Letter to Oz
No, I don’t feel welcomed to my country
Keir’s cabinet of curiosities
How long can Starmer last?
Maturity and tenderness
So now it is spring and that carnival season with its promise of Melbourne Cups and AFL grand finals hits…
Aussie life
The recent sci-fi movie Paradise Hills delivered one gem for this viewer; the choristers’ white ruffs setting off each young…
Language
Speccie reader Raymond has asked me to explain the meaning of the compound noun ‘common sense.’ It was Aristotle who…
Albanese government shames Australia before the world
Don’t let activist judges govern
The Mad Men theory of drunk decision-making
In electing this government, we seem to have picked the worst of both worlds: higher taxation combined with austerity in…
Why play the Saudi anthem before an all-British boxing match?
For only the second time in my life, I went to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia last weekend. At least,…
It may be too late to save trail hunting
There’s a grumble, often repeated among country folk, that ‘hunting people got hunting banned’. What they mean (I think) is…
Like The Joker, but less pretentious: The Penguin reviewed
Doctor Who fans may remember that after the show’s triumphant return in the early 2000s, we found out that showrunner…
What does ‘victory’ for Ukraine look like?
This week in New York Volodymyr Zelensky will present Joe Biden with a ‘Victory Plan’ for Ukraine. But how to…
Nick Elliott and a life worth drinking to
The English language has immense resources, but the odd weakness. What, for instance, is the translation for ‘Auld lang syne’?…
The fascinating mechanics of striking a deal
If you wish to know how to become a master negotiator, a formidable body of books will now offer to…
Where did ‘heckler’ come from?
What the heckler No party conference would be complete without a heckler or two, but where did the term come…
What would the Romans have made of Keir Starmer’s freebies?
An ancient Greek, counting up the value of the gifts that Sir Keir Starmer had received over his spotless political…
Expressive and eloquent: Northern Ballet’s Three Short Ballets reviewed
Ballet companies have become dismally timid about exploring their 20th-century heritage: everything nowadays must be either box-fresh new or a…
A box set for those on the spectrum: Markus Poschner’s Bruckner Symphonies reviewed
Grade: B+ Anton Bruckner wrote 11 symphonies – Numbers One to Nine plus a student exercise and the formidable rejected…
Should I grow old gracefully – or disgracefully?
Now that I’m about to turn 70, I’m wondering: shall I grow old gracefully, or disgracefully? Everyone I know, young…
Letters: The case for assisted dying
Craic down Sir: If Ireland had been investing in infrastructure as Ross Clark writes (‘Bog down’, 21 September), Dublin would…
