Robert Shrimsley asks: why worry about inheritance tax if I’m dead?

Tim Harford makes the case for ‘late bloomers’

“She acknowledged the loneliness of life”, novelist @nicoleflattery on the reemergence of the filmmaker Chantal Akerman

‘This is a word I think I’ve almost never used in a review, but therein lies Hedworth’s genius.’ @TimHayward is bowled over in Newcastle

Who’s eating who now? @KuperSimon on the new geopolitical food chain

“Aren’t I the eternal comeback kid?” Peter Mandelson, Britain’s new ambassador to Washington, embarks on his next political act. By @georgewparker

It takes all of ten minutes to make the pastry for this pie. The result: a rustic, free-form pie that’s totally from scratch

@JancisRobinson reports from an embassy tasting of ‘anything but Malbec’

‘Salvation has come from a surprising source: my fellow Brits. All you need to say is the word “traditional” and they’re sold.’ This week’s Insider’s Notebook comes from a café owner in Madrid

“Where an empty road had stood, there were suddenly bedrooms, storerooms and living rooms” Snigdha Poonam on Gauri Gill’s photographs of the Indian farmers’ protests

Should I be scared of the dentist? Here’s the whole tooth

Tim Harford on the allure of the ‘fresh start’

‘I’ve been trying to review Ambassadors Clubhouse for an absolute age. People whose opinions I respected had reported great things and so I attempted to book.’ @TimHayward’s review this week is a story of two halves

Simon Kuper on Donald Trump and the political cult of the entrepreneur

We have made it through the month of ritual self-denial and it is time for a treat. Enter, Llewelyn’s beef cheek (or shin, or short ribs)

‘In clients’ kitchens, I carry a low-level hum of anxiety with me. What if I break the heirloom knife? What if I spill flour all over myself? Am I meant to be keeping an eye on that toddler?’ Rosa Shipley lifts the lid on life as a private chef

‘Sommelier Maryna Revkova decided to leave Ukraine in March 2022 when a missile fell so close to her house that it blew out all the doors and windows.’ @JancisRobinson hears from wine professionals displaced by war

No soup thrown: meet the rebel clowns reinventing protest

‘As the onions cook down, the liquid they release creates the sauce the meat cooks in, and the pot slowly transforms from looking highly unappetising to absolutely delicious.’ This week’s recipe is for Ida’s ragù Genovese

How an online craze for adorable succulents drives a brutal global trade: in the wilds of South Africa’s Northern Cape, poaching ‘green diamonds’ – often for sale in Asia – has become an almost irresistible temptation.⁠