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Jason Goodwin: 'My carpentry depends largely on heavy leaning and a few nails and it works'
Our Spectator columnist tells tale of his carpentry skills and why one's children should conceal their superior skills until long after one is gone.
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Jason Goodwin: Giving up meat for Lent? I'm dreaming already and it’s only week three
Our columnist decided that Twitter or chocolate wouldn't count - but is he now regretting his choice?
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Jason Goodwin: 'A film needs a bit more going on than Mary Anning scraping at the Blue Lias for two hours and losing her dog'
Our Spectator columnist discusses the benefits to celebrities visiting quiet country film locations after Kate Winslet is spotted in a local restaurant.
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Jason Goodwin: How legginess, though desirable on humans, is the devil in seedlings
Our spectator columnist recounts his struggles to grow his seedlings indoors without allowing them to become weak, resorting to dubious lighting methods and not a small amount of fussing.
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Jason Goodwin: The dragoman's life of travel, history and locking tourists in Pharaohs' tombs
Our columnist opens up about the world of the 'dragomans', the über tour guides whose tales of wayward travellers are second to none.
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Jason Goodwin: Crime writers are the friendliest people you'll ever meet – but romantic novelists are a nightmare
Our columnist – and novelist, and historian – recounts the day he met a charming and erudite fan whose kind words inspired him for years. Until they didn't.
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Jason Goodwin: Pandas, Paddington and how to start a diplomatic incident over the origins of marmalade
Our columnist receives an invitation to a rather swish reception – and ends up putting his foot in it.
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Jason Goodwin: ‘The downside of being ill was feeling ill. Otherwise, it was like a holiday’
Our columnist reports back from his sickbed, where a bout of what his mother used to call 'Heavy Knee' lays him low in the best possible way.
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Jason Goodwin: Fish kettles, felt galoshes and the days before disposable culture
Our spectator columnist reminisces about the days when recycling was an intrinsic part of society and the recent television trend on decluttering therefore unnecessary.
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Jason Goodwin: 'Some empires take centuries to decay... others crumble like a sandcastle assaulted by the tide'
Our columnist laments the apparent beginning of the end of our current empire – but points out that it has ever been thus.
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Jason Goodwin: The quiet miracle of 'paths of will', where we shrug off authority and trust the people who have gone before
Jason Goodwin takes a moment to consider those little paths which spring up almost of their own accord, the muddy strips through the grass where common sense and expediency has triumphed over the planners and builders.
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Jason Goodwin: On 1930s gardeners, the tragedy of tree diseases and the sexual habits of earthworms
Our columnist Jason Goodwin is handed a gem of the past, only for it to lead him to a dismal realisation about his local woodland.
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Jason Goodwin: 'His novels tend to involve a party of opinionated conversationalists descending on a remote country house to talk, drink, dispute and fall in love'
Jason Goodwin tells us about his latest collaboration with graphic designer Richard Adams: a bound and illustrated Christmas story for their family and friends.
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Curious Questions: Why is New Year called 'Hogmanay' in Scotland?
For as long as anyone can remember, New Year – Hogmanay – has been a bigger deal to those living north of Anglo-Scottish border. Jason Goodwin explains why, and takes a look at the curious origins of this name.
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Jason Goodwin: On parking, the genius of the Tube and lopping the naughty bits off statues
A day out in London sees Jason Goodwin having a run-in with a car wash, paying tribute to a 20th century genius and ending up a prisoner of modern technology.
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Jason Goodwin: The dogs who bounded off down the drive one summery evening, never to be seen again
Our columnist tells a sad tale which brings to mind his own pain at losing a pair of dogs, who happily ran off playing one evening and never came back.
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Jason Goodwin: On wardrobes, spontaneous combustion and burning Vladimir Putin
Our columnist takes his life into his own hands by witnessing the ceremonial destruction of Russian premier Vladimir Putin.
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Jason Goodwin: 'Every housewife used to have a notebook in the kitchen, battered and splattered, its pages scribbled over'
Roped into a speaking at a literary festival at the 11th hour, Jason Goodwin reminisces about the old cookbooks his mother wrote and worked from, which are ever-increasingly falling out of style.
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Jason Goodwin: 'Silence is like a tune you’ve heard before, but it’s played differently every time'
A moment of pure tranquility in a November field puts our columnist Jason Goodwin in mind of the meaningfulness of silence.
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Jason Goodwin: 'It would seem that dirt isn’t merely survivable: it’s indispensable.'
Our Spectator columnist lampoons the modern practice of filtering the dirt and germs out of our day-to-day lives, cautioning against the consequences this may have on our immune systems.
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Jason Goodwin: 'Nobody out there owns my darning data or knows how to harvest my stitching stats'
Our spectator columnist takes up a new skill to fight against the ravages of time - and the workings of your average British moth.
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Jason Goodwin: 'The legal and democratic system that flourishes across a third of the world was hammered together on these shores'
Jason Goodwin reflects on the present's increasing ability to reflect on the past, whether through radio programs, photograph albums or just a good book.
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Jason Goodwin: 'Twice I’ve given chase to a fox with a bird in its jaws in broad daylight and won the bird back'
Our spectator columnist muses about the futility of bird ownership, given the large number of predators and their uncanny ability to break into the most fortified pen.
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Jason Goodwin: The secret of Mona Lisa's smile? It's that smell coming from the kitchen
This week, our columnist reveals his secrets for creating a beautiful home-made cooking stock which will let you make all manner of wonderful dishes.
