Lunch
Gentleman of Médoc
This wine is ready to drink but can readily be put down to hibernate for another half decade before being savoured by the Shepherd Market salonnières
A great conductor leaves the stage
No conductor from China or Japan ever commanded world orchestras before Seiji Ozawa, and none has since matched his impact
Sinking giggling into the sea
The Conservatives were very amused with Rishi Sunak’s latest joke, even if no one else was
Ukraine’s cross-cultural contradictions
Has Ukraine overcome its legacy of historical antisemitism?
It’s the only one for me, nicotine
Once again, public health fanaticism is being prioritised over simple pleasures
The greats’ Dane
The story of Burton and Gielgud’s famed Broadway production of Hamlet has been turned into a West End play
Stop blaming Brexit for Britain’s economic ills
It is not only wrong — it distracts us from our real problems
Tragicomedy at the UN
The limp United Nations cannot be trusted to support the victims of tyranny
Cognition porn and discursive dehumanisation
Cultural and political discourse can follow the reductive yet seductive logic of pornography
The meaning of Navalny’s death
This tragic event illustrates the cruelty and fragility of the Kremlin
Could it be magic?
Magus: The Art of Magic from Faustus to Agrippa by Anthony Grafton