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
Is Saul Bellow Martin Amis’s true father?
Reviews of Martin Amis’s new book prove that the best questions are the ones that no one asks
The Boy who never grew old
Eric Ravilious’s ethereal watercolours chime with today’s sensibilities
The Church of England is practicing a secular religion
Equality, diversity and inclusion can be prioritised over religious faith
J.K. Rowling and the very Freudian fandom
Many Harry Potter fans feel a strange compulsion to hate the thing they love
Ukraine can still triumph
It needs, and deserves, Western patience and solidarity
The Irish should reject the new hate speech bill
It threatens free speech while offering dubious benefits for society
The royals needs better PR
We have seen too many royal disasters
How not to investigate the origins of Covid
Wuhan: How the Covid-19 Outbreak in China Spiralled Out of Control by Dali L. Yang
Sunak, false equivalence and the phantom far right
There is no comparison between the threat of Islamism and the threat of the far right
Ireland has become an exporter of gender ideology
An architect of Irish trans policy has been elected Human Rights Commissioner of the Council of Europe
It’s the only one for me, nicotine
Once again, public health fanaticism is being prioritised over simple pleasures
There is a lushness to this expanded Letters
There is frequent reporting of local news, often betraying a hobbit-like
preoccupation with the availability of beer
