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Jason Goodwin: The unbeatable 10-minute, £10 haircut — and who cares what it looks like at the end?
More speed, less fuss. What more could you ask for from a barber, asks Jason Goodwin.
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Jason Goodwin: Is the answer to finding faith really as simple as "fake it 'til you make it"?
The ancient Ottomans knew the power of repetition to shape the minds of others — something that Jason Good has discovered for himself.
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Jason Goodwin: 'The flock widened and contracted, filling the whole sky with motion: expansive, pure theatre'
Our spectator columnist comments on the end of summer, as murmurations of wheeling and diving birds herald the beginning of a new season.
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Jason Goodwin: How Jason's new and improved, curry-based hospital menu will save the NHS millions
'If chicken tikka masala is our national dish and the nation’s health matters, we should be proud to serve its milder, healthier cousins in our National Health Service.'
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Jason Goodwin: Mysterious beach bones, lively ceilidhs and the other wonders of holidaying in the Western Isles
Jason Goodwin remarks on the warmest bank-holiday Monday in history - and why his choice of location meant he still received a traditional dose of good old British rain.
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Jason Goodwin: The dark, chilly undercurrents in the seemingly-idyllic life of the English village
Jason Goodwin was feeling decidedly nostalgic for village life — until he had a run-in with one of its discontents.
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Jason Goodwin: Rome's Bus 64, the Baby Toss Scam and other crooked dealings to look forward to on holiday
Jason Goodwin praises the finesse of con-artists and pickpockets as one of the things he misses most, having decided to holiday at home this year.
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Jason Goodwin: Forget what you were told at school — history is simply a cracking story that happens to be true
The education system did its best to put Jason Goodwin off history, but he came through unscathed — and thank goodness too, otherwise he might not have been able to recommend these summer reads.
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Jason Goodwin: 'I was ashamed to think that, had Aivazovsky popped a frame around it, we might have found the whole effect absurd.'
Jason Goodwin takes a lovely trip to the seaside and witnesses a view so spectacularly vivid that it reminds him of paintings by the Armenian-Russian painter Ivan Aivazovsky.
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Jason Goodwin: How to be a Master of Mayo
Jason Goodwin teaches us how to make the perfect mayonaise, while explaining why he's jinked to fail each time and why we must be the ones to keep this great condiment alive.
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Jason Goodwin: Is courtly communication the way to go when dealing with rodent pests?
Jason Goodwin discusses our long-standing tradition of courtesy with animals, and why he politely chose to ignore it when dealing with pests in his own garden.
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Jason Goodwin: The half-term report of the keen amateur gardener
It might be the end of term for schoolchildren, but for gardeners across the nation we're very much only half-way there. Jason Goodwin's 'gardening teachers' offer their thoughts on his progress.
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Jason Goodwin: In memory of Norman Stone, my tutor, guide, world traveller — and friend
Jason Goodwin pays tribute to an old friend and mentor.
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Jason Goodwin: Dogs, lichen inspectors and the ticks that look like Hitler
Our columnist Jason Goodwin feels the thrill of meeting a true subject matter expert — and comes across away with his head fizzing with pleasure.
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Jason Goodwin: 'As soon as I tried the suits on, we realised that they represented the Three Ages of Man'
Our spectator columnist discusses three suits, donated by the same man to a charity shop, which have seen him through his first through stages of life and made him long for the fine tailoring of days-gone-by.
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Jason Goodwin: 'Even when repeated 20 times, “The ball was in!” won’t cut it on the croquet lawn.'
Our Spectator columnist ponders the really big questions as he discusses life, death and croquet.
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Jason Goodwin: 'When someone dies, you can lose a place, as well as a person'
Our Spectator columnist returns to his mother's resting place and takes a leading role in a small Somerset church communion, ensuring that the reading is from the 'Authorised Version' of the bible and rediscovering a lost home along the way.
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Jason Goodwin: Why decimalisation will never trump the beautiful magic of counting in 12s
It's almost 50 years since Britain switched to the decimal system, but Jason Goodwin points out how many of the old measures persist. (Dozens of them, in fact — what else?)
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Jason Goodwin: 'By keeping a few hens, The Blair Witch Project unspools in our backyard'
Our Spectator columnist dismisses the need for horror movies when one keeps animals in their back yard; the trials and tribulations of protecting hens from natural predators are more than enough to set one's hair on end.
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Jason Goodwin: The madness of Gallipoli, and the British officer ordered to fight the men who once honoured him
After years of regular visits to Turkey, Jason Goodwin finally makes it to Gallipoli where he is humbled and sobered by the experience.
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Jason Goodwin: 'Thousands of awkward plots could be rootled and manured, raising livestock and improving the soil'
Jason Goodwin suggests the revitalisation of the city's plots, the installation of a two-month-long enviromental conscription for 18-year-olds and the addition of Dorset Longhorns to Hampstead Heath.
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Jason Goodwin: 'He looked at the window display and, suddenly, he shrieked "Elgar! That’s my bust!'"
Our Spectator columnist extolls the country adventure, reminiscing about how one taken by his friends inspired him to take one of his own to Winterborne Tomson.
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Jason Goodwin: 'In a regimented, digital world, where everyone seems to be selling something, yeast and bacteria are free and wild'
Jason Goodwin discusses kombucha, the deceptively foreign-sounding tea-based drink, among other weird and wonderful things produced by home fermentation.
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Jason Goodwin: 'They had to turn up at the office every day and plunge with gritted teeth into articles about sensual transport'
Jason Goodwin tells the tale of partwork magazines, from the A-Z of British silver, the First World War and, perhaps ill-conceived, the permutations of love.
