FROM THE MAGAZINE

September 2023

Spectator Editorial

Stuck watching the Trump show

Whatever happens, one side will judge that democracy has failed

By Spectator Editorial

From the Magazine

Diary

Summer vacation fatigue

There is no proposition that carries a higher risk and lower reward than the family portrait

By Billy McMorris

From the Magazine

Law

Inside the progressive war on the Supreme Court

The longer the spasm of investigative reporting goes on, the more desperate it sounds

By Ben Domenech

From the Magazine

Politics

The rise of the popcons

Rejecting populism led the post-Reagan GOP to defeat and disaster

By Daniel McCarthy

From the Magazine

Politics

Confessions of a Russiagate survivor

During the febrile peak, now two special counsels ago, I was the one facing a chance of getting locked up

By Sam Patten

From the Magazine

Politics

Has America lapsed into a gerontocracy?

It used to be said that America was a young country, naive, perhaps, but bristling with youthful energy and optimism

By Roger Kimball

From the Magazine

Politics

Homelessness in black and white

The so-called ‘equity lens’ is hindering help for people living rough

By Kevin Dahlgren

From the Magazine

Education

Why Putin should watch his back

How secure is Vladimir Putin?

By Peter Jones

From the Magazine

Family

Real America is the middle seat in coach

Thoughts from a thirty-six-hour trip home

By Bridget Phetasy

From the Magazine

International

Fear and complacency in Taiwan

Taiwanese officials talk tough. Are they as prepared as they claim?

By Zoe Strimpel

From the Magazine

Europe

Europe is not a museum

The continent is changing faster than America

By Ben Judah

From the Magazine

Business

Is the era of the corporate DEI officer coming to an end?

Corporate diversity efforts have backfired — and elitism is to blame

By David Christopher Kaufman

From the Magazine

Education

College-town blues

Why is academia so rife with lefties?

By Teresa Mull

From the Magazine

Religion

Will Orthodox Judaism accept female rabbis?

One rabbi’s decision to ordain a woman inspired others to follow suit — and triggered an apoplectic backlash

By Nomi Kaltmann

From the Magazine

Business

Has the patriot economy’s moment finally arrived?

It can be harder to earn and keep money if you’re a conservative. Hence the need for an alternative

By Amber Duke

From the Magazine

Europe

Across Europe by train

Berlin may be the only city in the world whose entire tourist industry is predicated upon repentance

By Rod Liddle

From the Magazine

Education

Disinfo-nation: the new censorship is here to stay

The list of topics on which the government and mass media feel called to protect us from ‘disinformation’ is very long

By Peter W. Wood

From the Magazine

Books + Arts

Books

The roots of J.K. Rowling’s contrarianism

How did the woman who taught a generation to stand up to the Ministry of Magic betray liberal orthodoxy?

By Mitchell Jackson

From the Magazine

Book Review

Zadie Smith’s latest novel is glittering, grand and powerful

The Fraud is a consciously (but not self-consciously) literary novel

By Philip Womack

From the Magazine

Book Review

How missing persons cases work in the wild

The real science of searching in nature is the most interesting — and disturbing — part of Lankford’s account

By Katrina Gulliver

From the Magazine

Book Review

Maureen Ryan exposes the Hollywood horror show

At the end of Burn it Down, it’s hard not to wish that the industry could simply be shut down and rebooted all over again

By Alexander Larman

From the Magazine

Book Review

Drew Gilpin Faust, a rebel with a cause

In Necessary Trouble the historian and former president of Harvard has given us a clear-eyed account of a vexed era

By Adam Begley

From the Magazine

Television

Apple’s foray into streaming

Apple TV+ will not be the next Netflix, and that is the whole point

By Ross Anderson

From the Magazine

Film

Finding the warmth in Alfred Hitchcock’s filmography

When I look at the Hitchcock movies, I don’t see icy detachment. Instead what strikes me is their intimacy, gentleness and passion

By Mark Cousins

From the Magazine

Theater

Here Lies Love is too scared to be serious

The musical is like the disco ball that spins above its audience: beautiful but fractured. And, at its core, hollow

By Clarissa Sebag-Montefiore

From the Magazine

Film

The death of Superman

How Hollywood killed the American hero

By Stephen L. Miller

From the Magazine

Art

The demands and joys of contemporary art 

Artist Alberto Guerrero’s career has been driven by a desire to look for what is behind everything that we perceive at present

By William Newton

From the Magazine

Life

High Life

The changing face of the Eternal City

Rome is the voice and spirit of Italy

By Taki

From the Magazine

London Life

I can’t make up my mind about microdosing

It seems like half of London is stoned on something

By Cosmo Landesman

From the Magazine

American Life

Summering in Scranton

We couldn’t leave the Electric City without a drive-by of the house in which native son Joe Biden spent his first decade

By Bill Kauffman

From the Magazine

Prejudices

The liberal idea of sin

And how it prevents us from recognizing and confronting the preeminent danger facing the West today

By Chilton Williamson, Jr.

From the Magazine

Life

Danny Bonaduce’s guide to survival

Whether it’s the perils of child stardom, booze, drugs or relationship issues, the sixty-four-year-old has been there and back again

By Christopher Sandford

From the Magazine

Sports

Is Shohei Ohtani the GOAT?

It has been more than a century since baseball had such a double threat

By Kevin Cook

From the Magazine

Place

Place

Brussel or Bruxelles? Even the locals can’t agree

Belgium’s capital offers a stimulating and baffling mix of fast and slow

By James Jeffrey

From the Magazine

Place

Happy birthday, Hollywood

Tinseltown’s iconic sign turns 100 this year

By Amy Rose Everett

From the Magazine

Food and Drink

Drink

In praise of the Moscow mule

There’s a reason the Moscow mule remains one of America’s most popular cocktails

By Jane Stannus

From the Magazine

Food

Girlbossing with the Ambitious Kitchen

With simple swaps, along with additions of mild vegetables like spinach, mushrooms, and zucchini, almost any meal can become more nutritious

By Mary Kate Skehan

From the Magazine

Drink

You seriously expect me to pick one favorite bar?

A good bar is as private as a confessional

By Eric Hanson

From the Magazine

Food

Flour power: a single ingredient can be life-changing

My relationship with food helped me to understand the richness of the cultures that claimed me

By Raj Tawney

From the Magazine

Drink

It’s always Chablis weather

Sitting out on a balcony in the afternoon, armed with the Chablis and a bowl of Kalamata olives, I was at peace

By Roger Kimball

From the Magazine

And Finally

And Finally

The disappointing truth about Aperol spritz

I wonder whether it’s in fact a kind of Campari for children, or for adults who don’t want to be challenged by anything interesting

By Ysenda Maxtone Graham

From the Magazine

And Finally

How to spot a TERF

Today, J.K. Rowling is the most famous person to say a woman is different from a trans woman

By Dot Wordsworth

From the Magazine