Inside Flipboard

The UK’s Spectator Brings Its Provocative Voices to Flipboard

Inside Flipboard / July 7, 2014

Established in 1828, The Spectator is the oldest continuously published magazine in the English language and has long had a taste for controversy. From George Brimley’s essay questioning the intellectual worth of Dickens (1853) to then-Editor Ian Gilmour’s firm views on ending capital punishment in Britain (1955), the magazine has been a forum for bold ideas and articulate voices. The Conservative weekly is often seen as a step on the ladder into politics, with Westminster figures such as the Conservative Party’s Iain Macleod and London Mayor Boris Johnson holding past editorships.

Other notable writers have found a home here, too. Nigella Lawson began her career writing restaurant columns for The Spectator; Graham Greene worked as Literary Editor and film critic; and Quentin Blake helped to illustrate the magazine. In recent issues, Russell Brand wrote about his drug addiction; John Allen exposed the new persecution of Christians; and James McConnachie asked, “What do conductors actually do, other than wave their arms about?”

“Our writers are the best in the English language—their interests range from politics to poetry, molecular genetics to tequila slammers,” says Editor Fraser Nelson.

The magazine is now available on Flipboard, where it’s been paginated and otherwise redesigned for better browsing.