October 2019

‘Our contributors are chosen for originality and sense of style, not political affiliation. It’s not The Spectator’s job to tell people how to think: we want to entertain and challenge readers.’


Art October 1, 2019

Pod almighty

Building the great podcast of Alexandria

Emily Ferguson

Books October 1, 2019

Race to the finish

Self-Portrait in Black and White: Unlearning Race by Thomas Chatterton Williams reviewed

J. Oliver Conroy

Architecture October 1, 2019

Building a legend

Plagued by Fire: The Dreams and Furies of Frank Lloyd Wright by Paul Hendrickson reviewed

Stephen Bayley

Art October 1, 2019

A great time in the Faddisphere

Faddis took a break, sat down on a chair onstage near me, then started blowing along with the band again

Jacob Heilbrunn

Art October 1, 2019

Who killed the American arts?

The decline from Duke Ellington and Aretha Franklin to A$AP Rocky and Lizzo is a slide from civilization to barbarism

Dominic Green

Art October 1, 2019

Matt McDonald

Books October 1, 2019

Bad company

The Anarchy: The Relentless Rise of the East India Company by William Dalrymple reviewed

Anthony Sattin

Art October 1, 2019

Blondie ambition

Face It by Debbie Harry reviewed

Hannah Niemeier

Books October 1, 2019

A New York state of mind

Doxology by Nell Zink reviewed

Sarah Ditum

Books October 1, 2019

No one held Susan Sontag in higher esteem than Susan Sontag

Sontag: Her Life and Work by Benjamin Moser reviewed

Philip Hensher

Film October 1, 2019

Louise Linton: why I don’t like being ‘the wife of…’

I married a politician. But my identity is not defined by my husband

Louise Linton

Art October 1, 2019

Not in front of the servants

Long live Downton Abbey

Dominic Green