Culture
In praise of borrowed ideas
AI will not be the death of creativity, and could even enhance it
Are we suffering from generational sink?
How can the young find meaning and coherence in the future?
Cufflinks for Christmas
It is much better to be overdressed than underdressed
The triumph of Twee Britannia
We must resist the siren songs of Bake Off and Boaty McBoatface
Eight women well worth meeting
“Parallel Lives” is an unsung gem of an exhibition
Art does not exist to improve society
We should resist the cultural reductionism of the modern “creative industries”
Ubuntu and the path to progress
South Africa cannot continue down the road towards conflict
The state of the arts (w/ Pierre d’Alancaisez)
Can art still be essentially and not just instrumentally valuable?
Against ideas
We have too many of them and they are not doing any good
What happened to the working class intellectual
Young people are not being encouraged or inspired
Fifth magician blues
He made the tea, he forged the autographs, and only once did he run out of plectrums
Britain needs eccentric thought
Lewis Goodall is wrong about the “radicalisation” of the Tory right
Old Ireland stirs
The defeat handed to Dublin’s progressive establishment was a reminder of an older Ireland
Introducing Critical Mash
Our new arts podcast, broadcasting from the frontline of the (high) culture war
History will judge us on gender
How can the modern world tolerate such absurdity?
Plain Janeites
For all their admirable dedication, keepers of the Austen flame cannot be so protective
A judicial defence of religious liberty is long overdue
Christians should not be discriminated against because of their religious beliefs
A Good Read should be better
Some weeks there are comedians and groovy journalists — others it’s groovy journalists and comedians
Ukraine can still triumph
It needs, and deserves, Western patience and solidarity
The BBC feeds us bad science
We can’t even trust the Beeb to tell us about the basic facts of motherhood
The spectre of the past
The “Great English Ghost Story” offers a form of comfort and is rooted in the ache of nostalgia for a more elegant era
