At the end of a long metal chute, guests at the Bauhaus school’s 1928 ‘Metallic Party’ found themselves deposited in the first of a number of underground rooms faced in glittering white metal. Glass baubles, suspended from the ceiling, threw shadows across the floors, brass-coloured fruit bowls reflected the movements of dancers, and the clank of heavy costumes supported the jazz band’s rhythm section. One elaborately dressed woman coquettishly offered her wrist to other gues

“Always do sober what you said you’d do drunk. That will teach you to keep your mouth shut.” Ernest Hemingway’s remark is usually taken as a piece of hard-won practical wisdom, though it depends, rather heavily, on the assumption that sobriety has the authority to correct what intoxication has distorted. Literature, for the most part, is less confident on this point and increasingly so as one moves into the twentieth century, where the corrective function of the morning after

If a book produces as much pleasure upon revisits as during the first read, you know you’ve stumbled across a rare treasure. Only a handful have earned the title in my (limited) experience; Tess of the D’Urbervilles was the first to do so. I was sixteen when I set foot into Thomas Hardy’s enchanting Wessex, which I blissfully rediscovered last week. The tale, set against the backdrop of bucolic dairies, is not all May Day dances and plentiful harvests. It is a textbook exa

The arrival of spring is palpable in the London air; mornings are balmy rather than biting, and daffodils are now confidently marking their territory in St James’ Park. What's more, my tickets to Italy are booked, and in a couple of months I will be sipping a deliciously creamy affogato on a sunny Roman terrace. Luckily for me, this small post-lunch indulgence has recently been afforded greater importance following Italian cuisine’s recognition as Intangible Cultural Herita

I, a Homo sapiens , am the youngest of four. What a gift. Growing up was easy; it was all imitation. My sister – let’s call her N – was especially useful. I hoped to develop her perseverance – and rejected less favourable traits – a persistent lateness to meetings comes to mind. With time, our differences have become more marked, to the detriment of our relationship. Aided by my superior height, perhaps, I no longer feel the weight of N ’s authority. The days of curiously eye

The Lobster is a serious arts and literature magazine. It seems slightly offensive, therefore, to add an article on Emily in Paris to its content. And yet, needs must. By ‘needs’, I mean my newfound interest in immigration law. Visas sound dull. Emily Cooper, however, screams (literally) intrigue and glamour. I hope that by combining the two, immigration law will become the next topic en vogue . Emily Cooper is truly spectacular – a superwoman of sorts. The opening of the f

Keir Starmer’s government has been disappointing. From decimating the foreign aid budget, to controversy over the winter fuel allowance, and now welfare cuts, Starmer has had a rough first year. It is depressing, looking on our first Labour government in over a decade. A limp-wristed approach to growth and reform, without much of a vision for a new Britain, or new Labour even. With a massive influx of new MPs, many with very little experience (and an admittedly bleak economic

Donald Trump and Elon Musk are perhaps the most consequential figures of our time. Given the recent ‘break up’ between the former head of the ‘Department of Government Efficiency’ and the President, it is worth looking back at this troubled relationship. As with any divorce, both parties are left wondering ‘what went wrong?’ and ‘how did I not see the signs?’. From the outside, anyone could see how the Trump/Musk partnership would end; that is, in tears. Recent events have, h

The world seemed to still as the white smoke poured out of the chimney – only the seagulls moved. A brief moment of realisation, before an eruption of cheers. Who would we get? Cardinal Tagle? Zuppi? Which face would arrive on the balcony in an hour? Which historic ‘first’ would we get? We waited, and waited, and finally… wait, who is that? To many of you this is a familiar turn of events – when Leo XIV was announced, many frantically googled the name ‘Robert Prevost’. “He’

‘If I had a world of my own, everything would be nonsense.’ So says Alice, or rather Lewis Carroll through her, before tumbling down the...

