Features
The broken circle
A remarkable group of intellectuals in pre-war Vienna used philosophy to explain the scientific progess of their time — until they were halted by murder and Nazism
Meet me at Ronnie’s
A new BBC documentary captures the spirit of the club that made London a global hub for jazz
A catch that feeds the soul
Heaven is the Outer-Hebrides – with the electric jolt of the sea trout on the line
Surviving the straits of hell
An old press cutting provided the key to a defiant tale of life after Auschwitz
The triumph of the Trump doctrine
An appraisal of the President’s foreign policy would find he was consistent, traditional, multilateral – and highly successful
Beware of Bad Ideas
The democratic state has a duty to act as an ideological gate keeper to protect society
Round up the ordinary subjects
A free society cannot remain free if it implements the social justice movement’s bizarre ideology of vilifying ordinary people
The BBC, a class apart
Michael Collins says the corporation is fighting the wrong war, as usual
A question of taste
Rex Whistler’s Tate mural should be seen more as an ironic Rococo fantasy than the work of a racist
Out with the Old Masters?
Will traditional museums be replaced by modern “experiences”?
Diversity season again
Chloé Zhao is the first Asian woman likely to be nominated in the Best Director category for Nomadland, says Christopher Silvester
Learning from the past
Much of Wisdom of the Ancients makes one appreciate how we get sidetracked by so much trivial nonsense
How Covid paved the Road to Serfdom
Hayek suggested a society which sacrificed liberty for security would gradually submit itself to authoritarian control
Robert Fisk: Middle East correspondent or novelistic storyteller?
Despite dying suddenly and younger than many of his contemporaries, Robert Fisk undoubtedly outlived his era
Can Montenegro recover from half a millennia of hurt, pride, rage, and war?
We have to be wise to what else is simmering beneath beaches and staggeringly beautiful mountain ranges of this little paradise
Let’s open up debate about lockdowns
There’s no place in all of this for unsubstantiated claims or attempts to dismiss those who encourage the sensible consideration of alternatives
England’s Caravaggio
Matthew Craske’s book challenges the prevailing idea of Joseph Wright as product and servant of rationalism and Enlightenment
Dominic Cummings and the illusion of control
The coronavirus pandemic has exposed how woefully mistaken Cummings’ hopes were for lasting civil service reform
Crashed and Burnsed
ASH Smyth gives a poetically bad speech at the Galle Literary Festival for the Caledonian Society of Sri Lanka
The historical role of the maîtresse-en-titre
Nigel Jones looks at how the mistresses and girlfriends of rulers have exerted political power throughout history