The Critics
Confessions of an aging pop queen
Madonna once assured us that being an adult woman was something to aspire to
Facing demons
On the highs and lows of demonic infestation
The spy chief who sold us Blue Nun
Raise a glass to a long life, very well lived
Digging for gold
La fanciulla del West, Opera Holland Park
Operatic satire is a Shaw thing
The old Art has an armoury of skunk-like defence mechanisms to keep the unwashed at bay
Knowingly crass and conflicted
This American culture is hegemonic because even to steal from it is to propel it
Fond portrait of an odd couple
Two irascible, elderly artists and two beautiful younger women in unusual relationships
Farewell to a gentle jazz-lover
Scholarship trumps zealotry, particularly when it is veiled by modesty
Amazing Grace? Meh, it was OK
If there is a reason to see this play, it is Ralph Fiennes
The last true Kapellmeister
Chaotic in all things except music, where he demanded precision and gave his all
Most Read
The martyrdom of Young Bob
On ebbing power of the political influencer
Grooming gangs and the truth
We should not give ammunition to deniers of the grooming gangs scandal
Babies need women
Leaving children with only men who are not their parents is foolish and dangerous
Stop ignoring the Islamisation of our democracy
The British state is bending to Islamism, not attempting to defeat it
Losing control of the narrative
The British establishment no longer sets the terms of public debate over migration
Don’t bet against the SNP
The complete ineptitude of their rivals has kept them at the top of Scottish politics
First time thrills
Most of all, it was a tournament of heroes and villains
Squeezing out your generation
New laws are harming, not helping, younger people
Homage to Zaporizhia and Sumy
Horror continues in Ukraine — but the tide could be turning
Saint Sánchez?
How the Spanish Left uses the Right to hold power
The missing variable in the masculinity crisis
The literature on masculinity ignores the most obvious factor of all: a steady, civilisational fall in testosterone
Hope and stories
Bicinia (Claves)
“You can’t preach here!”
A hostile attitude towards preaching threatens freedom of religion and freedom of speech
The underworld on the high street
Beneath the façade of everyday commerce, organised crime has quietly captured British high streets
Tolerating the intolerant — and the intolerable
The right’s refusal to confront political Islam has helped entrench it in Britain
Signal failure
Ministers love announcing transformative mega-projects, but millions of commuters would settle for an internet connection that actually works