The Independent | Columnists

Allegations of domestic violence will change not just Roberto Alagna's but Angela Gheorghiu’s image forever

Angela Gheorghiu is  everyone’s idea of the  superstar opera singer: a hugely gifted soprano with.....

The Government is trying to prevent whistleblower Edward Snowden from travelling to this country

Dog meets cat and it's love at first fight

Our home zoo has expanded once again with the arrival last week of our new Labrador puppy, Fitzge.....

Rebecca Tyrrel: 'By 2020, the hope is that Britain will have a politician named Street Downing'

Who knew that there is a member of the US House of Representatives by the name of David Camp who .....

Rebecca Tyrrel: Geoffrey Boycott’s nickname, Thatch, arose from an unfortunate hair transplant

Who knew that Theresa May's guiding light is not Mrs Thatcher, or even her near namesake porn sta.....

Rebecca Tyrrel: Sir Alan Sugar will climb into his Rolls Royce shouting, 'You're fired!' at the lot of them

Who knew that Sir Alan Sugar is not the only BBC1 prime-time star in his family? His niece, Rita .....

Rebecca Tyrrel: Laurence Olivier nobly taught Julie Goodyear how to stage-vomit

Who knew that Julie Goodyear, aka Bet Lynch, that foghorn-voiced diva of the Rover's Return, is a.....

Rebecca Tyrrel: Had Marie Osmond been the seventh child, she could have called herself 007

Who knew that Marie Osmond's given name is Olive? Why in the world did she change it? There are t.....

You can call me Your Excellency, and save a life

My family are finally proud of me. After years of putting up with me dressing as a squirrel and t.....

The Chancellor's attempts to solve our housing crisis are unhelpful and unworkable

Let's build our houses for the way we live now

George Osborne's attempts to solve our housing crisis are heading in the same direction as Parlia.....

'All that has been achieved by the mess that is tighter press regulation is to provide ammunition to those who are resistant to change at any price'

Letter from the Editor: The press controls are flawed, but where is the alternative?

Has there ever been a more cack-handed attempt at creating a new regulatory framework? What does .....

Rebecca Tyrrel: Who knew that the only wicket Sir Arthur Conan Doyle took as a first-class cricketer was the legendary Dr WG Grace?

Who knew that the only wicket Sir Arthur Conan Doyle took as a first-class cricketer was the lege.....

Rebecca Tyrrel: 'Uma Thurman got off lightly. Her brothers are called Ganden, Dechen and Mipam'

Who knew that Uma Thurman's father was the first Westerner ever to become a Buddhist monk? He pop.....

Rebecca Tyrrel: Iain Duncan Smith's one novel was such a calamity, it never made it to a paperback edition

Who knew that Iain Duncan Smith is not only one-eighth Japanese, but also a distant cousin of Geo.....

Rebecca Tyrrel: Lady Gaga says that she went trouser-less to help her gran make her out on TV

Who knew that Lady Gaga is mad for darts? The singer, songwriter, producer, dancer, actress, huma.....

Rebecca Tyrrel: JD Wetherspoon is named after a teetotal geography teacher from New Zealand

Who knew that one of George Orwell's legacies to British culture is the JD Wetherspoon pub chain?.....

Rebecca Tyrrel: Anyone tempted to ride in the Holy Heli should be aware of the Pope’s medical history

Who knew that the Pope has a private pilot's licence, and that he likes to fly the papal helicopt.....

Rebecca Tyrrel: Any hopes Jim Davidson has of reviving his career look illogical (captain)

Who knew that when Trekkie Jim Davidson learnt of Patrick Stewart's support for the Labour Party,.....

Three funerals and a beheading

Was someone trying to tell me something? I laughed half-heartedly but it was freaking me out
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Day In a Page

Special report: How my father's face turned up in Robert Capa's lost suitcase

Special report: How my father's face turned up in Robert Capa's lost suitcase

The great war photographer was not one person but two. Their pictures of Spain's civil war, lost for decades, tell a heroic tale
The unmade speech: An alternative draft of history

The unmade speech: An alternative draft of history

Someone, somewhere has to write speeches for world leaders to deliver in the event of disaster. They offer a chilling hint at what could have been
Funny business: Meet the women running comedy

Funny business: Meet the women running comedy

Think comedy’s a man's world? You must be stuck in the 1980s, says Holly Williams
Wilko Johnson: 'You have to live for the minute you're in'

Wilko Johnson: 'You have to live for the minute you're in'

The Dr Feelgood guitarist talks frankly about his terminal illness
Lure of the jingle: Entrepreneurs are giving vintage ice-cream vans a new lease of life

Lure of the jingle

Entrepreneurs are giving vintage ice-cream vans a new lease of life
Who stole the people's own culture?

DJ Taylor: Who stole the people's own culture?

True popular art drives up from the streets, but the commercial world wastes no time in cashing in
Guest List: The IoS Literary Editor suggests some books for your summer holiday

Guest List: IoS Literary Editor suggests some books for your summer holiday

Before you stuff your luggage with this year's Man Booker longlist titles, the case for some varied poolside reading alternatives
What if Edward Snowden had stayed to fight his corner?

Rupert Cornwell: What if Edward Snowden had stayed to fight his corner?

The CIA whistleblower struck a blow for us all, but his 1970s predecessor showed how to win
'A man walks into a bar': Comedian Seann Walsh on the dangers of mixing alcohol and stand-up

Comedian Seann Walsh on alcohol and stand-up

Comedy and booze go together, says Walsh. The trouble is stopping at just the one. So when do the hangovers stop being funny?
From Edinburgh to Hollywood (via the Home Counties): 10 comedic talents blowing up big

Edinburgh to Hollywood: 10 comedic talents blowing up big

Hugh Montgomery profiles the faces to watch, from the sitcom star to the surrealist
'Hello. I have cancer': When comedian Tig Notaro discovered she had a tumour she decided the show must go on

Comedian Tig Notaro: 'Hello. I have cancer'

When Notaro discovered she had a tumour she decided the show must go on
They think it's all ova: Bill Granger's Asia-influenced egg recipes

Bill Granger's Asia-influenced egg recipes

Our chef made his name cooking eggs, but he’s never stopped looking for new ways to serve them
The world wakes up to golf's female big hitters

The world wakes up to golf's female big hitters

With its own Tiger Woods - South Korea's Inbee Park - the women's game has a growing audience
10 athletes ready to take the world by storm in Moscow next week

10 athletes ready to take the world by storm in Moscow next week

Here are the potential stars of the World Championships which begin on Saturday
The Last Word: Luis Suarez and Gareth Bale's art of manipulation

The Last Word: Luis Suarez and Gareth Bale's art of manipulation

Briefings are off the record leading to transfer speculation which is merely a means to an end