All the week’s wisdom in one place
26 March-1 April 2021
The pandemic
It’s fair to say the past year has given us “the best and worst of Boris”, say George Parker and Sebastian Payne in the Financial Times. When Covid first hit, the PM was slow to take it seriously. He laughed that he had shaken hands “with everybody” at a hospital with Covid patients and dubbed the effort to secure vital respirators “operation last gasp”.
David Cameron
Last weekend we got an “ever-so-slightly tragic glimpse into the life of an ex-PM”, says Patrick Maguire in The Times. We already knew that David Cameron had lobbied the Treasury last April to grant Covid loans to Greensill Capital, the finance firm he was advising – his pleas fell on deaf ears and Greensill has since gone bust.
Cancel culture
Pity poor Alexi McCammond, the unfortunate Teen Vogue editor crushed by her own staff at “the newly awokened home of the power heel”, says Camilla Long in The Sunday Times. The 27-year-old woman of mixed heritage, an impressive Washington scoo
Heroes and villains
Irn-Bru has reintroduced its original, high-sugar recipe after drinkers complained about a healthier version. The company changed the recipe to get round sugar taxes in 2018, but after backlash, have brought out Irn-Bru 1901 – based on the century-old formulation handwritten in a recipe book in their archives.
Tomorrow’s world
Solar panels and canals could make a “beautiful partnership”, says Matt Simon in Wired. All you need is a simple steel frame to cover the waterways with the panels. Then, in hot climates, the panels would “hoover up solar energy” while protecting water from evaporation.
Quoted
“Sometimes we all get stuck.”
Inside politics
President Biden’s boldest move hasn’t been his policies, but his “unavailability”, says Janan Ganesh in the Financial Times. His first press conference since taking office came later into his term than any president in the past 100 years. Since Bill Clinton, who thought of government as a “permanent campaign”, American presidents have loved hogging the limelight. But Biden “has given voters the time and space to busy themselves with other things”. It might sound superficial, but America needed nothing more urgently this year than to take a breather and cool down.
Zeitgeist
The violent protests in Bristol this week were an example of “revolutionary tourism”, says Celia Walden in The Daily Telegraph – “groups of cynical-minded thugs” hijacking a demonstration for their own “self-indulgent ends”. On Sunday night police were stamped on, beaten with sticks and pelted with stones. Zoom in on the faces of the “goons” attacking them and they’re “grinning into the cameras”.
Noted
Dozens of junior staffers in the Biden White House have been suspended or asked to resign after admitting to past marijuana use – despite being informally told it would be overlooked. Even those who smoked cannabis in one of the 14 states where it is legal have been punished.
Artificial intelligence
After years of failing to develop artificial intelligence, most scientists gave up, says Cade Metz in his new book, Genius Makers. But a few dogged professors kept trying – including a British computer scientist called Geoff Hinton.
Missing feet
In August 2007, a young girl found a size 12 running shoe with a right foot inside it washed up on a beach in British Columbia, says Erika Engelhaupt in National Geographic. The Canadian police called the discovery of the apparently severed foot “a million to one shot”.
Anya Taylor-Joy
Anya Taylor-Joy doesn’t stare into mirrors much. “Not because I’m running away from myself,” she tells Hermione Hoby in Vanity Fair, but because her mother raised her not to think much of appearances. Her sudden fame after starring in The Queen’s Gambit might force her to reconsider.
Gucci murder
Patrizia Reggiani sits quietly on the sofa, adorned with bracelets and rings, says Andrea Galli in Corriere della Sera. She offers me a chinnoto and a mimosa cake of “rare beauty”, and talks quietly, between long pauses, about Maurizio Gucci, the husband whose murder she organised in 1995.
Philip Roth
The life of Philip Roth, one of the great American authors of the 20th century, was long and painful. Three new biographies hammer this home, says Michael Gorra in The New York Review of Books. When he was lugging a sack of potatoes during basic army training in 1955, something in his back popped: the next day he couldn’t walk.
Quoted
“If there’s ever a scandal about me, *please* call it Elongate.”
Staying young
Longevity retreats are all the rage, says Samuel Ballard in Globetrender, and a hotel on Okinawa is offering guests the chance to learn the secrets of the locals’ long lives. The Japanese island is one of five global Blue Zones that are famous for the longevity of its inhabitants. It has 35 centenarians for every 100,000 inhabitants – five times more than the rest of Japan.
