Five things I’m hearing about the Burnham ascendancy
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The real reason for Fifa’s hydration breaks
Arabella Byrne
Is the Princess of Wales watermaxxing?
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Burnham's coronation – but does he have a plan for power? | The Edition – with Tim Shipman & Katie Perrior
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Spectator Life
An intelligent mix of culture, food, style and property, plus where to go and what to see.
How stimulants buzzed up the season
From Spectator Life
The study of classics shouldn’t be elitist
From Spectator Life
To survive the heatwave, drink beer
From the magazine
Is the Princess of Wales watermaxxing?
From the magazine
The real reason for Fifa’s hydration breaks
From Spectator LifeMore often than not, controversy over liquid refreshment at a football World Cup focuses on the unsavoury antics of England's travelling support. But, in the US these past two weeks, the focus has been less on the booze and more on the boos that have greeted that dreaded moment, roughly at the midpoint of each half, when play must stop for a 'hydration break'. These hiatuses were introduced, as so many Fifa initiatives are, with all the good will in the world. The idea was that when the temperature tops 32°C, the players should get a chance to take a short break to get extra fluids on board for fear of dehydration.
Three bets for the big all-weather meeting
From Spectator Life
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Burnham’s odyssey
Can he resist the siren call of the left?
Can Burnham resist the siren call of the left?
Power, when it is gained and lost, is transferred in stages: the actual, the visual and the constitutional. The latter took place on Tuesday evening when the prime minister presumptive sent a letter to Antonia Romeo, the Cabinet Secretary, requesting that she commence access talks with his team. Keir Starmer had already given permission for them to proceed, but the propriety and ethics team in the Cabinet Office had told Romeo she could not initiate proceedings. Andy Burnham had to ask first. To all intents and purposes, he is already the vessel from which power flows. At the same time, it became clear that James Purnell, the former Blairite cabinet minister, will lead the transition team and stay on to become chief of staff in 10 Downing Street.
Can Burnham resist the siren call of the left?
Power, when it is gained and lost, is transferred in stages: the actual, the visual and the constitutional. The latter took place on Tuesday evening when the prime minister presumptive sent a letter to Antonia Romeo, the Cabinet Secretary, requesting that she commence access talks with his team. Keir Starmer had already given permission for them to proceed, but the propriety and ethics team in the Cabinet Office had told Romeo she could not initiate proceedings. Andy Burnham had to ask first. To all intents and purposes, he is already the vessel from which power flows. At the same time, it became clear that James Purnell, the former Blairite cabinet minister, will lead the transition team and stay on to become chief of staff in 10 Downing Street.
Culture
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Dull, duller and Dulles – was Churchill’s jibe about America’s Cold War icon unfair?
From the magazineIn the era of Trumpian foreign policy incoherence, a new intellectual biography of the American Cold War icon John Foster Dulles might seem welcome for hawks and doves alike. Indeed, Dulles’s tenure as secretary of state during the first six years of the Eisenhower administration could be viewed – even by the harshest left-wing critic of American imperialism – as a useful and reassuring point of reference, despite its narrow anti-communist dogma and too cavalier approach to the dangers of nuclear confrontation with the Soviet Union and China. After all, the Eisenhower administration extricated the United States from President Truman’s stalemated Korean War and started no major new wars before the end of Eisenhower’s second term in January 1961.
Nagging doubts: Twenty Minutes of Silence, by Hélène Bessette, reviewed
From the magazineChinese puzzle or matryoshka doll – the complexity of Sino-Russia relations
From the magazine
Hot and bothered: Trouble Was, by Charlotte Edwardes, reviewed
From the magazine
Blame the Enlightenment for species extinction
From the magazine
The imaginative genius behind the Great Exhibition
From the magazine
Who needs an Italian beach when we have our own lidos?
From the magazine
Cartoons
‘‘OK, try counting something other than Brexit benefits.’’
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‘‘I’ve got a tie!’’
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‘‘I think I preferred it when she was doomscrolling.’’
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