Will Self
10 April 2024
Multicultural Man: On pilgrimages
A pilgrimage on foot from London to Canterbury is par for the course of this very pedestrian life
Read the full article03 April 2024
Multicultural Man: On beards
I have decided to grow a beard – my mission is to reconcile the two most antipathetic faith communities of London in the contours of my own face
Read the full article20 March 2024
Multicultural Man: On churchgoing
Church is one of the only places in London with black and white people doing something wholeheartedly together that isn’t working for the goddamn man
Read the full article20 March 2024
I’ve got news for you.. satire is dead
As a new series of HIGNFY approaches, its comedy is now preaching to the converted, and feels toothless in an age of virtue signalling but no virtue.
Read the full article13 March 2024
Multicultural Man: On DIY
When it comes to working with my hands I am a dunce. Enter Rashad and Google Translate
Read the full article06 March 2024
Multicultural Man: On no-go areas
Paul Scully says Tower Hamlets in east London has “no-go areas”. How would he know?
Read the full article28 February 2024
Multicultural Man: On food
An Indian mission to feed hungry British students makes for a bizarre reversal
Read the full article21 February 2024
Multicultural Man: On TV licensing
Everyone must die – and so must broadcast TV
Read the full article14 February 2024
Multicultural Man: On the church
In order for churches to be properly cherished they’ll have to welcome in people of other faiths and no faith at all
Read the full article07 February 2024
Multicultural Man: On micrography
A fountain pen gives an almost pervy sensation of smooth abandon as the nib unspools the long line of effort and beauty
Read the full article31 January 2024
Multicultural Man: On assumptions
When ordering from a Japanese bakery a lot can be lost in translation
Read the full article24 January 2024
Multicultural Man: On dresses
It would do men a lot of good to go out in a dress for a few days and feel the wind of change it occasions
Read the full article17 January 2024
Multicultural Man: On coal
I’m old enough to remember what life was like before the generality of houses and flats were centrally heated – and now I’m experiencing it again
Read the full article10 January 2024
Multicultural Man: On sherbet
The 1970s was an era as filthily culpable as any other and its only redeeming feature was the cheapness and availability of sherbet lemons
Read the full article02 January 2024
Multicultural Man: Oh, and I have cancer
The predicament of cancerous smokers is a bit like that of Brexit voters: we all did something fucking stupid, knowingly, and now we’re paying the price
Read the full article20 December 2023
Multicultural Man: On mosques
In a way, the Ahmadi feel like a very suburban, very pacific, rather twee and English sort of Muslim sect
Read the full article13 December 2023
Multicultural Man: On bread
This is how the world ends – not with a bang, but whimpering about “open” crumb by people with more time, less sense, and more money than they should
Read the full article06 December 2023
Multicultural Man: On the Bake Off
In terms of reflecting an idealised portrait of Britain, this year’s series has to have been, at best, troubling
Read the full article29 November 2023
Multicultural Man: On allotments
When I was a kid, allotments were a kind of cliche: strictly for old-mannish types to potter around in. Not any more
Read the full article22 November 2023
Multicultural Man: On heritage
Will greater and digitised access to our history result in a more enriched cultural future?
Read the full article15 November 2023
Multicultural Man: On tins
To hold an old tin – many of which have pleasingly haptic qualities – is to feel one’s own hands gloved by ancient skin
Read the full article08 November 2023
Multicultural Man: On Jehovah’s Witnesses
Why our columnist has taken to de-evangelising evangelists
Read the full article01 November 2023
Multicultural Man: On fake cops
The filming of a police drama provokes thoughts on significance
Read the full article18 October 2023
Multicultural Man: On Tom Cruise
Just as paintings once juxtaposed human skulls and fresh fruit to impress upon their viewers the transitoriness of life, so Mr Cruise has become a kind of walking vanitas
Read the full article11 October 2023
Multicultural Man: On progress
Here are my cultural highlights for the 2023 rentrée
Read the full article04 October 2023
Multicultural Man: On Hokusai
Putting up pictures in a new home leads to considerable pondering
Read the full article27 September 2023
Multicultural Man: On muses
That the author of the most celebrated text on education in the 18th century should also have been a deadbeat dad should not be a surprise
Read the full article20 September 2023
Multicultural Man: On rehab
Every institution has its own set of ideas and AA is no different
Read the full article13 September 2023
Multicultural Man: On booze in Paris
France is on a mission to ensure its capital is ready to host the 2024 Olympics – which means a clampdown on alcohol and its associated issues
Read the full article06 September 2023
Multicultural Man: On futurology
A City salad bar was predicted by this columnist 30 years ago
Read the full article30 August 2023
Multicultural Man: On yoga
There’s no one angrier and more uptight than a westerner who practices a philosophy based on bodily attunement and the renunciation of desire
Read the full article23 August 2023
Multicultural Man: On tenants
A viewing brings some shocking home truths about the state of the rental property market
Read the full article