Alan Bennett at 90
From the small screen to the stage, Alan Bennett has been the poet of awkwardness and isolation
Crooked timber
A fine survey of the life and work of Isiah Berlin
Prophet of the end of liberalism
John Gray at 75
Bad bets by the Booker
In 2021, is the state of the Booker still “not serious stuff”?
Super hypocrites
Spare us the sentimental tosh about working-class sport, tradition and community
Murray Walker and the end of Golden Age sports commentators
Murray Walker was the last of the great sports commentators who brought us unforgettable sporting moments and catchphrases which delighted a generation
Diversity at the BAFTAs
The BAFTA film awards have seen plenty of diversity in recent years, but have gone down in film history as the least diverse film awards ever. Why?
Heads should roll after the BBC’s coverage of the Capitol Hill riot
Under Fran Unsworth, the BBC’s news and current affairs output has let us down again and again
The lives of philosophers
British philosophy has become much more interesting, but they just don’t make philosophers like they used to
Play for Today celebrates its 50th birthday
Play for Today was a milestone in the history of TV drama
The enemy of the Civil Service is my friend
Conservatives should hope that Keir Starmer can weaken its grip on British policy
The Candy Man can
The people’s party: now bankrolled by one of the country’s richest property developers
How should we teach about the Holocaust?
Keir Starmer’s social engineering aims seem ill-conceived
Bar none
The fraud behind the Bar Standards Board’s “equality and diversity” drive
Junk food? More like junk statistics
New claims about the costs of obesity are wildly exaggerated
Don’t bite the hand that feeds the birds
The government’s flawed biodiversity analysis endangers successful state-funded schemes
Tory Utopias
1940s Conservatism was seething with creativity and optimism
The dangerous fallacy of “self-deterrence”
The concept makes little sense and could create serious risks
The personal has become far too political
Something has gone very wrong when we are acutely aware of politics
An excess of Fauré
Gabriel Fauré: Violin concerto (Naxos), Complete piano works (Calliope)
Is this what winning looks like?
Reform UK supporters are growing weary of infighting and weak rhetoric
