Aussie life
Being an AFL umpire does not look like a job for the thin-skinned. Given the passion of the code’s fan…
Language
My thanks to Speccie reader Ian from Cairns for suggesting that the members of the Albanese government are post turtles.…
Luckiest country’s wealth wasted
We could be the richest people on Earth
How body cams create a culture of fear
Thanks to an underage relative who’d stolen my driving licence, I recently found myself ID-less at the local Co-op. I…
The art of talking to strangers
About halfway round the park, by the last spindly remnants of the Festival of Britain, I bumped into my Scandinavian…
England’s hooligan days are over
In downtown Düsseldorf, a district known as ‘the longest bar in the world’, hordes of happy England fans belted out…
A lunch good enough to lift Tory spirits
Things could have been worse. My host was determined to lunch al fresco, and after all it was late June.…
Dear Mary: how can I safeguard my feminist principles at dinner?
Q. My husband and I will shortly be having some South American friends to stay. They come most years and…
Who came up with the analogy of carrying a Ming vase?
‘Evelyn Waugh,’ said my husband when I asked who came up with the analogy of carrying a Ming vase. He…
Stylish and potent: The Bikeriders reviewed
Jeff Nichols’s The Bikeriders is based on the book by photojournalist Danny Lyon, first published in 1968, about his years…
The grubby world of political betting
If you’re going to fleece a bookies, it would be wise to ask a friend to place the bet on…
How to hack your summer holiday
Since it’s June, here is your cut-out-and-keep guide to hacking your summer holiday. One possibility. Don’t bother. Unless you have…
Cowards vs culture
For some while I have marvelled at the way in which artworks seem to have become the focus of hatred…
The most original sea painter since Turner? Lowry
In 1958 an elderly gentleman staying at the Castle Hotel in Berwick-upon-Tweed gave the receptionist a doodle he had made…
Rushdie on how the best magical realism transcends fantasy
Ask the man in the street to quote a line from one of Salman Rushdie’s novels, and he might struggle.…
Tory voters want to punish their party – and themselves
For progressive onlookers abroad, the Labour landslide now projected next month will seem a cheerful counterweight to the EU parliamentary…
Riveting and exhilarating: Miss Julie, at Park90, reviewed
Some Demon by Laura Waldren is a gem of a play that examines the techniques of manipulation and bullying practised…
When accusations fly
‘OK, there is a body with a knife there, and the police come and say nothing happened… You have to…
New Zealand’s culture wars backlash
I’m in New Zealand on a speaking tour organised by the Kiwi Free Speech Union, and in some ways it’s…
Spectator Competition: Outta Palo Alto
In Competition 3354 you were invited to put yourselves in the shoes (or head) of a tech billionaire. Perhaps unsurprisingly,…
Letters: the Tories’ fatal flaw
Major error Sir: Even as a former Tory voter, I acknowledge that the predicted scale of the Conservative electoral defeat…
Does it matter how posh pop stars are?
‘A working class hero is something to be.’ Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer must have missed the conflicted, sardonic edge…
Don’t outlaw ‘Islamophobia’
‘One of the things that’s coming up over and over again is Islamophobia,’ says Keir Starmer in a campaign video,…
How to lose voters
During the 1983 general election, I campaigned every single day with great zeal and avidity. I knocked on quite literally…
