Culture
Zooming Windows
The George Formby Society attempts a ukulele world record, online
Murray Walker and the end of Golden Age sports commentators
Murray Walker was the last of the great sports commentators who brought us unforgettable sporting moments and catchphrases which delighted a generation
Conspiracies: theory and practice
Jeremy Black talks with Graham Stewart about the many conspiracies and secretive plots that really did shape the course of events
What is the point of the Proms?
The BBC’s new recruitment campaign for the Proms shows a clear disregard for its classical origins
Born digital
Graham Stewart talks to Alex Story and Robert Wigley about the dangers of our addiction to digital information
Radio cashes in on theatre’s loss
Radio drama is prone to over-signalling regional differences, says Anne McElvoy
Sporting life
This biography on Sir Stanley Rous and sport in the twentieth century is scholarly, balanced and well-written, says Lincoln Allison
Which political diaries are worth taking seriously?
Professor Jeremy Black discusses with Graham Stewart the craft and value of the political diarist
A treasure trove of memories
T.V. show, The Repair Shop, is just what we need in these dark and fractured times, says Adam LeBor
Gloriously bad company
Do we really need another biography about Francis Bacon? The answer is emphatically yes, says Christopher Bray
The final lap
Senna dives into the high-speed Tamburello corner and never comes out of it
Liz Truss was right but naive
She grasped the scale of Britain’s plight but misunderstood the nature of power
Free speech in free fall
As British freedoms are continually eroded, much of the liberty lobby seems to have nothing to say
Sugar, sex and sacrifice
It would be foolish to casually abandon Christian ethics of restraint
Parklife people
This book has a brilliant premise but, frustratingly, it doesn’t quite work
The wines of Israel
Israel’s wine heartland is now suffering from rocket attacks
The publisher and the police
The case of Ernest Moret has drawn attention to a sinister abuse of power
Why we should resist this “conversion therapy” ban
It would enshrine dubious claims as unarguable facts, and it endangers freedom and young people
Explaining the “gender pay gap”
It does not exist — or, at least, not as you might have thought
The stench of Chanel No 5
Set mainly in Nazi-occupied Paris, The New Look tells the story of Coco Chanel and Christian Dior
Chinese whispers
Oliver Dowden’s tough talk on Chinese hacking is less than wholly convincing