Love etc
Recently a man dumped my friend because he said he liked her too much, says dating columnist Annie Lord in Vogue. As excuses go, this is “complete bullshit” – “Why would you not want something that would make you much happier?” In a break-up, however, maybe lying is the best way forward.
Sport
The world’s oldest professional sharpshooter began her career by accident in 1999. Chandro Tomar had taken her 12-year-old granddaughter Shefali to the new shooting range in Johri, her village in rural Uttar Pradesh, northern India. As they were the only females there, 67-year-old Tomar led by example: “I picked up the gun and fired. I hit the bull’s-eye.”
Post Office scandal
This is the story of how the Post Office, a trusted British institution, “abused its responsibility and shattered the lives of hundreds of ordinary people”, says Nick Wallis in The Great Post Office Trial. In the early 2000s, the Post Office began accusing hundreds of innocent sub-postmasters of falsifying accounts and stealing money.
Northern Ireland
A Northern Irish Catholic and a British soldier, Willie Carlin was the perfect candidate for spying on the IRA. He was born in 1948 in tight-knit Derry, but left at 18 to join the army. MI5 knew he was informative “gold dust”, he tells Foreign Policy’s I Spy podcast.
Everyone’s watching
After two years away, the sixth series of Jed Mercurio’s bent-copper juggernaut began with a bang. An armed unit led by DCI Joanne Davidson (guest star Kelly Macdonald) shot a robber in the street. Amazingly, Davidson noticed a getaway van on the way to deal with another case. This aroused the suspicions of Ted Hastings (Adrian Dunbar), head of the anti-corruption unit: “You’d do well to spot a pipe band,” he noted. “The set piece played to all of Line of Duty’s strengths,” says Anita Singh in The Daily Telegraph. This was “taut, edge-of-the-seat stuff”.
Books
“For two weeks it was the biggest story on earth,” says Christina Lamb in The Sunday Times – in April 2014, 276 Nigerian schoolgirls were abducted from their dormitory in the middle of the night “by a little-known but extremely deadly Islamist sect called Boko Haram”.
This handsome double-fronted house is in southwest London, a short walk from Wandsworth Common and the shops and restaurants of Bellevue Road. It has five bedrooms, four bathrooms, a family room with bay windows and a feature fireplace, and sliding doors from the kitchen to the large garden. £3.15m.
Dating from the 16th century, Grade II listed Wiston Mill is in the heart of Constable country – the River Stour runs right past. The six-bedroom house is set in three acres of gardens, with a further 21 acres of meadows and outbuildings including a barn and cottage. It’s a mile and a half from Nayland and seven from Colchester. £1.75m.
An hour’s drive from Toulouse, this rustic farmhouse is in the Tarn département, known as “the Tuscany of France”. It has seven bedrooms, five receptions, a games room, indoor and outdoor kitchens, and a large garden with a heated saltwater pool and an enclosed vegetable plot. £797,000.
This light-filled three-bedroom flat is on the eighth floor of Television Centre, the BBC’s former HQ in west London. Designed by the prize-winning architects AHMM, with furnishings by Cassina, it has three private terraces and an open-plan layout that makes the most of the views. £3.8m.
Medieval Newstead Abbey was the ancestral home of Lord Byron, and this Grade II listed cottage in its grounds has a suitably gothic air. The three-bedroom property occupies the front arch and tower of the abbey’s entrance, with views across Upper Lake. It’s a 20-minute drive from Nottingham. £480,000.
Noted
Last year British record labels earned twice as much from selling vinyl as they did from YouTube streams. Revenue from LPs is at its highest point since 1989.
Eating in
A rare satirical cookbook by a young Andy Warhol is being auctioned by Bonham’s, with an estimated price of $30,000-$50,000. Wild Raspberries, which took its name from Ingmar Bergman’s 1957 film Wild Strawberries, pokes fun at haute cuisine: “Omlet Greta Garbo” is “always to be eaten alone in a candlelit room”; “Gefilte of Fighting Fish,” calls on the cook to “immerse them in sea water and allow them to do battle until they completely bone each other.
