The Critical Commentator

 Take Cristiano Ronaldo, Serena Williams and Taylor Swift, a triumphant trio for the ages. Each is blessed with the two things you need to reach the top: huge talent coupled with a ferocious work ethic. There's an awful lot to love - if only they didn't seem to love themselves so much. Swift's talent and generosity are as awesome as the wealth they've generated for her. Why, in a Disney + docuseries about her huge Eras tour, we saw her distributing envelopes to emotional crew members, sharing out some of the profits. Wonderful! Who does that? On the other hand, who has themselves filmed doing that. And now she's married, which is wonderful too. Millions shared her joy. But was it necessary to book for the purpose one of the world's  most celebrated venues, bringing New York City to a standstill? At the moment the deed was done, in the manner of smoke puffing out of the Vatican chimney, the billboards at Madison Square Garden flashed up the glad tidings for the w...

  A journey of a thousand miles begins with a simple step. So goes the ancient Chinese proverb, and so it is with the announcement from Buckingham Palace that we are to learn this week how much tax the King paid in 2024-25. In one sense this is nothing new, as the Palace acknowledges. As Prince of Wales, Charles regularly declared how much tax he paid. It was however, a practice foolishly abandoned  by William when he became Prince of Wales. Now he has been forced into an embarrassing about-turn. When Poverty Enters the Door unknown artist Photo Credit: Worthing Museum and Art Gallery [CC BY-ND] The public, outraged by the burgeoning cost of the monarchy, have been appalled to learn of Charles and William charging a fortune for soldiers to yomp across Dartmoor, and for charging the NHS millions to park ambulances in an empty warehouse in London.  They have been disgusted by the peppercorn rents charged to Andrew and Edward for their mansions in Windsor Great Park and Surr...

  Has the optimisation rebellion begun? Something seemed to shift in the collective psyche recently when the world discovered the entrepreneur and podcaster Steven Bartlett's reaction to having had "a couple of glasses of wine" on a school night... Bartlett explained what happened when he decided to test the effects of drinking after a year of sobriety - a sombre catalogue of catastrophes recorded by his Whoop tracker. He slept less, ate poorly, skipped the gym and - prepare yourself - "podcasted worse". "It ruined three days of my life," he said, seemingly in earnest Boors Carousing Dutch School Photo Credit: York Museum Trust [Public Domain]  Last month the internet finally erupted in long overdue mockery. Bartlett made such a meal of it, which I think offended British sensibilities...   But behind the "Chill out, bruh" teasing was something deeper; thoughtful or sincerely pissed-off critiques of optimisation culture... BBC Radio 1 host Gre...

  My malnourished, anaemic patient can ill afford to ditch important nutrients or lose weight, but they have just told me that they've stopped eating red meat. Our worried nurse has exhorted me to "please educate" and I am trying, The next patient has forsaken all dairy and the one after that wonders why his sugars are uncontrolled on a "hand-squeezed juice only" regimen. Restrictive diets are concerning enough but life-threatening issues can arise when patients heed influencers over qualified professionals. It's one thing to be taught by an influencer how to apply eyeliner, do a proper push-up or prepare a healthy lunch but quite another to trust an unlicensed, unqualified person on matters of giving birth, treating depression, curbing addiction or curing cancer. Quacks on Stage Netherlandish School Photo Credit: Wellcome Collection [Public Domain] When I entered medicine, the term "wellness influencer" did not exist. If it did, I would have innoc...

 Nine in 10 millionaires are proud to live in Britain and three-quarters would be willing to pay more tax to ensure public assets get the funding they need, according to a poll. Despite widely reported concern that the wealthy are emigrating to avoid higher taxes, the survey found millionaires were more concerned about medical workers moving away. The research was carried out by Survation on behalf of Patriotic Millionaires UK, a nonpartisan network that campaigns for higher taxes on the ultra-wealthy. Members include the musician Brian Eno and the You-Tuber and former financial trader Gary Stevenson. Patriotism Charles Samuel Keene (1823-1891) Photo Credit: Ashmolean Museum Oxford [CC BY-NC-ND] Its survey of 501 millionaires found 88% agreed with the statement "I am proud to live in the UK", while 43% said the group they were most concerned about leaving Britain was doctors and other health staff. Just 9% were most worried about millionaires moving abroad, while 19% put busi...

  Do you want to know what the hottest accessory for summer 2026 is?  (Yes please, I really want to know.) If the group of fashion editors I was travelling with last week are anything to go by, it's what are known in the industry as opticals, or glasses to you and me. (Glasses are a bit common - opticals is a much, much better word.) Still Life with an open Book and Spectacles William T. Howell Allchin (1844-1883) Photo Credit: Ashmolean Museum Oxford [CC BY-NC-ND]  They were sporting them almost to a woman, ubiquitously outsize, some a variation on the theme of aviators, either the classic metal frames or tortoiseshell, others a chunky squared-off style, like an NHS pair of yore that had been subject to the, um, Engorgement Charm in Harry Potter. (How delightful. Pilot opticals in many different styles. Fabulous.) Those women were mostly a lot younger than me. I couldn't quite pluck up the courage to ask how many actually needed glasses and how many were wearing them bec...