Music
Are the Bee Gees Britain’s most underrated band?
The Bee Gees have always been a target for mockery, but by force of talent and ambition, they managed to define the age around them
The legacy of David Bowie: five years, what a surprise
Alexander Larman on why the late, great David Bowie remains such a totemic and iconic figure in his life
Meet me at Ronnie’s
A new BBC documentary captures the spirit of the club that made London a global hub for jazz
Cheer leaders
Opera unswervingly believes in the potential for a divine spark in humans, says Robert Thicknesse
From disaster to opportunity
London’s orchestral rat-race will have fewer runners when musical life returns, says Norman Lebrecht
Dress sense
The average rock band from the 1980s onwards dressed as if they were going to fix your car, not blow your mind
John Lennon: the first and last global icon
Forty years on from the death of John Lennon, Dominic Green recounts the tormented life of the last universal Western icon
Bedtime reading for boomers
You will search in vain for a new life of any rocker who made his name after the advent of punk
The Russians aren’t coming
New music was not officially muted in the Soviet Union. It just got left at home, says Norman Lebrecht
The evolution of Nick Cave
The former hard-living frontman continues to expand his horizons
Jolyon’s little investigation
Questions have emerged about the founder of the Good Law Project’s approach to privacy
British universities have a China problem
The increasing influence of the CCP is a threat to free inquiry and free expression
How dark can humour be?
Laughter — even laughter about morbid things — is part of what makes us human
Weak, flawed, limited; an opportunity missed
Sanghera really should have devoted more attention to the pre-Western history in Empireworld
The sculptor’s funeral
The death of Imogen Stuart represents the passing of an Ireland that built, rather than destroyed
Reform the police, don’t deform the police
The Met Police’s Gangs Matrix might have been flawed but it served an important purpose
The Conservatives should not cancel Christians
A Conservative party that demonises Christian convictions will cease to be conservative
Laugh to hide the tears
Rishi Sunak was desperate to appear on top form before the Liaison Committee
Tragedy of the common spaces
It is sadly in keeping with the modern British mindset to prefer something good not to be done
Religious freedom is back on the agenda
The International Freedom of Religion or Belief Bill, currently before parliament, is an important step for securing Britain’s role in promoting religious liberty
Moral progress has happened not because of, but in spite of woke activism
People who have enabled falsehoods and abuse cannot take credit for civilisational advances
