Pet Shop Boys
Words and music
The bookish thrill of recognising the literary references of the pop artists you love
Calculated absurdity
I want to listen to music that sounds like the dumb hopefulness of being young that I once couldn’t wait to rid myself of, says Sarah Ditum
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Gary Stevenson is wrong about wealth taxes
The popular economist is irritating, but more importantly he is mistaken
Tame Impala fails to impress
unconquered by a
taste of Crusader food
Why they hated Ann Widdecombe
Fair-minded people could agree or disagree with her opinions. Left-wing bigots hated her for not abandoning them
Ethnic minorities are abandoning Labour
It is not just Muslim voters who have been abandoning the Labour Party
How to fix the economy
A repentant ex-financial trader tells all
What makes an American?
What characterises a US citizen in the 21st century, beyond abiding by the country’s laws and supporting its constitution?
The paté of the Land
Chinese water deer, partridges and paté
The end of encrypted Europe
Europe’s latest Chat Control may see child protection become a pretext for wider surveillance.
Calypso and carnage
A seismic Test series and a harbinger of a new force in Test cricket
Questionably loyal opposition
A “rainbow coalition” between Conservatives and the Greens raises questions about the state of the Tories
When art took on fascism (and lost)
Abstract activist concerns have overshadowed aesthetic production
An artful chip
Any penalty is at heart a psychological battle between taker and keeper
Labour’s Gagging Acts
Labour is taking inspiration from Pitt the Younger when it comes to curbing speech
The establishment is still living in an immigration fantasy land
It is influential left-wingers, not the broader public, who have deluded themselves on mass migration
Spaceships, ghost ships and sheep
The secret sauce of Project Hail Mary: it’s a laugh
Operatic satire is a Shaw thing
The old Art has an armoury of skunk-like defence mechanisms to keep the unwashed at bay