Archives
Too light by half
Bernard Herrmann: Wuthering Heights (Chandos)
The lives of Mary Magdalene
A fine book explores her life and afterlife
Effective affinities
Moral philosophy, the individual and the future
J’adore les bleus
Antoine Dupont makes the game look easy
Life through the kaleideologyscope
Must everything be reduced to political resentment?
Liberalism’s lion
Christopher Hitchens remains unforgettable
Calling time on closing times
Pubs should be allowed to stay open longer
Free speech for all
Everyone hurts when the state restricts our right to speak
The case for kids
Why children are a public good
Lucy Letby and the exploitation of tragedy
Must everything be absorbed by the discourse?
Most Read
How religion shapes football fandom
The meaning of football is intertwined with the meaning of faith
Labour’s mercurial kingmaker
The eventful career of Josh Simons, the man who gave up his seat for Andy Burnham
In defence of Lara Bird
There is nothing weird or dishonest about having a dual existence
The hitch with the Hitch
How Christopher Hitchens brought me back to Christ
The ties that bind
A revived society tie has raised thousands for hedgehogs — and reminds us what Britain has lost with the decline of the club tie
Why nobody likes a smarty pants
Is it reasonable to conflate genuine intellectual endeavour with undue concern for supposed accuracy?
In praise of Canary Wharf
Once dismissed as a sterile outpost, Canary Wharf has become one of Britain’s greatest urban success stories
Irish anti-Israel agitation is out of control
Anti-Israel sentiments among Irish nationalists are irrational and opportunistic
The case for vapes
Arguments for prohibitionism disappear in a cloud of vapour
This apology for a political comedy
Amusing as a war crimes trial, and seems to last twice as long
The knife and the bone
After war and repression, Iranian dissidents believe the regime’s reckoning is near — but Tehran’s influence reaches far beyond its borders
The sleep of reason
Sir Mark Rowley’s forgotten police thriller reveals the assumptions, anxieties and moral universe of Britain’s managerial elite.
Undramatic life of a literary also-ran
Malcolm Cowley never understood very much about literature
Venice Biennale 2026
Collected detritus of Biennales past, left available for recycling when there’s space to fill
The trains have to run
Populists have had success in persuading people that they can govern — but can they actually govern?
Metamorphoses at the Rijksmuseum
Metamorphoses at the
Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam