Politician
Have we lost our minds?
Our shallow and insincere public discourse pales by comparison to the bitter, but profound, politics of the Edwardian era
Carlos and Me
Following Carlos Menem’s recent passing, David Smith remembers his relationship with the bold and cunning politician
Wagner: the long and short of it
Creativity consists in destruction, in turning the composer inside-out, in making fun of him.
Is Starmer the anti-Thatcher?
He does not have the right ambition and imagination
Pilot, playboy, player
This portrait of a gifted and not particularly pleasant man adds another feather to the author’s hat
Postmodern fantasy
Modern fantasy authors often try to subvert traditional religion, with bleak and unoriginal results
The far enemy
The motivations for the 9/11 attacks are still misunderstood and moralised
No lessons learned from lockdown
Despite all the nuance and retrospective moderation, the Covid inquiry leaves us no closer confronting the failures of technocracy
Stolen moments
Smoking is a precious social currency in a fast atomising world
Turning shares into swords
The Church doesn’t invest in defence companies, but it prays you continue to do so
What we don’t talk about when we talk about mental illness
We talk about mental health differently – but is it an improvement?
The public sector must reform or die
Too big to fail? It is too big to succeed