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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Jason Goodwin pays tribute to an old friend and mentor.
Our columnist Jason Goodwin feels the thrill of meeting a true subject matter expert — and comes across away with his head fizzing with pleasure.
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.
Our Spectator columnist ponders the really big questions as he discusses life, death and croquet.
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.
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?)
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.
After years of regular visits to Turkey, Jason Goodwin finally makes it to Gallipoli where he is humbled and sobered by the experience.
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.
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.
Jason Goodwin discusses kombucha, the deceptively foreign-sounding tea-based drink, among other weird and wonderful things produced by home fermentation.
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.
Our Spectator columnist lampoons the practice of providing a hasty solution without thinking through the consequences of that decision, be it regarding pest-control or the search for a new planet to call home.
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.
