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Pessimism sells. It shifts books and newspapers, sends ratings soaring. It fills lecture halls, wins research grants, makes political careers. We are fed this constant diet of doom, predicting anything from meteorological Armageddon to a tyranny of austerity, and so it is little wonder that we tend to miss the bigger story. A cold, dispassionate look
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From our UK edition
Joan Bakewell Broadcaster and journalist Those early teenage years are a time of doubt and discovery. Take time to be alone and speak honestly to yourself. Weigh up what you think others — family, friends, teachers — think of you. Then consider what you feel about the world and your place in it. Read the world’s great
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This is a selection of seasonal letters from The Spectator’s 185-year archive, now online at archive.spectator.co.uk. The emblem to the right is by our cartoon editor, Michael Heath. It was his first drawing for the magazine, and appeared in 1959. Spare the turkey Sir: Of the thousands who within the next few days will
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1. Cat Honour Hot Tin Roof 2. Frank Hen Stein 3. Ark A Deer 4. Hammer Day S 5. Hiss Tory Boys 6. Comma Tea O Fair Oars 7. Core K Sea N Chalk Circle 8. Tie Man O Fat Hens 9. E D Puss 10. Head R Gar Bleu
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Adopting a boxing pose in 1950. Speaking in the early 1960s. After being sentenced to life imprisonment in the Rivonia trial, Mandela and seven other men leave the Palace of Justice in Pretoria 16 June 1964 with their fists raised in defiance through the barred windows of the prison car. Mandela and his wife Winnie
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‘Lock the doors!’
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‘I’d like to book a mountain rescue team for 8pm’
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‘I’d like to book a mountain rescue team for 8pm’
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‘Can we cut all the green crap?’
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‘Let’s elope to Gretna Green to separate.’
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‘If I were you I’d forget about it.’
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‘We’re still looking into it, but we’re pretty sure it stands for “Kind, Friendly, Courteous” chicken farm.’
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‘Hello, we’re trying to find somewhere we can smoke…’
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‘Henceforth to be known as Frackland...’
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‘Next time they offer us something to make our lives more comfortable, let me do the talking.’
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‘Sweetheart, would you like to tweet grace?’
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‘It’s the Belmonts. They’ve found a potato from their allotment that looks like Elvis, do we want to go round?’
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