Thinking back on The Sopranos over the years, I’ve granted a sort of holy status to the scene in “Second Opinion” (Season 3, Episode 7) where Carmela is bluntly lectured by an elderly psychiatrist. She’s expecting some gentle double-talk from …
Should Britain lead the war in Yemen?
“The tradition of all dead generations weighs like a nightmare on the brains of the living,” Karl Marx observed. When it comes to British military adventurism in the Middle East, that certainly rings true.
The recent history of British interventions …
Plagiarism is not a sin
It’s said that these days universities are echo chambers, but perhaps nobody expected it to be demonstrated quite so literally. At the beginning of the month, Harvard President Claudine Gay resigned following weeks of plagiarism allegations. Some of these were …
Why Taylor Swift can’t deny being gay
The American fascination with the private lives of celebrities has always been inflamed by the mix of sex with scandal. In 1907, the country was enthralled by what was deemed the “Trial of the Century” after railroad heir Harry Kendall …
How the West can stop the Houthis
With armed Houthi rebels prowling the Red Sea, attacking cargo ships and holding crew at gunpoint, America and its allies appear to be preparing for war. When asked about potential strikes in Yemen earlier this week, the UK Defence Secretary, …
Will the Church follow the Post Office?
Some years ago, Archbishop Justin Welby’s predecessor, Rowan Williams, was asked to name his favourite sound on Radio 4’s Today programme. He recorded the noise of gentle chatter in his local post office, that low hum of community interaction in …
How Israel is battling its demons
Outside the hotel, the Mediterranean Sea winks at the winter sun. There’s a lawn strewn with toys that look like they’ve been abandoned for something more fun. But the sense of tranquillity is deceptive; the deep, dark rings around the …
Who will fight for Britain?
The year I was born, one of the most famous New Wave songs of all time was released: Elvis Costello’s “Oliver’s Army”. It was written after Costello visited Northern Ireland during the Troubles. There, he described seeing “mere boys walking …
The Right has embraced cancel culture
The hedge fund billionaire Bill Ackman has had a busy few months. Mere days after the October 7 attacks, he was calling for the names of any university students who signed letters blaming Israel to be added to a public …
Confessions of a Country Parson
I spent the first week of January in the parish of Weston Longville, Norfolk, in the company of the Revd James Woodforde. The year is 1776, or 1784, or 1801. No matter. The year is not important, because each year …
The truth about Andrew Tate’s charity work
Last April, just weeks after he was released from a Romanian prison and placed under house arrest, Andrew Tate revealed his path to redemption. There was no mention of the charges against him, which include sexual exploitation, rape and forming …
Nikki Haley’s chameleon complex
In the political theatre of the 2024 Republican primaries, a curious spectacle unfolds: Nikki Haley, former South Carolina governor and UN ambassador, is dancing a delicate ballet. Her performance, however, is less Swan Lake and more like a precarious tightrope …
Should women be paid for housework?
At a conference in 2015, I got talking to a man who had worked as an engineer for the Scottish Electricity Board in the Seventies. He told me that during that time, working-class women sometimes used their home electricity meters …
The labyrinth of Guy Davenport’s mind
Born nearly a century ago, Guy Davenport was unclassifiable. Was he a poet or a polymath? An artist or an eccentric philosopher? As a new collection of his essays is published, John Jeremiah Sullivan recalls his laughter, tears and wit……
Trump could be good for Europe
Europe should not be insouciant about the prospect of a second Trump term. As many have pointed out, he would be more radical than the first time round. Everything that has happened since 2020 will have confirmed Trump’s instinct that …