Top Boy wins the turf war
Books and ArtsTop Boy reviewed
Culture
The good, the bad and the ugly in books, exhibitions, cinema, TV, dance, music, podcasts and theatre.
October 22, 2019
Leonardo in Paris
A stunning journey into the ‘science of painting’
Is this the only Catherine the Great review to mention the age gap?
Helen Mirren is 74 years old while the character she plays — at least at the start of the mini-series — is 33 years old
October 20, 2019
Secrets of the maestro
Books and ArtsThe first major American exhibition of Andrea del Verrocchio confirms that he was a Renaissance innovator, and more than Leonardo’s teacher
October 19, 2019
Grandpa, who were the Rolling Stones, and why?
Books and ArtsRaising the goblet of rock
Pod almighty
Books and ArtsBuilding the great podcast of Alexandria
October 11, 2019
CNN’s LGBT Town Hall collapses into trans madness
In its quest for every gender on the spectrum, the network couldn’t even find a single top to stuff into the audience
A great time in the Faddisphere
Books and ArtsFaddis took a break, sat down on a chair onstage near me, then started blowing along with the band again
October 8, 2019
Who killed the American arts?
Books and ArtsThe decline from Duke Ellington and Aretha Franklin to A$AP Rocky and Lizzo is a slide from civilization to barbarism
The NBA tosses an alley-oop for China’s censors
Meanwhile, South Park offers a full-court press of freedom of expression
October 3, 2019
Is Peaky Blinders past its peak?
Books and ArtsIf the cap fits…
September 30, 2019
Blondie ambition
Books and ArtsFace It by Debbie Harry reviewed
September 22, 2019
The semiotics of Jackass
For all the chaos on Jackass, there were no obvious consequences
September 21, 2019
Louise Linton: why I don’t like being ‘the wife of…’
Books and ArtsI married a politician. But my identity is not defined by my husband
September 20, 2019
Not in front of the servants
Books and ArtsLong live Downton Abbey
September 16, 2019
Being mistaken for James Corden motivated my weight loss
This is my story
September 15, 2019
The Oscar goes to Felicity Huffman
The Desperate Housewife is down with a case of the Varsity Blues
September 13, 2019
In defense of record players
LPs are not only an important source of pleasure but also edification
September 9, 2019
Gays triggered after mass murdering clown outed as homophobe
Oh no, not Pennywise, I used to like him…
September 2, 2019
Disney and the imagination recession
Today Hollywood’s undoubted creative power is spent updating and reimagining stories that are decades old
August 29, 2019
Dave Chappelle plumbs new depths of tastelessness in his new Netflix special
I loved every second of it
August 27, 2019
Renoir and the foolishness of chronological snobbery
The latest irony in the spread of ‘cancel culture’ comes courtesy of The New Yorker
August 26, 2019
Lizzo and the politically incorrect obesity epidemic
Obesity isn’t woke. It’s a death sentence
August 16, 2019
August 13, 2019
The Hunt and conservative cancel culture
The wrong kind of bipartisan consensus
August 11, 2019
Titania McGrath’s Edinburgh Fringe show is the most important live event since the Women’s March
Titania McGrath: Mxnifesto at the Edinburgh Fringe reviewed
August 9, 2019
The Bermans of America
David Berman used language as an instrument and as a tool, abhorring his father’s use of it as a weapon
August 6, 2019
When Tom met Groucho
‘He seemed more interested in discussing Animal Crackers and A Night at the Opera’
August 4, 2019
I’m a prisoner of Kanye West’s homeless camp
Life inside the rapper’s low-income housing units
