Ian McKellen
The undiscovered country
Ian McKellen’s Hamlet meets impossibly high expectations
Why I “took the knee”
Following a brief loss of balance in a London watering hole I ‘took the knee’ – but that doesn’t detract from the symbolism
The gossip must go on
Lockdown tales from our showbusiness mole
Spare us the pronouns, Sandman
The more you play along, the harder it is to distance yourself from the fallout later
The Dom Identity
What happens if an imaginary grenade doesn’t explode?
Who wants to be a teacher?
Lucy Kellaway’s memoir is a must-read for anyone considering the profession
Dark side of the rainbow
The US obsession with marketing Pride to children has reached alarming new heights
Sagas to savour
Was Iceland responsible for the French Revolution, the moon landing and the discovery of America?
Richard Donner: an underrated director
Suggestions that Donner was a director-for-hire rather than a true auteur are harsh and inaccurate
Letter from Washington: The great lab leak U-turn
A theory dismissed as ‘disinformation’ has suddenly gone mainstream
Beethoven/Schnittke: Violin concertos (BIS)
This fabulous interpretation of the Beethoven concerto is one of the records of the year
Hollywood’s suicidal mission
How Aperture 2025, the Academy’s new set of equality and diversity regulations, will ultimately stifle creativity
The incestuous sins of the soixante-huitards
The secrets and lies of the Castro-loving 1960s revolutionaries who became part of the French establishment