Issue: October 2023
Content warning
On triggering opera and Arts Council England
Banned played on
The hit on Roisin Murphy’s ‘Hit Parade’
A new madonna
On AI and authenticity
Wall St wolves
On money, morality and motive in three films
Paper trail
Thrillers from Finland to Afghanistan
Spotlight on the Black Country
BBC on the Black Country and on the passing of Michael Parkinson
A new take on Arts and Crafts
Private housing design has been neglected by architects
Earthy paradise
Exotic food at a Soho Sri Lankan restaurant
Dressing for dinner
On the salad course
Walk on the wild side
A new role for old game keepers
Most Read
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.
The lonely death of Henry Nowak
We must draw lessons from a horrendous and disgraceful case
Rewatching the English
English identity has become too surreal and discomfiting to define
A failed war on fags
The black market has taken over the tobacco trade Down Under
All the single ladies
Instead of trying to persuade reluctant women into motherhood, policymakers should focus on helping enthusiastic parents have larger families
Calypso and carnage
A seismic Test series and a harbinger of a new force in Test cricket
These violent delights
Pagliacci made the murder the true apex of the show
Why we should explore space
Space exploration lifts the human spirit: rather than asking “Why?”, we should ask “Why not?”
A below-par Riley is still better than most
The Palm House by
Gwendoline Riley; My Death by Lisa
Tuttle; Still Talking by Lore Segal
The rise and fall of Star Trek liberalism
We should celebrate real-world achievement rather than identitarian fantasy
Mahmood music
Shabana Mahmood’s asylum reforms are a lot less tough than they sound
Cofnas, Cambridge and academic freedom
Truly provocative ideas are still unwelcome in our universities
Homage to Zaporizhia and Sumy
Horror continues in Ukraine — but the tide could be turning
Jonathan Ross’s existentialist hell
Jonathan Ross’s “crass” new TV show is surprisingly Sartrean
What Louis Theroux ignores
Pea-brained influencers make for an easier target than Islamic misogyny