Common Touch
Michelle Obama’s embrace of the Queen recalls our long-ago monarchs who were more tactile - and much more touchy
Politics, Ideas and the Arts
Divo Giulio
Giulio Andreotti is the subject of a new film exploring the labyrinthine nature of political power in Italy “Power wearies those who don’t have it,” is a favourite aphorism of the former
Dashed Bad Form
The elegant semi-colon is dying out; it is being replaced by the em-dash—the all-purpose tool of the lazy writer
Fear and Filth at Brown’s Number 10
The Prime Minister has surrounded himself with attack dogs who undermine rival politicians and critical journalists
Taking Research for Granted
British universities need to become more like America’s if they want to keep the best scientists
How to Play the Game
In sport, it’s not just knowing how to lose that’s important, it’s also knowing how to win
Baroque’s Time to Roll
A new exhibition at the V&A seeks to rehabilitate a style that sought to inspire wonder and awe
Denying Israel’s Deniers
The British and Israeli novelists Howard Jacobson and A.B. Yehoshua discuss the new wave of anti-Jewish rhetoric with Standpoint editor Daniel Johnson
Burnt Out
The smoking ban has managed to make the once-cool habit look anti-social and silly
BBC Kremlin Service
The Foreign Office must realise that cuts at the BBC Russian Service have turned it into an arm of the Kremlin propaganda machine
Family Values
Washing your dirty linen in public is all the rage, at the cost of precious family loyalty What price loyalty? Not very much, it seems, judging by the number of betrayals that
Berlin and Cologne: A Tale of Two German Cities
‘Now that Berlin is officially one of the coolest places in Europe, many have developed a peculiar sense of being German – a form of confidence, or nonchalance at least, about their