Black Mirror season seven offers a welcome return to form
The high-class latest installment allows audiences to relish great storytelling, done extremely well
Alexander Larman
Alexander Larman is an author and the US books editor of The Spectator.
Monday
Thursday
The final act of Thomas Pynchon
The most reclusive major author in America is having something of a moment in 2025 and is set to release his ninth novel
Wednesday
Meghan Markle’s new podcast is just toe-curling and unsubtle dross
From our UK edition
At the beginning of the debut episode of Meghan Markle’s new podcast, she is keen to assert her own identity. After flirting with tradwifedom in her most recent Netflix show With Love, Meghan, she is now casting off her brief nomenclature of ‘Meghan Sussex’, but nor should you refer to The Artist Formerly Known As The Duchess
The genius of Gene Hackman
He was the greatest character actor of the past half-century
Tuesday
The true purpose of King Charles’s Italy trip
From our UK edition
After some recent bad news for King Charles in the form of an – admittedly fleeting – setback in his ongoing cancer treatment, you could hardly blame him for wanting a brief respite from the gruelling health challenges that he has faced. And respites don’t come more glamorous or enjoyable than the state visit that
Is today’s TV British enough?
From our UK edition
There is a decent chance that most Spectator readers have seen at least one of the following: the much-ballyhooed Adolescence, the rather less controversial Black Doves, and the once-magnificent, latterly tawdry The Crown. From the travails of royalty to the horrors of a child killer, via the acrobatic derring-do of unusually witty spies, these shows
Thursday
Prince Harry can’t seem to stay away from Britain’s courts
From our UK edition
As flies are to wanton boys, so Prince Harry is to the British legal system. Amidst perhaps the most serious reputational controversy that the Duke of Sussex has yet faced – the Sentebale drama – Harry will be returning to the Court of Appeal in London next week. There he will attempt to overturn the High Court’s
Wednesday
Val Kilmer should be more appreciated in death than he was in life
He had a remarkable career in American film, and one that can be seen more clearly now
The problem with Oxfam Books
From our UK edition
My home city of Oxford has been ravaged by shop closures over the past decade but there is still one outstanding second-hand bookshop (the estimable antiquarian department at Blackwell’s apart) and it’s the Oxfam bookshop on St Giles. Thanks to a regular donations from dons and writers, there are invariably high-quality and interesting items on
Tuesday
If only Meghan Markle’s ‘As Ever’ launch was an April Fool
From our UK edition
On April Fool’s Day, it is all too appropriate that the latest announcement from the Duchess of Sussex has the grim air of a not particularly funny joke. Yet in her newsletter – her newsletter – Meghan has let it be known to her adoring public, or at least the Sussex Squad, that they, too, ‘can mimic the
Monday
MobLand is a disappointment
In its apparent lack of interest in risk-taking, it represents streaming ‘content’ at its least inspired
Friday
King Charles’s hospital visit will prompt concern
From our UK edition
The news released last night that King Charles had been briefly hospitalised was an unwelcome surprise. A statement from the royal communications department tersely declared that: The public cannot expect minute-by-minute updates as to every aspect of the monarch’s condition Following scheduled and ongoing medical treatment for cancer this morning, the King experienced temporary side
Wednesday
The sad demise of Prince Harry’s Sentebale charity
From our UK edition
Prince Harry has had an eventful couple of years. There was the controversy-studded publication of his memoir Spare and a plethora of court cases, the highest-profile of which was resolved earlier this year. After all that, the Duke of Sussex might be forgiven for wishing to keep a low profile for the rest of 2025.
Tuesday
Meghan’s online shop is a new low for team Sussex
From our UK edition
Earlier this week, I tried and failed to purchase a couple of items from the As Ever range that the Duchess of Sussex has been touting in her ill-fated Netflix show. I shan’t lie, Spectator readers; my dedication to bringing you the latest hard-hitting investigative news was tempered by the hope that such condiments as
Monday
Hans Zimmer and Friends: the next level of film music?
It is impossible not to embrace the whole crazed, ambitious and thoroughly enjoyable affair
Friday
Why Prince William’s Estonia trip matters
From our UK edition
It is a requirement of the Royal Family that they should remain politically neutral. They are, after all, the only family in the United Kingdom who are constitutionally not allowed to vote. However, this does not stop its various members from having opinions and expressing them, sometimes in embarrassing and distinctly un-regal fashions. Whether it’s
Monday
Thursday
Does Meghan Markle need another podcast?
From our UK edition
‘Success’, Winston Churchill supposedly once remarked, ‘is the ability to go from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm.’ If this is indeed the case, then Meghan Markle’s 2025 thus far represents a remarkable series of triumphs and victories. After her recent Netflix series With Love, Meghan received reviews that ranged from the merely sarcastic
American cinema at its best
The Brutalist represents a Christopher Nolan-esque swing for the big leagues
Wednesday
Does Anora deserve the backlash?
The movie is facing a vicious and sustained assault on its credentials