The great escape
This Devon fishing town’s winding streets offer glorious views of the Kingsbridge estuary and easy access to sandy beaches.
Noted
Ben Affleck halted filming on the movie Gone Girl for four days because he refused to wear a New York Yankees baseball cap. The director, David Fincher, wanted him to wear the hat because his character was from New York, but Affleck grew up in Massachusetts and is a loyal supporter of the Boston Red Sox. In the end the actor compromised and wore a Mets cap – still a New York team, but not such a bitter rival.
The Socotra dragon tree produces bright red sap, known as dragon’s blood, which is thought to have medicinal properties. The trees can live for centuries and are native to Socotra, an island off the coast of Yemen.
A strangler fig growing on the Buddhist temple of Ta Prohm in Siem Reap, Cambodia, which was built in 1186. These trees live up to their sinister name, often smothering and killing the hosts they grow on.
This beautiful great wisteria in the Ashikaga Flower Park, north of Tokyo, spreads over a quarter of an acre. It blooms in April, shortly after the celebrated cherry-blossom season, making spring a wonderful time to be in Japan.
Sequoias are the world’s biggest trees, typically growing to a height of up to 280ft, with a 16ft-33ft trunk diameter. The oldest known specimen, the President Tree in Sequoia National Park, California, is 3,200 years old.
One of the most photographed trees in the UK, this ancient sycamore next to Hadrian’s Wall in Northumberland is known as the Robin Hood tree, thanks to its starring role in the 1991 Kevin Costner film Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves. Sycamores are thought to have been introduced to Britain by the Romans.
Good news: spring has sprung, the blossom is out and Monki has some great flowery knickers for sale. There’s a matching bra, too, and they’re both made with recycled polyamide – that’s a comfy, sustainable fabric, for those who don’t speak science. Get both for £18.
Move over Anissa Kermiche, says Vogue, this former Gucci designer is taking the reins. Erdei’s Grand Tour linen cushions and Zodiac place mats are inspired by “beautiful European scenes”, 1970s style icons and Renaissance Italy, and his recent launch includes ceramics and prints. Prices start at £70.
The French brand AMI Paris puts its heart on its sleeve – or knits it on its chest, in this case. This wool and cotton cardigan, £375, has an oversized fit and ribbed cuff, for elegant slouching. It also comes in pastel green and purple, to make the bright red logo pop.
“Show your lobes some love,” says Jane McFarland in The Times, and put on a pair of oversized earrings. You’ll appear put-together on Zoom, even if you’re still in PJs, and they detract from unloved lockdown locks. Simone Rocha’s red dangly pair for H&M have sold out and are fetching high prices on Vestiaire. But don’t worry – Uterque has you covered. From £40.
Ticking the form and function boxes, the gilet is perfect for spring’s changeable temperatures. Take your pick from quilted, shearling, denim or heritage tweed. We love this padded vest from & Other Stories, worn over a knit and wide leg jeans, £85, and Mango’s printed gilet, £60.
Moneymakers
India Rose James became one of Britain’s wealthiest heiresses when she inherited part of a Soho property portfolio in 2008. The windfall came from her grandfather, the late porn baron Paul Raymond. The value of Soho Estates has now gone through “the £1bn barrier”, says The Times.
On the money
During the pandemic “seemingly every luxury acquisition has become a so-called alternative asset class”, says The New York Times. Instead of splurging on fancy restaurants and Park Avenue penthouses, the bored super-rich are “one-upping” each other in online auctions for jewellery, watches, furniture, sports cards, vintage cars, limited-edition trainers and crypto art.
Watch the BBC TV presenter Nicky Woodhead pinch men’s bottoms in 1971, in the name of gender equality.
Desert Island Discs
Military historian Antony Beevor is screenwriting for the first time, for a World War Two television series directed by Ridley Scott. The project has a high bar – Beevor hates “virtually all war movies” because of their inaccuracy, he told Kirsty Young on Desert Island Discs in 2017.
Quirks of history
Frédéric-Auguste Bartholdi, creator of the Statue of Liberty, first tried to plant his luminous lady at the entrance to the Suez Canal. She was to be an Egyptian peasant swathed in robes and holding a torch, entitled “Egypt Bringing Light to Asia”. The Egyptians rejected the proposal in 1869, declaring it too costly.
