I miss the days when a good old-fashioned pitch invasion marked the end of the football season
It’s that moving time of the year when we tearfully bid farewell to another football season and another football…
ByNew Statesman Magazine
In this week’s magazine
Age of extremes
The “M” that matters in Jeremy Corbyn’s Brexit strategy is not (Seumas) Milne but Mansfield
Why is everyone in the Labour Party so relaxed about the Brexit talks? The opposition is badly split about…
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The sunk cost fallacy means I am doomed to watch Game of Thrones to the bitter end
Why am I still watching Game of Thrones? I wish I knew. I quit the books years ago, after…
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The Tory party is disintegrating, collective responsibility has broken down, yet Theresa May goes on
Apparently, it’s all about Theresa May. Her passage from stubbornness to sheer stupidity in clinging on to the leadership…
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Digital hoarding means we can film, photograph or stream everything but risk experiencing nothing
In 1975, Marion Stokes, a former librarian from Philadelphia, bought a Betamax video recorder. At first, she used it…
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Leader: Where two roads diverge on the future of the planet
In 1962 the American conservationist Rachel Carson published Silent Spring, her study of the damage being done to the natural world…
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Sigrid Rausing’s Diary: Granta at 40, vile anti-Semitic cartoons – and mishaps over dinner in Paris
I have just been to Paris with Ian Jack, Granta’s former editor, to celebrate our 40th anniversary issue at…
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Why we must empower local government
It has been a long time since local government was a hotbed of political struggle. In the past several…
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Commons Confidential: Political flibbertigibbet Rachel
No wonder Tory wannabes fanning across the country aren’t waiting for Theresa May’s resignation to woo their 120,000-weak sect.…
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The fine art of bullshitting – and why we’re getting better at it
It’s almost 15 years since the Princeton philosopher Harry Frankfurt published his bestselling book, On Bullshit. “One of the…
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Crumbling Britain: How it feels to give birth behind bars
When Kate Somers woke up after the complicated birth of her third child, she was handcuffed on a short…
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Bernardine Evaristo’s Girl, Woman, Other is a story for our times
As David Olusoga observes in his book Black and British, in much of history “black figures are mute”, particularly…
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The metaphysical beauty of Ludwig Steinherr’s Light Song
Splendid masterpiece of the omnipotent hand of the immortal gods: grand luminary, whom my ravished eyes behold, shining with…
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How the appeasement of Hitler played into his hands
The word “appeasement” smells a bit off nowadays. There’s a tang of cowardice about it, a whiff of turpitude.…
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How the BBC’s political coverage is changing
“Now, before we move on to talk about the European election, we’ve been thinking about our political coverage here…”…
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Black Car Burning: a mature and evocative debut novel exploring the ties that bind us
There has always been a strong crossover between poetry and rock climbing. Consider the names bestowed upon routes by…
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Sci-fi horror High Life lacks the life of Claire Denis’s previous works
“In space, no one can hear you scream,” warned the poster for Alien. Tell that to Monte (Robert Pattinson),…
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The finale proves it – Line of Duty has gone from gripping to preposterous
This review contains major spoilers for the finale of series five of Line of Duty. In the days running…
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Why I love the Met Gala
Watching a crowd of millionaires arrive at a public museum for a deliberately hyper-elitist event of debauched pageantry is…
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Neil Jordan Q&A: “I love Ireland but it’s so dank and miserable most of the year”
Neil Jordan was born in County Sligo, Ireland in 1950. He is the Oscar-winning screenwriter of “The Crying Game”…
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Why I loved Spurs’ new stadium – despite hardly seeing the game
What has been the most exciting, amazing, wonderful new creation of this long season? You’ve guessed already. I have…
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Why I’m glad to have been a junior doctor in the early 2000s
Six months away from becoming a consultant, I was asked to take on extra work because the cardiology department…
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Nudity, crudity, gypsies, tramps and thieves: it’s just a regular night at Duckie
Just speak quietly will you please? I’m still recovering from Saturday night. For the second time recently I was…
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In a last-minute turn of events, I entertain three Russians in the castle
A slight change of plan means that I’m staying at the castle for another couple of nights. Normally, when…
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Don’t be ripped off: spray guns of pre-diluted pest control are expensive and unnecessary
I recently spotted the first rose aphids of the season: so when I was in our local gardening store…
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