The sad saga of Lena Dunham
From our US edition
If Dunham was, once, the voice of her generation, that that torch has long since passed to other, more interesting talents
Alexander Larman
Alexander Larman is an author and the US books editor of The Spectator.
Sunday
Friday
Captain Britain was an embarrassing superhero
The news that the latest Superman picture has been an enormous hit in the United States, but has been received rather more tepidly here, has been taken in many quarters to mean that there is an anti-American mood at large. Maybe this is dictated by America’s choice of president and administration, which means other countries
Wednesday
What do the Emmy nominations tell us about television?
From our US edition
Hollywood could use a little anarchy
MasterChef must die
As Oscar Wilde didn’t quite put it, for one MasterChef presenter to depart because of a scandal may be regarded as a misfortune, to lose both looks like carelessness. After Gregg Wallace received his P45 from the long-running BBC cookery show, his co-presenter John Torode has also been given the boot, having allegedly made a
Tuesday
The enduring brilliance of C.S. Lewis
From our US edition
More than 60 years after his death, the Oxford literature professor and writer is everywhere
Monday
King Charles and Harry won't be reconciling any time soon
The news that appeared in the Sunday newspapers was intriguing, to say the least. A meeting has taken place at (appropriately enough) the Royal Over-Seas League club between Meredith Maines, the latest in Prince Harry’s apparently endless line of California-based press officers, Liam Maguire, who has that similarly thankless task in this country, and Tobyn
The resistible rise of Pedro Pascal
From our US edition
Why is it so hard to warm to him?
Wednesday
King Charles's bromance with Macron is true soft power
As the once-promising bromance between King Charles and Keir Starmer appears to be fading, the monarch has found another leader on the world stage with whom he has a greater amount in common. As the state visit of the French President Emmanuel Macron gets underway with much earnest discussion about what this particular cross-Channel ‘special
A memoir doesn’t always have to be true
The news that Raynor Winn’s bestselling memoir The Salt Path may not have been the whole truth has been met with a mixture of outrage, hilarity and ‘I told you so’. Many readers have smugly informed the world that Winn’s journey along the Salt Path with her husband Moth (Moth!) was so obviously a work
Tuesday
Is this the end of the Jeffrey Epstein case?
From our US edition
Americans remain rightfully suspicious
Wednesday
Elio and the decline of Pixar
From our US edition
What explains the studio’s latest flop?
Diddy is finished
From our US edition
He avoided the most-serious charges, but his image will never recover
Tuesday
The wildly misguided My Oxford Year
From our US edition
This looks to be one of the most clueless and misjudged attempts at romantic comedy-drama ever put on screen
The Royal Train's retirement is a loss to Britain
King Charles is a man acutely aware that the monarchy has to be seen to provide value for money in these straitened times. Therefore, to coincide with the announcement that the royal household is to be given over £130 million of public money for the next two years to complete works on Buckingham Palace, it
Monday
Take me back to Glastonbury
Judging by the coverage of this year’s Glastonbury festival, and the reaction in certain quarters, you would be forgiven for thinking that it was little less than a hard-left, Jew-hating Nuremberg rally. It is an impressive achievement to unite the government, led by the Prime Minister, and the opposition in blanket condemnation of two of
Sunday
How the drive-thru took over Britain
Britain has received many things from America that we have little reason to be grateful for: Black Lives Matter, Instagram, the word ‘gotten’ – and the brief and unlovely period that Meghan Markle was a resident of this country. Yet one of the most enduring American imports is something that we no longer much notice:
Friday
James Bond should be more like Paddington Bear
Denis Villeneuve, the Oscar-nominated director of such blockbuster behemoths as Dune and Blade Runner 2049, has been hired to reboot the James Bond franchise. Villeneuve is a hugely capable director, somewhat in the Christopher Nolan school of blending epic set-pieces with an intellectual and emotional core. As the first auteur to be hired to direct
Thursday
F1 is forgettable, but a lot of fun
From our US edition
Be prepared to forget virtually everything apart from the sheer sensation of being in an F1 race car traveling very, very fast indeed
Wednesday
Starmer may regret bringing forward Trump's state visit
One of the most notable features of Keir Starmer’s otherwise undistinguished premiership is the bromance that he seems to have formed with King Charles. Both men seem to have a shared sense of moral values and a reticence of character that appears to have served them well in what, up until now, has been a
Tuesday
Elizabeth II deserves better than this awful tribute
The winner of the contest to design a memorial to the late Elizabeth II has been announced, and it’s not very good. When the shortlist of five designs was unveiled last month, the most striking feature of the various hopefuls was how little they had to say about the much-loved Queen, or the country she
