Academia
Should we make Classics history?
Enthusiasm may cause less harm, and prompt more good, than cynicism
University: a good idea
Students should be careful not to underestimate the value of academic study
In praise of the lecture
Face-to-face lectures can be far more illuminating than a mere video
A week in the life of a struggling academic
On the ups, downs and deeper downs of academic life
The arrogance of academics
The author’s own politicised speech norms are obvious but never reflected upon
Seriously funny
David Lodge’s work appealed to the highbrow as much as lovers of lowbrow farce
The unsettling cant of settler colonial studies
The myth of salvation by means of social justice offers division and despair
The Philistines versus the Pharisees
How the rise of the meritocrats tore society in two
Deconstructing the architecture of cancel culture
The censorious impulse is degrading intellectual discourse on both sides of the Atlantic
Young man — there’s a place you can go …
Everything changes in the end and not always for the better
Most Read
The Book of JO’B
James O’Brien’s aggressive incuriosity is becoming ever more embattled as his worldview crumbles
Losing control of the narrative
The British establishment no longer sets the terms of public debate over migration
The martyrdom of Young Bob
On ebbing power of the political influencer
Fear and fury in Belfast
Violence spiralled out of control in Northern Ireland in the aftermath of a shocking crime
How the Southport riots broke Starmer’s government
A combination of authoritarianism and hypocrisy proved fatal
The pro-nature case for regulatory reform
England’s environmental regime hasn’t delivered a restoration of nature — only decline, delay, and bureaucracy
QAnon for centrist dads
Peter Chappell’s What If Reform Wins is less a political forecast than a Westminster panic attack in novel form
The online life that steals your soul
Read this book and then stamp on your phone
Fast cars fit for old-school stars
Speed and sophistication once shared the same side of the street
The hollow men
T. S. Eliot understood contemporary politicians better than they understand themselves
Like a homecoming
A haunted house
The miracle of the magical migrants
Is a man’s identity is fluid when he steps on British soil, but calcified on African soil?
Joyless virtue signalling masquerading as scholarship
Dozier’s The White Pedestal is more an exercise in ideology than a search for the truth
A profound Tory
Simon Heffer’s biography of Enoch Powell very much deserves revisiting
The screaming spires
Oxford University must clarify where it stands on academic freedom
Middle management in the Middle East
The war against Iran has emphasised the importance of deep leadership