Tragedy
How dark can humour be?
Laughter — even laughter about morbid things — is part of what makes us human
Alan Bennett at 90
From the small screen to the stage, Alan Bennett has been the poet of awkwardness and isolation
Walk tall in these shoes
If you buy the best kit, it will last much longer
How to make marriage less taxing
We should let young couples keep more of their own money
Big town life
Force for progress, loyalist fortress, or den of iniquity — the English town has been all of these, and more
Bloody opposition
The Tories have left Britain in the hands of managers, judges and technocrats
A spy’s afterlife
John le Carré’s work and life still haunt British culture
Ireland’s surrogacy scandal
The Irish inferiority complex grasps at any first — no matter how low
Death by red tape
“Soft cancellation” is the preferred tool of institutionalised censoriousness
Music for a disintegrating world
Valentin Silvestrov: Widmung, Postludium (Naxos)