Jane Robins

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Articles

The tao of TK Maxx

Sep 23, 2024 | spectator.co.uk | Jane Robins

I doubt that Sir Keir Starmer has ever been inside a TK Maxx. I don’t see him, even in his early parliamentary days, hunting and rummaging for designer fashion, or trying on dozens of duds in a bid to find ‘the one’. We know the Prime Minister loves swanky clothes at the lowest possible price – and that’s TK Maxx’s raison d’être. But I don’t think he has the attitude required for shopping there. It’s a pity because, with the right approach, TK Maxx can deliver great rewards.
In defence of true crime

Sep 11, 2024 | spectator.co.uk | Jane Robins

I recently listened to a 13-part podcast called Who Killed Emma?. It’s a gripping piece of work – a BBC investigation into the murder of 27-year-old Emma Caldwell in April 2005. Emma was a heroin addict and a prostitute on the streets of Glasgow. She was strangled and left for dead in a remote wood. I’d recommend the podcast to any fan of true crime. And I’d also expect the scorn of those who deplore this highly successful genre.
The Hundred is glorious anti-cricket

Aug 26, 2024 | spectator.co.uk | Jane Robins

Text size Line Spacing Comments Share Share Jane Robins The Hundred is glorious anti-cricket Linkedin Messenger Email When my son was young, around 8 or 9, we lived in north London. I’d pick him up from school and take him to Lords at tea-time when the entry price for adults was £5 and children were free. We saw all kinds of less popular matches – most memorably, a young Bangladesh Test side, which played with spirit and lost six wickets during our two-hour visit. This was old-style cricket –...
The BBC doesn’t understand Wimbledon

Jul 12, 2024 | spectator.co.uk | Jane Robins

Text size Line Spacing Comments Share Share Jane Robins The BBC doesn’t understand Wimbledon Linkedin Messenger Email The tennis is great, but an equally impressive aspect of Wimbledon is how well it has managed tradition. When I visited last week, the first time in a decade, everything was beautifully and reassuringly familiar. The clean thwack of the rackets, the running of the ball boys, the military-style precision and bearing of the ball girls. The portly line judges peering over...
Why I’ve turned to woo-woo medicine

Jun 26, 2024 | spectator.co.uk | Jane Robins

Text size Line Spacing Comments Share Share Jane Robins Why I’ve turned to woo-woo medicine Linkedin Messenger Email Weekly delivery of the magazine Unlimited access to our website and app Spectator newsletters and podcasts Our online archive, going back to 1828...
A paean to peonies

Jun 19, 2024 | spectator.co.uk | Jane Robins

Text size Line Spacing Comments Share Share Jane Robins A paean to peonies Linkedin Messenger Email It was a day typical of this year’s early summer. Raining. Cold. Miserable. I was about to crack and put the heating on when my sister arrived, carrying peonies. Over the coming hours, the rain rained harder, the cold got colder, and the peonies opened, becoming frothy balls of the palest powdery pink, touched by gold at the centre. Their unfurling seemed like an act of unbridled generosity....
Baby Reindeer has become meta entertainment

Jun 11, 2024 | spectator.co.uk | Jane Robins

Text size Line Spacing Comments Share Share Jane Robins Baby Reindeer has become meta entertainment Linkedin Messenger Email Fiona Harvey appears to be having the time of her life. She’s the ‘real Martha’ in the Netflix hit, Baby Reindeer, where she’s depicted as a convicted stalker with a rage problem. Denying almost everything, Harvey is suing Netflix for libel on a global scale, hoping to secure a tidy £133 million. Since the show aired, her story has become almost as sensational as the...
Where to find history without the hectoring

Jun 7, 2024 | spectator.co.uk | Jane Robins

Text size Line Spacing Comments Share Share Jane Robins Where to find history without the hectoring Linkedin Messenger Email Weekly delivery of the magazine Unlimited access to our website and app Spectator newsletters and podcasts Our online archive, going back to 1828...
Why do the Japanese suck at English?

May 6, 2024 | thespectator.com | Philip Patrick |Alexander Larman |Royals Harry |Jane Robins

Tokyo, Japan“Shhh! Now on face to respectable great eels life.” How’s that for the first line of an article? I spotted this gem written on a sign in the window of a seafood restaurant in the Hibiya Midtown shopping center in Tokyo recently. I was delighted. I’ve spent twenty-five years in Japan and have always enjoyed a good bit of mangled Japanese English. I had been dismayed of late by an apparent improvement in the quality of English on signs and noticeboards around Tokyo.
Harry and Meghan’s desperate rebrand

May 6, 2024 | spectator.co.uk | Jane Robins

Text size Line Spacing Comments Share Share Jane Robins Harry and Meghan’s desperate rebrand Linkedin Messenger Email Weekly delivery of the magazine Unlimited access to our website and app Enjoy Spectator newsletters and podcasts Explore our online archive, going back to 1828...