The Critics
Marianna in the trenches
She wants to dive into the murky depths of social media, but her microphone can only scratch the surface
Tawdry tales
The Tales of Hoffmann, Royal Opera House
Back in the arena
If you liked Gladiator, you’ll like Gladiator II
The tragedy of Radio 3
The centenary “celebration” of the BBC Singers summed up everything that has gone wrong
Booze or muse?
Composers have been no slouches when it comes to the sauce
The horror of 7 October on film
The killers’ headset footage, CCTV, interviews with survivors and heart-rending last messages
Shades of Gray
Never underestimate the mysterious yet powerful Sue Gray
Cardinal win
Conclave is a political drama and a closed-room mystery rolled into one
Sophocles’s lack-of-foresight saga
Families will feud, from the BC era to 2024
Passing the baton to the offspring
Does maestro talent run in the genes?
Cowboy quartet
A new screen Western is always welcome
The horrors of VAR
Technology is making the beautiful game less beautiful
4B and the futility of heteropessimism
Romance is painful but it is also possible
The problem with EDI
Equality, diversity and inclusion policies are constraining free thought and dividing people
In defence of the incredulous stare
To argue is to indulge in a practice, with all that this entails
The grim quasi-religious doctrine of “unconscious bias training”
Baroness Royall’s commitment to the idea should concern Oxford students, academics and administrators
Making a mockery of Labour
The ministers just can’t yet do chaos like the Tories could
Action Tom
Can Tom Tugendhat MP resolve his vibes problem?
You reap what you sow
Poor Daniel Zeichner was left to face the outrage that the Budget had caused
Bursary school
Refuse to play the poverty card
There’s no good way to equal pay
You can’t beat the laws of supply and demand
