Spotlight on the Black Country
BBC on the Black Country and on the passing of Michael Parkinson
Not having a gay old time
On BBC radio’s preoccupation with Americans and identity politics.
Remembering an unfashionable writer
BBC Radio 4 attempts to resurrect fallen literary figures.
Two essays in excellence
The BBC at its best on Shakespeare, and remembering Barry Humphries.
Multiple moans from the get-go
The americanisation of the BBC
England’s polymath of the piano
Greatness does not always declare itself in torrents of Slavic emotion or Germanic intellectualism
Radio 2 is now beyond my Ken
What used to work, and what listeners enjoyed, is no longer the most important consideration for the decision-makers in Radio
Lost in the Moral Maze
What is kindness, and is it the highest of virtues?
Bragg shows what is possible
A show worth the licence fee by itself
Most Read
The establishment is still living in an immigration fantasy land
It is influential left-wingers, not the broader public, who have deluded themselves on mass migration
American strategy in Iran is wiser than it seems
President Trump’s intervention will leave the world safer than it was
Saint Nicola
Nicola Sturgeon wants sympathy for her husband’s crimes—but after years spent avoiding awkward questions, her latest reinvention may be the hardest sell yet.
On Britain as a capitalist command economy
It is neither neoliberal nor socialist but a secret third thing
The lonely death of Henry Nowak
We must draw lessons from a horrendous and disgraceful case
Devolution has been a disaster
Wales, and the United Kingdom at large, are weaker for the devolution project
Brexit was not an act of economic self-harm
Whatever you have heard, UK-EU trade is doing just fine
The case against Project Spire
The Church of England should abandon this misleading and expensive exercise in virtue signalling
The promises of politicians
We are surrounded by lies, euphemisms and deceit
Don’t expand the Equality Act
Labour should not expand the Equality Act — it will hit the poor hardest
NATO needs the Germans to be up
European defence depends on a stronger Germany
Quinlan Terry
He kept the flame of classicism alive at a time when it burnt very low
“Treatment” does not make child predators safe
People who abuse children must be kept away from children
Britain’s AI gamble reeks of desperation
The government is betting it all on AI — it could lose our trousers
Exile and exaltation
Bohuslav Martinu: The Symphonies (Deutsche Grammophon)
We must save the right to smoke
Liberals must not put down the sword against paternalism