FROM THE MAGAZINE

August 2024

Spectator Editorial

Safetyism and the 2024 election

If the debate exposed Biden’s frailties, its aftermath exposed why party leaders had fought like hell to keep them under wraps

By Spectator Editorial

From the Magazine

Diary

Why you shouldn’t bet on elections

Everyone always laments that politics is a tough old game, but no one ever thinks of the journalists

By Harry Cole

From the Magazine

Law

The Supreme Court on not standing for standing

In Murthy v. Missouri, the justices were afraid of issuing a ruling unpopular with the regime and its media

By Roger Kimball

From the Magazine

Politics

Inside the parlous state of state Republican parties

In an attempt to understand what is driving the tumult, The Spectator spoke to half a dozen individuals whose political careers have revolved around their work with state parties

By Amber Duke

From the Magazine

Politics

Trump has reshaped the GOP. What comes next?

It seems clear that, even as much as many enduring members of the Republican Party coalition would like, there is no going back

By Ben Domenech

From the Magazine

Campaign 2024

The Biden-Trump rematch is a nationwide exercise in denial

When a new generation of politicians finally takes the stage — when the young rule — it’s likely the world will advance, or fall asunder, or both

By Spencer A. Klavan

From the Magazine

Education

Coercion and coddling take campus

A Disney version of campus is easier to sell. All flowers, no bees

By Morgan Marietta

From the Magazine

Economics

The safest bets in Wall Street will be our downfall

‘Passive’ investment is one of the most complicated and convoluted issues facing free economies in the twenty-first century

By Stephen R. Soukup

From the Magazine

Family

What’s behind the risk-averse approach toward love and family?

Loneliness is the scourge of the modern age

By Inez Stepman

From the Magazine

Letters

Letters from Spectator readers, August 2024

Decline, divorce and Democrat disaster

By The Spectator

From the Magazine

Campaign 2024

Joe Biden, naked emperor

Observers could finally see — and call out — what the Biden team and the mainstream press knew for months but refused to say

By Charles Lipson

From the Magazine

Politics

Soviet America’s revolutionary wars

The Evil Empire failed to avert its destruction by exporting revolution beyond its borders. A self-righteous liberal empire will fare no better

By Daniel McCarthy

From the Magazine

Politics

The youth vote is turning right

Their elders are horrified

By Yascha Mounk

From the Magazine

Education

The Greeks were right: Trump shouldn’t live for revenge

Aristotle thought that, while there was a sense of pleasure at the prospect of getting your own back, there was a limit as to how far one should go

By Peter Jones

From the Magazine

Books + Arts

Book Review

A superbly written and insightful account of the contemporary American military

General McKenzie’s fine memoir is a rich and powerful testament to the qualities that our best military commanders bring to their service to the nation

By David J. Garrow

From the Magazine

Book Review

A compelling and evocative biography of the redoubtable Mrs. Mandelbaum

Margalit Fox brings the period to life by providing sharply drawn cameos of a supporting cast of colorful characters

By Alison Kerr

From the Magazine

Book Review

Pat Nixon, ambassador of goodwill

In a new biography of the former First Lady, Heath Hardage Lee attempts to uncover the real woman

By Christopher Sandford

From the Magazine

Book Review

James Shapiro’s timely account of the rise and fall of an influential public theater

The Playbook is a dramatic tale, full of overreaching ambition, dastardly plots, embattled heroes and last-minute reversals

By Philip Womack

From the Magazine

Book Review

A new and compelling study of the life of the iconic rebel Nat Turner

Anthony Kaye seeks to reframe the life of the famous slave rebel in the context of his religious beliefs

By Clement Knox

From the Magazine

Book Review

Devil in the detail

How do we recognize the real manifestation of evil in the world? Two new books set out to answer this question and prove that it is a timely one

By Amelia Butler-Gallie

From the Magazine

Theater

The Jedermann, the myth, the legend

Adapting Hugo von Hofmannsthal’s play in Salzburg

By Robert Carsen

From the Magazine

Theater

A new adaptation of The Great Gatsby is enrapturing and impressive

The songs explode. The passion overwhelms. It’s opulent when it needs to be, fun when it needs to be, and intoxicating

By Clarissa Sebag-Montefiore

From the Magazine

Art

Inigo Philbrick, the art world’s wheeler dealer stealer

Orlando Whitfield chronicles his friendship and dealings with the wunderkind art dealer during a heady ‘gold rush’ decade in the art world

By Laura Allsop

From the Magazine

Art

A beginner’s guide to buying art

A best-selling author, an entrepreneur and an art collector himself, Magnus Resch has written and commented on the art market for years

By William Newton

From the Magazine

Books and Arts

This month in culture: August 2024

What should be on your radar this August

By The Spectator

From the Magazine

Life

Life

Waste not want not

Any child can transition out of diapers in a weekend so long as Dad commits to the Lethal Weapon 2 method of potty training

By Billy McMorris

From the Magazine

London Life

My Martin Amis FOMO

London literary life in the late 1970s to the late 1980s looks from today like a lost golden age

By Cosmo Landesman

From the Magazine

American Life

How one bad scene can ruin an otherwise great movie

When I go on an early 1970s jag — revisiting the golden age of American cinema — I can never bring myself to rewatch Five Easy Pieces

By Bill Kauffman

From the Magazine

Prejudices

The era of ideological, overreaching and omnipresent government

The faults and weaknesses of civilizations, like those of individuals, become more pronounced as they age

By Chilton Williamson, Jr.

From the Magazine

Sports

Should Olympians be paid?

Sporting events like the Olympics generate billions. But while officials, organizers and broadcasters are well-compensated for their roles, the athletes are not

By Ed Horler

From the Magazine

Place

Place

Why New York is a city built on the written word

To have been born there and live there all your life? It is hard to imagine any author having a greater privilege

By Alexander Larman

From the Magazine

Place

Unplugging in the Western Ghats

No coffee, no booze, no news and no shoes at Dharana Wellness Retreat

By Amy Rose Everett

From the Magazine

Place

A tale of two safaris

Why you should pair the Maasai Mara’s iconic savannah-scapes with Kenya’s Northern Frontier

By Estella Shardlow

From the Magazine

Place

Going ham in Andalusia

I didn’t think it was possible to eat all day, but when the food is this good and meticulously chosen, it is

By Hannah Moore

From the Magazine

Food and Drink

Drink

What’s behind all the buzz about non-alcoholic beer?

I tend to agree with the sentiment that if we drank alcohol for the taste, we’d be pouring non-alcoholic Maker’s Mark on our cereal

By Teresa Mull

From the Magazine

Food

Pavlova: a dessert inspired by the Dying Swan

Where the Dying Swan is about nature and spirit terribly at odds, delicious and beautiful food literally keeps body and soul together

By Jane Stannus

From the Magazine

Drink

Margarita magnificence: a consummately customizable cocktail

Once you have this classic recipe down, it’s easy to modify to make flavored margaritas, and the sky’s the limit

By Ross Anderson

From the Magazine

Drink

Outdoor wines for the summer

We don’t do drink and appreciate wine for any practical advantage. We do it for its own sake

By Roger Kimball

From the Magazine

And Finally

And Finally

Why is James Madison so consistently forgotten?

Whether or not we need a real monument to the Founding Father, his contribution to the blueprint of America ought not go unnoticed

By Ella Johnson

From the Magazine

And Finally

How to decode adspeak

The National Galleries of Scotland has been looking for a director of collection and research

By Dot Wordsworth

From the Magazine