Features
Best of the Blob: who would be picked for its 1st XV?
Who would be picked for its 1st XV?
Hollywood, fist-fights and getting cancelled: Joan Collins and Taki in conversation
Joan Collins and Taki on golden Hollywood, fist-fights and getting cancelled
Gus and his mate Mark: A short story by Lissa Evans
A short story by Lissa Evans
The best children’s books: a Spectator Christmas survey
J.K. Rowling Poignant, funny and genuinely scary, The Hundred and One Dalmatians was one of my favourite books as a…
Our new era of Jewish-Muslim relations
Reactions to the recent passing of F.W. de Klerk transported me back to my childhood in South Africa. The horror…
Why do we bother with Christmas trees?
The closest thing we have to a native Christmas tree is the often broccoli-shaped Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris). But the…
How chilling ghost stories became a Christmas tradition
A chilling Victorian tradition
The moment I fell in love with music
I’ve lived in Chelsea for the past 35 years. Since 2002, I’ve photographed everything I find interesting here — churches,…
What happens to Afghan migrants when they reach the UK?
What happens to Afghan migrants when they reach the UK?
Science fiction’s curious ability to predict the future
How science fiction can prepare us for what happens next
The tiny charity that saves derelict churches from destruction
The tiny charity that saves derelict churches from destruction
Reality check: could our universe be a simulation?
The philosopher David Chalmers on whether the universe is a simulation
Sense and sensibility: Steven Pinker and Rory Sutherland on reason vs instinct
Steven Pinker and Rory Sutherland on reason vs instinct
The day I got the key to the Sistine Chapel
After being landlocked for the past 18 months, it was a particular thrill to set off to film in three…
Christmas: a cartoonist’s view
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What musicians like me learned from the pandemic
My mother died earlier this year aged 85. She left me her old pianola. These were popular in the 1920s…
How is humanity served by the e-scooter?
In Hatchards for the launch of Andrea Rose’s catalogue raisonné of Leon Kossoff’s oil paintings. It’s bad for the morale…
What’s your kindness IQ?
A few weeks ago, a newspaper carried a rather mundane story about some personnel changes at my charity, Sarah’s Trust,…
Can Boris take back control of No. 10?
Can Boris take back control of No. 10?
‘Politics exacts a very high price’: an interview with Michael Gove
Michael Gove on levelling up, Plan B and the price of politics
The PowerPoint plot against Joe Biden
If the revolution won’t be televised, the counter-revolution will at least be on PowerPoint. A series of 36 corporate-style PowerPoint…
The last Noël in the USSR
The last Noël in the USSR
Common prayer: when churches become mosques
When churches become mosques
Cutting ties: the sad decline of men’s neckwear
The sad decline of men’s neckwear
If I were in charge of Ofcom...
‘You can appoint your own chief executive,’ boomed the PM over a rather sad bottle of wine. He was asking…
