United States
The spirit of Prohibition
It is an old adage, but still pertinent. ‘Every generalisation about India is true, and so is the opposite.’ The…
Coloured
Benedict Cumberbatch apologised at length: ‘devastated’, ‘shaming’, ‘offended’, ‘inappropriate’. What had he done? Been caught in a compromising situation or…
The war on fraternities
An unruly American tradition may be coming to an end
Texas: From cowboys to culture
Dallas has reinvented itself as a major arts destination, says Hugh Graham
Diary
Every year Christmas comes earlier and earlier in America. Cards, baubles and imitation trees were being sold in the big…
Pacific-sized love
Flying from Hawaii and my grandfather
Diary
Oh God, it’s happened again. Another evening where I’m surrounded by people I know personally or have interviewed, and I…
Barometer
States of criminality A 90-year-old Florida man feeding the homeless was arrested under a Fort Lauderdale law which makes it…
What happens in Vegas… and why I’m happy it doesn’t happen at home
I didn’t realise that the Rialto Bridge has a moving walkway and muzak, that the gondolas beneath it float on…
Hug a hoodie?
The Ku Klux Klan is trying to rebrand
All that jazz
This is a big book, a monumental text with 800 illustrations, 400 of them in colour, to be contemplated more…
Bear market
The West will have to drop sanctions on Russia – or face another global economic crash
What’s an army good for?
In the case of America, the answer is now practically everything – except perhaps winning wars
Obama’s dearest enemies
The Republicans would be crazy to try and impeach the lame-duck President. It would only revive him
The incredible journey
Sam Leith marvels at a lone horseman’s 10,000-mile ride, braving bandits, quicksands, vampire bats and revolution in search of ‘variety’
Letters
An independent policy Sir: James Curran’s review of my book Dangerous Allies (‘Radical nationalist’, 17 May) showed a significant and…
Diary
I feel an intense antipathy for Vladimir Putin. No one on the international scene has aroused in me such dislike…
Portrait of the week
Home The British economy grew by 0.8 per cent in the first quarter of 2014, disappointing hotheads who’d expected 1 per cent. It…
Putin’s winning hand
Russia is making the West look posturing, weak and divided
Diary
São Paolo It was back in 2001 that my good friend Jim O’Neill of Goldman Sachs coined the acronym ‘Bric’,…
Investment: America vs gravity
Reality may be about to reassert itself after an extraordinary hot streak
Hello, Mrs President
The American right hates Hillary Clinton as much as ever. But that doesn’t mean they know how to stop her
Getting Nixon taped
Simpsons star Harry Shearer on what it takes to play the president
The only way to end the war on drugs is to stop fighting it
It’s surprisingly boring, legalising weed. In Colorado, where recreational doobie has been utterly without censure for, ooh, about a week…
Luddites in the kitchen
I enjoy reading reviews of kitchen gadgetry. Clever new kitchen products are often under-appreciated. Many rituals around food preparation are…