Justin Trudeau left office unpopular, uninspiring, and unhelpful to the Liberal’s chances of retaining their slim control over the Canadian Parliament. In his wake, the sensible, popular, and useful Mark Carney has taken over – the new, albeit unelected, Canadian Prime Minister. As we come close to the inevitable cage match between Carney and his Conservative opponent, Pierre Poilievre, we are left wondering how the PM brought back the Liberal’s hopes for a potential win at t

Nathalia Goncharova (1881 – 1962), Nature morte au homard, 1909 – 1910, 73 x 88,1 cm, Centre Pompidou Dear Crustaceans, It is with great...

When 2025 rolled around, and we started considering what went wrong in 2024, we may have decided to make an ‘ins and outs’ list for the new year. More exercise ‘in’, junk food ‘out’ - these things don’t tend to last long. I, however, have been thinking about what might have been on Justin Trudeau’s ins and outs, or Donald Trump’s. Surely for the former, Canada made its way to the ‘outs’ column. For Trump, it seems to have been ‘in’. What about the public itself? What made it

Britain’s new Prime Minister has a real image problem. In just five months Keir Starmer’s approval rating has plummeted to -38, a significant drop from the +11 rating he held post-election, according to a More in Common poll. The desire for change in the British public has seemingly remained steadfast, moving against the Conservatives to Labour. What can be said, however, looking at the past six months of government? Does the British public deserve better? As we settle into t

Germany is an invented state. Or rather, Germany Mark X (patent 1990) is an invented state. It was invented to replace Germany Mark IX (i) and Germany Mark IX (ii – both patent 1949), because they, like Germany Marks VIII (1933), VII (1919), VI (1916), V (1890), IV (1871), III (1867), II (1848), and I (800-1806), had stopped working. Germanies – Mark I aside – have enjoyed an average life expectancy of about 20 years since the introduction of Mark II in 1848. Yes folks, if hi

Recent events have left Democrats around the US playing the all too familiar blame game - we see this with every election, grasping at straws to figure out how on earth they lost. With Donald Trump’s recent comeback victory, and a swing-state landslide at that, Kamala Harris supporters are left with one key question - what on earth just happened? This isn’t the same old story, with the Dems taking the popular vote and the Republicans carrying an electoral college majority - h

My first article as a lobsterman (also known as a harvester) was pessimistically named ‘The Impending Fiasco of the Paris Olympics’. A laughable title, you might now argue, and I would agree. I was wrong: Paris did not succumb to stereotypes of manic disorganisation and surprise protests – rather, it is unanimously acknowledged that these Games were a twinned success for France and for the future of the Olympics. Yet the French enjoy a little controversy, and so I must obli

Eugène Delacroix, Nature morte au homard et trophées de chasse et de pêche, Salon of 1827, 80 x 106 cm, Louvre Dear crustaceans, This article marks the first of a series aimed at understanding our favourite decapod through art history. There hardly seems a more apt way to make a memorable first impression than by championing the Anglo-French relations which are so dear to the magazine’s editors. And so we come to Delacroix… Like the lobster itself, Delacroix’s paintings are

I. The coronavirus pandemic may have forced virtually all aspects of life to wilt, but there can be no doubt that it fostered a considerable boom in creativity as boredly philosophising souls turned to pen, paper, brush, and canvas. One of the most impressive projects that arose from the artistically fertile soils of lockdown is set to take to the skies in 2025 with two complete Ring Cycles brought into fruition by Regents Opera. In 2020, British conducto

Foreword, 25.10.2024 May the 9th 2024, The Upper Mound Stand, Lord’s “This is my son William; he opens the bowling for the Authentics and has made the occasional appearance for the blues.” my father said, introducing me to Mark Nicolas, president of the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) for 2024. “A pleasure.” I confirmed, before taking a seat amidst cricket’s great and good to take in the annual Varsity Match. Talk swiftly moved to the ever-prevalent question of whether th