Strange brew by Sarah Ditum

A vast global market in stolen and forged art and artefacts has only grown in the context of the pandemic, but technology and international policing may be catching up

Empty shelves need not mean dreary eating

Mary Beard emerges with a portrait of the emperors’ afterlives as vivid as the busts themselves

The joy of letting unexpected, accidental music in

Woefully out of touch and with falling congregations, the Church of England faces a crisis of leadership and theology

Welcome back to The Critic Narrated, where we bring you a selection of articles from our print issues, read aloud by their authors.  In this episode, Sarah Ditum reveals the joy of letting unexpected, accidental music in as she narrates her column from the December/January issue of The Critic: “Strange Brew”, while David Scullion says the Church of England are woefully out of touch and with falling congregations, now faces a crisis of leadership and theology, as he reads his feature: “Remotely wishing you a Merry Christmas”.  Don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast on Spotify and iTunes to ensure you never you never miss an episode. -- Music: “Modern Jazz Samba” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

In this episode of Black's History Week, Professor Jeremy Black talks to The Critic's deputy editor, Graham Stewart, about why Britain, France and the Ottoman Empire found themselves fighting together against Russia in the Crimea. Don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast on Spotify and iTunes to ensure you never you never miss an episode. -- Image: Battle of Inkerman, 5 November 1854. Wars. (Photo by Culture Club/Getty Images) Music: Radetzky March by Human Symphony Orchestra (premiumbeat.com)

A narration of Boris Starling's column from the November issue of The Critic.

A narration of David Starkey's column, 'Welcome back to reality, feminists', from the November issue of The Critic.

A narration of the Hot House column from the November issue of The Critic.