform UK’s popularity?…
The rise of performative reading
‘To be or not to be’ may be the question but when it comes to eliciting answers, I’ve always preferred…
The unsettling rise of DeathTok
For teenage girls on TikTok, the makeup routine is an almost sacred ritual. Manicured fingertips dart around at virtuosic speed,…
Lives upended: TonyInterruptor, by Nicola Barker, reviewed
At an improvised jazz performance a man interrupts a trumpet solo asking: ‘Is this honest?’ The incident goes viral, prompting much comic argument about abstractions
The Catholic influencers spreading the word of God
Vatican City In an auditorium just outside St Peter’s Basilica, the Vatican’s Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, sat solemnly…
Lunch with Thomas Straker, the chef the restaurant world loves to hate
‘It was a heavy week,’ sighs Thomas Straker, explaining why he recently ended up on a drip in New York.…
Is nothing private anymore?
We all need a place away from public view – but we should also remind ourselves why our privacy has been so invaded
Should you be arrested for reading The Spectator?
Regular readers will know that I have an obsession with home burglaries. Specifically those occasions when a burglar goes into…
Dear Mary: What is the etiquette of unfollowing someone on Instagram?
Q. When hosting a dinner party, should one circulate the biographies/Wikipedia entries of your guests beforehand so that everyone arrives…
The psychological toll of being constantly tracked and harassed
With smartphones providing hitherto undreamt of opportunities for spying, human rights workers and investigative journalists are left struggling for breath
The child-free influencers waging war on motherhood
At around five weeks into my pregnancy my phone found out about it, and from that point on I was…
How I fell foul of YouTube’s fact-checkers
The day after Mark Zuckerberg said fact-checkers ‘have destroyed more trust than they have created’ I experienced why he has…
The nightmare of ‘maladaptive daydreaming’
At the beginning of the spring term of my second year at university, a French boy called Xavier looked up…
Modern-day ghosts: Haunted Tales, by Adam Macqueen, reviewed
Dark, unsettling stories set mostly in the world of social media and panic rooms are, strikingly, as much about love as death – and how love is stronger
The true meaning of free speech
Right after Donald Trump’s landslide, I opined on YouTube that this turning point could sound the death knell for Woke…
Labour’s war with Elon Musk
How do you solve a problem like Elon? That is the dilemma facing Keir Starmer. Musk seems particularly exercised about…
Will Starmer make the Online Safety Act even worse?
Good God, there’s a lot of guff being talked about the Online Safety Act. This was a piece of legislation…
Sharing riot videos? You’re part of the problem
We’re told these riots are about immigration, racism, angry Islam, elite blindness and identity politics – and, to a point,…
