England’s blind hope
For days before England played Argentina in the World Cup semi-final, the old dread had been rising in me like damp through a wall. England against Argentina has never once…
Argentina: World Cup villains
Argentina’s win over a faint-hearted England — in a decisive comeback of the sort now all but routine for the South American squad — should banish much of the “VARgentina”…
Why true crime isn’t real
As a writer of murder mysteries, I often joke that making these stories believable requires making them profoundly unrealistic — simply because actual crimes and the investigation thereof have a…
A day in the life of Farageland’s Wetherspoons
It is a blindingly sunny morning in Clacton-on-Sea and the Moon and Starfish is already rammed. The punters are drinking pints of lager on bright plastic chairs in the garden…
How passwords stole my sanity
Many of us have been surprised when the removal of the wall of a house or office reveals a Jackson Pollock drip-painting of copper wires, fiber-optic cables, water pipes, and…
Is Britain still fighting the Falklands War?
“Same old Argies — always cheating.” The traditional chant of English football fans captures something of the relationship between Britain and Argentina. There’s irritation but also a tone of shoulder-shrugging…
Holden Caulfield: the original Redditor
Seventy-five years ago this week, a book was released which, according to one exasperated parent, included 237 uses of the word “goddamn”, 58 of “bastard” and 31 of “chrissakes”. Despite…
How David Miliband failed upwards
David Miliband is on maneuvers. Westminster’s lobby stenographers have been busy quoting “friends” on his readiness to serve in the Cabinet if offered a top job, backed up by a…
My night in ‘Mamdani-Ville’
“A lot of the people here are gone now — they came and moved us out.” So said the woman standing next to a squalid tent residence that has sprung…
Can prog rock again?
Has any genre of music ever suffered so cataclysmic a decline in popularity as progressive rock? Disco comes close: in 1979, a shock-jock DJ named Steve Dahl blew up a…