Nick Cave defies rock music’s law of gravity. A few weeks ago I went to see Cave and the Bad Seeds headline All Points East in Victoria Park, London and came away thinking it was the best I’d ever seen …
Richard Osman’s common people
In 1984, Clive James tabled the Barry Manilow Law: no-one you know likes Barry Manilow, while the rest of the world worships the ground on which he walks. This adage can now be updated. Until very recently, I didn’t know …
The dark side of the art world
I was visiting an exhibition last week when I came across a painting I had handled, several years back. I knew it well from my time working in the art world, so it was a bit like bumping into an …
Why is Edward Enninful editing Vogue?
Why are the models so thin? Why are the clothes so expensive? And what is the point of fashion? These were questions I had to answer pretty much every day for the decade I worked as a fashion journalist, and …
In conversation with Philip Roth
Perhaps too much of Philip Roth’s energies were devoted to explaining or defending himself. You could not be with Philip for any period of time before he would enlist you in the agenda of “defending” him — against a plethora …
America will always fear Caesar
In my own unreliable cultural memory, the age of Hamilton enthusiasm in American life belongs emphatically to Barack Obama’s presidency in its optimistic phase — to the last period of unabashed liberal patriotism and confidence.
In reality, though, Lin-Manuel Miranda’s …
The last American aristocrat
Not long after the Trump election I was invited to a dinner party of the sort I’d only recently learned existed. Here’s how it goes. The host is wealthy, as are half the guests, and the other half are intellectuals …
Interview 1741 – Keith Knight Presents The Voluntaryist Handbook
Keith Knight of Don’t Tread on Anyone joins us to discuss The Voluntaryist Handbook (available for free on Odysee but support the work by buying a copy)
The post Interview 1741 – Keith Knight Presents The Voluntaryist Handbook first appeared …
A Mass Media Reading List – Questions For Corbett #088
Jackie writes in to ask for another book list, so James obliges by going through the reading list for the new Mass Media: A History online course.
The post A Mass Media Reading List – Questions For Corbett #088 first …
Who would want fake Elgin Marbles?
Somewhere in a workshop in Tuscany, a robot is currently doing the work of the 5th-century BC sculptor, painter, and architect, Phidias. The 3D device is painstakingly recreating each carve, chisel, and curve of one of the sculptures of the …
The new war on Islamism
Art and Islam often seem like oil and water. Other times, they behave like matches and gasoline.
It is hard to believe that more than 30 years have passed since Ayatollah Khomeini issued his fatwa against Salman Rushdie for The …
Why should lesbians have sex with men?
These days, a woman who calls herself a lesbian invites suspicion. Over the past 20 years, bars, bookstores, and festivals, once set aside for women attracted to other women, have rebranded themselves as “trans-inclusive” or “queer”, shut down, or gone …
The Sex Pistols don’t need a TV show
The Sex Pistols played their first gig on 6 November 1975 and their last on 14 January 1978, not long after the release of their first and only album. No major rock band has had a shorter career. The phenomenon …
Another Another 25 Books You Should Read
At the end of last year, I released an article titled Another 25 Books You Should Read. Today, I am pleased to present Another Another 25 Books You Should Read!
The post Another Another 25 Books You Should Read first …
Episode 418 – I Read Bill Gates’ New Book (So You Don’t Have To!)
Have you read How to Prevent the Next Pandemic by Bill Gates yet? Well, I have, and let me tell you: it’s every bit as infuriating, nauseating, ridiculous, laughable and risible as you would expect. Here are the details.
The …