Labour’s Rout, MAGA’s Surge, and Iran’s Slow Surrender

Failed regimes foreign and domestic are faltering, while political and military reality is asserting itself with unmistakable force.

A terrible week for the Ayatollah and Keir Starmer, a great week for MAGA.

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by Roger Kimball
May 10, 2026

For more than 20 years, Robert J. Lurtsema (1931–2000) hosted a classical music radio show on the Boston station WGBH. He typically began the show with a bit of birdsong. He followed that soothing introit with a brief recap of the news, which he wrote up himself and delivered in his unmistakable, sonorous baritone (like “warm fudge,” said one admirer).

I liked the timbre of his voice, at once calming and authoritative. I also liked Lurtsema’s good humor. Occasionally, when a paucity of noteworthy events warranted, he would declare that there really wasn’t any news that day and go straight to the music.

Those were good days. I wish other news outlets would follow Lurtsema’s lead and indulge us with an occasional moratorium on their blather masquerading as news.