Comedy
Judah Friedlander Live!
In his perversity, absurdity, and bleakness, Friedlander taps the mood of American politics now
Starring Chelsea Peretti as Herself
The moments of interruption in Peretti’s stand-up reveal the constructedness of what we are watching
Trusting Dave Chappelle
The comedian’s 8:46 show is a stand-up special with few jokes
Plagiarism in comedy – homage or theft?
How a hugely popular American satirical show ripped off an online British comedian
Streaming Daniel Kitson
The Interminable Suicide of Gregory Church explores the possibility of human connection
Latex memories
Spitting Image (BritBox)
What Spitting Image did to British politics
As Spitting Image returns to our screens, its original impact has not been forgotten
Is there such a thing as right-wing comedy?
The issue of political balance in comedy is no laughing matter
Where is the Waugh or Wodehouse of our time?
Comic writing: light distraction or social mirror?
Mean genius of comedy
Alexander Larman on Happiness and Tears: The Ken Dodd Story by Louis Barfe
The liberal hero who sealed in Ulster’s sectarianism
John Hume, 1937-2020
The dictionary of the demagogues
In the dictionary of the demagogues there is only a single word: obey
Break a leg
Woke Oscars tries to cripple the film industry, Stonewall capture the police and the Scottish enlightenment is cancelled
Love, work and whimsy
MacDonald Gill’s poster for the Empire Marketing Board helped promote a nation at the height of its powers
Don’t kiss me, Kate: purging the American academy
Was Kate Pickering Antonova Twitter storm an unintended announcement of academia’s irrelevance?
The man who made antiques cool
Christopher Gibbs inspired a generation of dealers, aesthetes and designers
Mieczyslaw Weinberg: Cello Concerto (CPO)
If Norman Lebrecht goes a month without hearing Weinberg he feels the loss
Leo Weiner: Divertimentos (Naxos)
Music from the Hungarian educator who shaped the sound of the modern American orchestra
In defence of conspiracy theories
Daniel Miller says conspiracy theories should be treated and judged like any theory
Why Victor Davis Hanson thinks Trump will win
The classicist and military historian makes the case fo the president – and a second upset