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Damian Thompson on Muck Rack

Damian Thompson

London
As seen in: Holy Smoke, The Spectator, The New York Times, Daily Mail, Irish Daily Mail, Scottish Daily Mail, The Mail on Sunday, The Telegraph, New York Post, Salon, Neue Zürcher Zeitung, RealClear Politics and
Associate Editor, The Spectator, presenter of its Holy Smoke religion podcast. Once described as 'A blood-crazed ferret' by the Church Times

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Damian Thompson’s Biography

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Editor of Telegraph Blogs, columnist for The Daily Telegraph, author of four books (subjects include apocalyptic belief, conspiracy theories and addiction). Studied history at Oxford and did a PhD at the London School of Economics. Editor-in-chief of The Catholic Herald 2003-8 but not especially religious. Once described as a 'blood-crazed ferret' by the Church Times. Also write a column about classical music for The Spectator.

Damian Thompson’s Journalist Portfolio

Shop talk

Shop talk

Last Friday I popped into Gramex, the world's best second-hand classical CD and record shop, just behind Wate…

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Did the Freemasons stage the moon landings? If so, new Home Office minister Norman Baker will fin...

Did the Freemasons stage the moon landings? If so, new Home Office minister Norman Baker will fin...

Here's a piece of news to set the eyes of every conspiracy theorist swivelling under their tin-foil trilbies.…

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Modern politicians: 'intensely relaxed' about trousering other people's cash

Modern politicians: 'intensely relaxed' about trousering other people's cash

At around this time of year, Clement Attlee would be enjoying his ideal holiday: playing cricket with his fam…

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Age of the addict

Age of the addict

When future generations look back at the early 21st century, they may well decide that its political turmoil …

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Are today's composers up to the challenge of writing sublime music?

Are today's composers up to the challenge of writing sublime music?

When we describe music as 'sublime', what do we mean? For the Romans, sublimis signified greatness beyond mea…

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Articles

The greatest symphony that no one’s heard of

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By Damian Thompson
| The Spectator Australia Verified
I’ve been listening to a symphony that I would describe as an almost perfect masterpiece by a composer of towering importance. But until last month I’d never heard it. Most music-lovers would struggle to identify the piece; most orchestras have never performed it and have no plans to do so. We can only be talking about a symphony by Joseph Haydn. He wrote 104 of them, plus two or three others that didn’t make it into the catalogue.
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Is there any route back for the Society of St Pius X?

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By Damian Thompson
| The Spectator Australia Verified
As any Catholic master of ceremonies will tell you, it takes only the tiniest sartorial mishap to lend a Python-esque flavour to moments of the utmost solemnity. On 1 July the rebel traditionalist Society of St Pius X (SSPX) created four new bishops in defiance of Pope Leo XIV during a five-hour open-air Latin Mass in a Swiss alpine meadow. The consecrating prelates wore dark-red velvet chasubles over scarlet-and-gold dalmatics with matching gloves.
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The unique charisma of Pope Francis

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By Damian Thompson
| The Spectator Australia Verified
The anniversary of Pope Leo XIV’s election last month generated lots of thoughtful but inconclusive analysis from mainstream Catholic commentators – and, on social media, far more heat than light. Traditionalists in particular have turned on each other. Some think Leo is quietly reversing the mistakes of his predecessor, or at least planning to do so. Others describe him as ‘Francis II’ or ‘Bergoglio in nicer vestments’. I believe that the former position is closer to the truth.
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Interview

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What was your first job as a journalist?

Reporter, Bracknell News.

Have you ever used a typewriter?

Yup, on a local newspaper in the Eighties. One of them dated back to the 1920s.

How is social media changing news?

It's collapsing boundaries between subjects; also empowering reporters with a political agenda.