Laura Freeman
The Spectator
Contact Laura
Discover and connect with journalists and influencers around the world, save time on email research, monitor the news, and more.
| Recent: |
|
| Past: |
|
Past articles by Laura:
Everything is now an Instagram photo op
On Sunday morning, in Puy-en-Velay, I climbed the 275 volcanic steps to the tiny chapel of Rocher Saint-Michel d’Aiguilhe. There, in the gloaming, among the silent stones that have stood on this site… → Read More
Bellini vs Mantegna – whose team are you on?
Sometimes Andrea Mantegna was just showing off. For the Palazzo Ducale in Mantua, he painted a false ceiling above the Camera degli Sposi. Around a great trompe l’oeil oculus, apparently open to the… → Read More
A brief history of unicorns
After the England football team beat Tunisia at this summer’s World Cup, they celebrated with a swimming-pool race on inflatable unicorns. Purple hooves, rainbow manes, cutesy eyes, yellow horns like… → Read More
Save us from Tiger, the posh Poundland of tat
There is a Tiger on the loose. It is stalking our high streets. It is prowling our train stations. It has cubs in every shopping mall. It is the Tiger of Tat. And when it roars, it roars: BUY. Tiger… → Read More
The bad boys of Naples don’t flirt with flowers, but rocks
Goodnight, Caecilius. Goodnight, Metella. Farewell, faithful Cerberus the dog. What a fate. Buried under the ash and rock at Pompeii. ‘Eheu,’ as they say in the Cambridge Latin Course. ‘Oh dear, oh… → Read More
Only the south of France could silence Henry James
Only the south of France could silence Henry James on The Spectator | ‘Saint-Tropez?’ said the French mother of a friend. ‘C’est un peu… “tacky”.’ She was… → Read More
Is it any wonder children can’t express themselves when all they have is emojis?
Smiley face. Sad face. Smoochy face. Sick face. Edvard Munch ‘Scream’ face. How are you feeling today? Any of the above? When I worked as a teacher at a… → Read More
Monet painted London not brick-by-brick, but light-by-shade
The Savoy was too sumptuous, complained Claude Monet, returning to the hotel in 1904. His rooms — one for sleeping, one for easels, canvases, palettes… → Read More
Following illustrators and authors on Twitter and Instagram is the only way forward
Would Dickens be on Twitter were he writing today? Glutton for attention that he was, the modern @Boz1812 would be prolific. → Read More
The most delicious moments in literature
Laura Freeman, author of The Reading Cure, picks out her favourite examples of mouth-watering writing → Read More
Let’s redo lunch – al desko doesn’t have to mean a sad sandwich
As a young sub-editor on the Times in 1926, Graham Greene, future author of The Quiet American and Brighton Rock, had his meals in the office canteen. → Read More
Can we just stop calling everything ‘perfect’?
Can we just stop calling everything ‘perfect’? on The Spectator | When I order a cup of tea in Costa, the barista says: ‘Perfect!’ I ask for tap water in a… → Read More
Let there be dark – I can’t take any more unnecessary light
Who’s afraid of the dark? Who now fears shadows and bumps in the night? Where do you even find any dark to be afraid of when your phone is only a pocket… → Read More
A history of bump iconography
A history of bump iconography on The Spectator | Bump to bump they stand: Mary and her cousin Elizabeth, both pregnant, both apple-cheeked and glowing as… → Read More
How Hokusai achieved immortality
How Hokusai achieved immortality on The Spectator | The end, whenever it came, was always going to be too soon for Katsushika Hokusai. There was still so… → Read More
I’m shouting it loud: I’m proud to be a prude
What advice would you give to this modern moral question posed by my friend’s younger sister? A boy at school… → Read More
How on earth do you put 1,600 pages of Elena Ferrante on stage?
Reading Elena Ferrante’s Neapolitan quartet is a heady experience. You not only see, hear, know her characters — you can… → Read More
Why Auguste Rodin preferred to sculpt women who couldn’t sit still
The girl who posed for Auguste Rodin’s figure of Eve on the ‘Gates of Hell’ was, the sculptor said, a… → Read More
Longing for a back-of-cab kiss? Then don’t get an Uber
You know the old designation NSIT — Not Safe in Taxis? Well, we need a new one: TSIU — Too… → Read More
Donald Trump's presidency will be fuelled by junk food
As he showed on the campaign trail, the president-elect favours KFC over haute cuisine → Read More