The Critical Commentator

 "I am very aware that the most successful role in my career has been when I've been silent." (Penny Mordaunt [UK  Conservative politician] reflects on her sword-carrying success at the coronation.) "In a first, Germany's far right will take control of a district." (The New York Times forgets some 20th century history as it reports German election results.) "We are all getting along too well now to blow it." (Stewart Copeland explains why there will be no reunion for The Police.) "I had to do a speed awareness course and, as a famous actor, it was humiliating. No one recognised me." (Eddie Marsan.) Merry-Go-Round Mark Gertler (1891-1939) Photo Credit:  Tate [CC BY-NC-ND]  "I took a year off because it was cheaper. I got my accountant to check," (Ian Rankin [Crime Writer] responds to his wife's ultimatum that he either take a year off from writing or get a divorce.) "Anything that stops a grilled tomato from taking its ...

  Jayne Wallace is a psychic. She looks unassuming, with a warm smile and sensible brown haircut. But actually Wallace is perhaps the most in-demand psychic in Britain. She's booked up until mid-February, and a thirty minute reading with her will set you back £150. Her past clients include Kim Kardashian and Kate Hudson. And now me. I've never been to a psychic, but I'm here because it seems like everyone else has. I keep speaking to otherwise normal people who say they visit psychics. Young and old, male and female. They seem to draw enormous comfort from it. In many cases, they have dropped their therapist in favour of a seer. They say the psychic is more helpful. Therapists ask you questions. Psychics give you answers. Cupid delivering Psyche Edward Burne-Jones (1833-1898) Photo Credit: The Higgins Bedford [CC BY-NC] Previously, psychics were mostly confined to the ends of seaside piers, but today there are luxury providers in places such as Selfridges, and big fashion b...

  The obstetrics and gynaecology clinic inside the vast Singapore General Hospital is unlike any ward in the UK. There are no counters or rows of staff waiting to take patients' details. Instead their appointments have been registered via a mobile phone app and they sign in using touchscreen kiosks. They use fixed machines to measure blood pressure, weight and height and they receive a printed plan of their day at the hospital, including timings for scan s, tests and appointments to see doctors. Across the hospital, which treats a million patients every year, there are robots delivering medications, picking drugs for prescriptions and washing equipment. Computer records are linked up and information shared easily between GPs, clinics and hospital staff. Singapore: View across the Harbour to Fort Canning and the Cathedral John Edmund Taylor (active 1860-1885) Photo Credit: Wellcome Collection  Public Domain  Labour's shadow health secretary, Wes Streeting, is a fan. "This ...