The Spectator
Australia
In the dark
Three things can be safely said about the entire Brittany Higgins affair. Firstly, the average punter has no idea where…
Australian Columnists
Australian notes
An alliance of philanthropic foundations has declared their support for the Voice: a combined $17-million pledge from the philanthropic sector…
Australian Features
Albo’s arrogance is sinking the Voice
We should have had a convention like we did in 1998
Twitter, trans and videotape
Doing time for hate speech crimes in the Sunshine State?
Is McGowan tired or fleeing from scrutiny?
History will not be kind to the WA Covid approach
Features
How women became essential to the mafia’s survival
Women are essential to the mafia’s survival
How cloning is revolutionising conservation
How an endangered horse was brought back from the brink
The Week
Don’t stifle AI
In his meeting with Joe Biden this week, Rishi Sunak proposed a research centre and regulatory body for artificial intelligence…
My hope for Ukraine
Kyiv When Winston Churchill visited bomb sites during the Blitz, the most common sentiment he heard was, ‘We…
Columnists
Why Rishi Sunak fears the Covid inquiry
A former Labour spin doctor recently offered some advice for governments considering a public inquiry. Rule No. 1: Don’t. But…
What terfs get wrong
The recreational use of psychedelic drugs, such as LSD or peyote, declined with some rapidity from the 1980s onwards as…
The inversion of history
It is 18 years since the last Colditz drama on British television, which apparently means we need a new one.…
The kids aren’t ‘trans’ – they just don’t want to grow up
If we rule out the notion that people have ‘gendered souls’ at odds with their biological sex – and we…
Books
Secrets of the couch
When a sex therapist arranges for his clients’ sessions to be secretly recorded, there are life-changing consequences for two women involved
The heyday of Parisian erotica
In the mid-20th century, titles such as Whip Angels, White Thighs, School for Sin and The Wisdom of the Lash joined Lolita and The Naked Lunch on Olympia Press’s list
Horsing around
Tiffany Francis-Baker explores the many ways in which our countryside has been shaped by the horse over the centuries
A last-minute escape from the Holocaust
In a profoundly moving family memoir, Daniel Finkelstein describes the miracle by which his mother, as a child, was rescued from the hell of Belsen
The twists keep coming
Murray’s immersive, beautifully written mega-tome about a family in a small town in Ireland is as funny as it is deeply disturbing
The holy fool
The beleaguered monarch cuts a sad figure at the opening of David Carpenter’s second volume of biography – in contrast to his brilliant arch-enemy Simon de Montfort
Chris Mullin’s eye for the absurd remains as keen as ever
Having retired from parliament in 2010, Mullin has less insider knowledge than before, but the political one-liners in his latest diaries are still highly entertaining
Between woods and water
Patrick Barkham pays tribute to the much-missed nature writer, whose core response to the call of the wild animated everything he did
Purpose built
Hugh Pearman examines a wide range of building types apart from houses, including museums, theatres, schools, shopping malls, palaces and places of worship
The problems of being a Bee Gee
Calling themselves the Bee Gees spelt trouble from the start for the very disparate Gibb brothers, says Craig Brown
Arts
A staggering performance
It would be wrong to belittle the Rembrandt exhibition at the National Gallery of Victoria because the emphasis is on…
Hamlet fans will love this: Re-Member Me, at Hampstead Theatre, reviewed
A puzzle at Hampstead Theatre. Literally, a brain teaser. Its new production, Re-member Me, is a one-man show written and…
The greatest female composer you’ve never heard of
One of the most intriguing piano concertos of the late 19th century is unknown to the public – and no…
Gratuitously twisty, turny nonsense: Sky Max’s Poker Face reviewed
Imagine if you had the power always to tell whether or not someone was lying. You’d have it made, wouldn’t…
Let’s hear it for the lesser-spotted nepo daddy
Rob Grant releases his debut album, Lost at Sea, this week. A 69-year-old millionaire and former ad man, furniture exec…
The final scenes are a knockout: Glyndebourne’s Don Giovanni reviewed
Are you supposed to laugh at the end of Don Giovanni? Audiences often do, and they did at the end…
Wikipedia does more justice to this fascinating story than this film: Chevalier reviewed
Chevalier is a biopic of Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges, whom you’ve probably never heard of, as I hadn’t. He…
Perfect radio for a nation of grumblers: Radio 4’s Room 101 with Paul Merton reviewed
Welcome back to Room 101, which has returned to the radio – after nearly 30 years on TV – and…
The 19th century Chinese craze for all things European
By the 1800s, the mechanical clock had become a status symbol for wealthy Chinese. The first arrived with Jesuit missionaries…
We must save this Tudor masterpiece for the nation
Jonathan Ruffer calls for the return to Britain of the Tudor tapestry that proclaims the birth of the Church of England
Life
Aussie life
Recently, a demonstration was held outside Perth Library, which is noteworthy because libraries are one of the few spaces that…
Language
It is an exciting moment when I discover a new word – and this time it’s a word that focuses…
Spectator competition winners: Henry James and other well-known writers look for love online
In Competition No. 3302, you were invited to compose a dating app profile for a writer of your choice. To…
Home cooking, but idealised: 2 Fore Street reviewed
The restaurant 2 Fore Street lives on Mousehole harbour, near gift shops: the post office and general store have closed,…
Football bosses must carry the can for players’ bad behaviour
If you couldn’t watch the Europa League final between Sevilla and Roma, then you should count yourself fortunate. It was…
Yoghurt pot cake: the perfect sugary blank canvas
I’m pretty easygoing when it comes to most aspects of cooking. I don’t think there’s much to be gained from…
I’ve been radicalised by Just Stop Oil
Last month I went to Lord Frost’s superb lecture for the Global Warming Policy Foundation about the harm net zero…
Progress is coming to our remote corner of Kenya
Laikipia The principal of the local polytechnic was waiting for me in the kitchen. Frequently in the kitchen there is…
My rodent house guest has a Benadryl habit
The mouse has been eating his way through the medicine cabinet to the extent that I am really quite frightened…