A tale of two suckers: Donald Trump’s plastic straws and Keir Starmer - February 2025 The Observer - By Stewart Lee - February 16th, 2025

It’s difficult to know whether to set any store by Donald Trump’s bleak and yet also often banal pronouncements, which read as if handfuls of offensive concepts have been tossed into the air by a monkey, read out in whatever order they landed and then made policy. Until it’s clear they can’t work. At which…

Air traffic control to Sir Keir: turbulence ahead - February 2025 The Observer - By Stewart Lee - February 9th, 2025

To Elon Musk, I say this! To perform one Nazi salute at Donald Trump’s inauguration, while simultaneously offering full support to European neo-Nazis, might be considered a misfortune. To perform two Nazi salutes at Donald Trump’s inauguration, while simultaneously offering full support to European neo-Nazis, begins to look like carelessness. I didn’t write that joke.…

The Donald and Elon Show is an unholy mess - January 2025 The Observer - By Stewart lee - January 26th, 2025

‘Abba, selach ’ethon la nakhru mah h’mon pelalin!” Flood the zone with shit. Police investigators that pore professionally over horrific imagery online have counselling and mental health support. This week I’ve followed the news from Musk’s America for the sake of another supposedly funny Observer column, and no one’s checking to see if I’m coping.…

An information dark age is upon us. I’m logging off - January 2025 The Observer - By Stewart lee - January 19th, 2025

Wow! That escalated quickly. Last time I filed my supposedly funny column, only two weeks ago, Los Angeles wasn’t on fire; Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg hadn’t abandoned the guardrails that restrict neo-fascist lies, or “free speech” as they are now known; the US hadn’t threatened to invade Canada and Greenland; Elon Musk and Jordan Peterson hadn’t…

If 2025 is anything like 2024, I’ll be back on the Baileys - January 2025 The Observer - By Stewart Lee - January 5th, 2025

Christ was born in a barn. This proves that he came for all humankind, as well as reducing his parents’ options for witty off-the-peg verbal critiques of him should he leave their front door open. Bearing Christ’s universality in mind, on Christmas Day at lunchtime I made my guests stand to listen to a few…

Farage, Musk and Candy say ‘cheese’ – now British democracy’s toast - December 2024 The Observer - By Stewart Lee - December 22nd, 2024

There’s a new photo of Nigel Farage and the Reform treasurer, Nick Candy, who partied through the pandemic at Lord Shaun “Bum and Boobs” Bailey of Paddington’s Pissedmas disco with a load of dancing Tory spads in horrible Christmas jumpers, meeting Elon Musk at Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago document storage unit slash vanity art display mausoleum.…