Life
My search for a Matt Hancock impersonator
I’m trying to organise an event in Westminster with the journalist Isabel Oakeshott and it’s proving a bit of a…
My summer Twelve to Follow
Usually in May I am still casting an enviously nostalgic eye backwards to Aintree and Cheltenham, reluctant yet to pack…
How not to conduct a house viewing
The lady standing on the doorstep did not need to tell me what she thought of my house, because the…
Aussie life
I’m a long-time devotee of the op shop, as anyone who has seen my wardrobe will confirm. I’ve spent many…
Language
A ‘sliding doors moment’ is one of those moments in life when a small, seemingly inconsequential decision (or event) goes…
Spectator Competition Winners: haiku book reviews
In Competition No. 3298, you were invited to provide a book review in three haiku. When I saw that the…
A themed restaurant done right: The Alice, Oxford, reviewed
The Alice lives in a ground-floor room of the Randolph Hotel in Oxford, which venerates the fantastical and the savage,…
The parallels between Anna Kournikova and Emma Raducanu
Who can turn lying on a hospital gurney into a photo op? Emma Raducanu can, of course – beaming as…
Carmageddon: the electric vehicle boondoggle
A couple of years ago I thought seriously about buying an electric car. Not a hybrid, but the full monty.…
We survived the worst drought in a generation
The Farm, Laikipia I realised the worst drought of this generation was at last over this morning when two Samburu…
Why do people assume I am posh?
If we cram any more doctors into our spare rooms we can put a sign outside advertising NHS accommodation. We…
Aussie life
The Melbourne Comedy Festival’s continuing refusal to apologise for not closing this year’s festival with a tribute to its co-founder…
Language
The word ‘gender’ has been part of the English language since at least 1390. It appears to have started at…
