Chris Harvey

Frank Miller discusses his cultural influence through The Dark Knight Returns, Sin City, 300 and other comics, as well as his new memoir, Push the Wall. He reflects on his Irish-American upbringing, New York’s transformation, addiction and recovery, his renewed artistic practice, and criticisms that his work is misogynistic or Islamophobic. Miller calls Donald Trump a comic-book-style villain, describes Alan Moore as a rival who tries to silence him, and defends Neil Gaiman as a talented and kind person despite sexual-assault allegations that Gaiman denies. He is continuing to write Spider-Man and is considering future projects including Beowulf and Wagner’s Ring cycle, while expressing skepticism about artificial intelligence.

The article examines the unproven theory that the CIA poisoned England goalkeeper Gordon Banks before the 1970 World Cup quarter-final, forcing him to miss the match against West Germany. It reviews Banks’s severe gastroenteritis, the simultaneous illness of several teammates, claims that his family was quarantined after the tournament, and allegations that US senator Stuart Symington knew of CIA involvement. The investigation also links the theory to the CIA’s documented use of poisons and interest in international sporting events, as well as the suspicious arrest of England captain Bobby Moore in Colombia. However, ordinary food poisoning remains a plausible explanation, and no conclusive evidence or “smoking gun” has emerged.

Actor, comedian and author Ben Miller discusses A Very Dangerous Pursuit, his first adult novel, which follows a young Richard Hannay through Constantinople in 1912 as Europe moves toward the First World War. Miller explains his decision to retain Hannay’s unapologetic imperialism while acknowledging the British Empire’s brutality, including the scorched-earth tactics of the Second Boer War. He also defends preserving racist and antisemitic elements in historical fiction as evidence of how people thought at the time, rather than removing them. The interview covers Miller’s career with Alexander Armstrong, his television work in Death in Paradise and Professor T, his obsessive-compulsive disorder and productivity habits, and his family and life in the Cotswolds. A Very Dangerous Pursuit is due to be published by HarperCollins on May 21.

Quentin Crisp’s flamboyant self-presentation and refusal to conform made him a prominent queer cultural figure in Britain and later New York. The 1975 television drama The Naked Civil Servant, starring John Hurt, brought his experiences of violence, police intimidation and social prejudice to a mass audience and helped shift attitudes toward homosexuality. Family members and queer historians discuss Crisp’s wit, courage and complex legacy, including his discomfort with collective activism, controversial remarks and later reflections on gender identity. A planned short film, Do Not Fade, aims to explore his self-conception and continuing influence.

At 81, Gabrielle Drake is making her National Theatre debut as Madame de Rosemonde in Marianne Elliott’s production of Les Liaisons Dangereuses. Drake discusses the play’s parallels with the Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell scandal, its exploration of contemporary corruption, and her belief that society has become too censorious about physical affection. She reflects on her career in British television, film and theatre, including UFO, The Brothers, Crossroads and 1970s sex comedies. She also speaks movingly about her brother Nick Drake’s suicide, mental illness and enduring musical legacy, as well as her late husband Louis de Wet and their effort to preserve their historic Shropshire home as a future haven for artists.

Wayne Koestenbaum discusses his first novel in 20 years, My Lover, the Rabbi, whose fictional plot draws on his autobiographical understanding of erotic attachment and fetishisation. He reflects on growing up in California, coming of age in 1980s New York amid fears of AIDS, and developing an aesthetic centered on opera, film stars, celebrity and popular culture. Koestenbaum argues that American politics has become a grotesque consequence of celebrity culture, describing Donald Trump as a hollow, demonic parody of celebrity and expressing unease about his own role in cultivating fascination with fame through his writing on Andy Warhol. He also criticizes Jeff Bezos’s data-driven cuts to The Washington Post, warns that algorithms increasingly constrain individual choice and distort desire, and presents poetry and literature as ways to preserve autonomy and cultural vitality.