Jordan Peterson and the rise of the cargo cult intellectual
When banal life advice comes from your mum, it’s nagging. When it comes from a renegade professor with a…
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Age of the strongman
How we entered the age of the strongman
Liberals have consistently misread the present – and their complacency is pushing us into a new authoritarian era.
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Italy’s scruffy cities and corrupt politicians highlight the flaws of the eurozone
The country should be a paradise, yet many of its young mope around without prospects or have moved to Europe’s…
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Until the Palestinian issue is settled, there will always be a crack in Israel’s foundations
History shows that Israel’s military occupations cannot be sustained indefinitely.
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Chris Grayling is defying common sense in sticking to the same failed course for our railways
Every time Humpty falls off the wall, it gets harder for the Transport Secretary to put him together again;…
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Nazir Afzal’s Diary: the Manchester bombing was an attack on women and girls
The bomber chose the Ariana Grande concert last May specifically because of the mainly female make-up of her audience.
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Germany reclaimed: Berlin’s Jewish revival
For Jews, the city was once the heart of darkness. Now, it is full of young Israelis and Arabs. Could…
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The manager as messiah: Jürgen Klopp’s mission for Liverpool
Communication skills are central to Klopp’s method and, like Shankly, he is not afraid to use them to discuss…
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Many like to switch off by playing sport but don’t shy away from a marathon of the mind
Learn new things, debate new topics, discover new ways to apprehend the world – don’t believe the myth that the brain loses…
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Making waves: how Virginia Woolf influenced generations of female artists
“Virginia Woolf: An Exhibition Inspired by Her Writings” showcases – messily, provocatively, sometimes brilliantly – more than 250 works, dating…
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How fitness became a pseudo-religion
The Flywheel website details its “Fly-osophy”, warning customers to “get ready to build your limitless body – in and…
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No one asked for a middle-aged Karate Kid update, but YouTube made one anyway
YouTube’s Karate Kid sequel Cobra Kai has a nostalgic, lazily macho mentality.
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The llama, the fish and the magistrate: Lucrecia Martel’s absurdist film Zama puts its audience in a trance
Martel’s adaptation of the Argentine novel is David Lynch meets Samuel Beckett.
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US anarchist David Graeber’s crusade against the rise of “bullshit jobs”
In his new book, the LSE professor argues that universal basic income can end the era of “pointless work” and…
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Hugh Grant has the role of his life as Jeremy Thorpe in A Very English Scandal
The BBC One drama is purest catnip to me. I want to roll around in it, like some randy…
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Commons Confidential: Peter Mandelson’s double trouble
Your weekly dose of gossip from around Westminster.
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Exile or refugee? Lights in the Distance overturns the spurious distinction
Daniel Trilling’s powerful new book shows the reality of life for people trying to enter a Europe that largely…
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Crumbling Britain: Lancashire’s lost world of deep-sea fishing
Fleetwood was once the third biggest fishing port in Britain but its industry has all but disappeared – and the museum keeping its…
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Why Jeremy Corbyn’s sadness about Ken Livingstone’s departure was ill-judged
A sharply worded statement – using the words “door”, “hit you” and “way out” – would have helped heal the…
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Don’t make the mistake of thinking you’re saving the world by growing wild flowers
A wild flower area will provide food, plants and shelter for numerous insects and other small creatures, but not much…
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Loreena McKennitt has sold 15 million records – but she’d rather talk about air-sea rescue
The Canadian queen of Celtic music is honorary colonel of the Royal Canadian Airforce.
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Finally, I see the point in being kicked out of the family home, all those years ago
How else would I have met a Wolverhampton woman with a dry and ready wit and tattoos all over?
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My end-of-season awards: Arsène’s jacket, Firmino’s teeth, and the curse of the Panini sticker
For the first time in 22 years, Haircut of the Season is not being awarded. Too many with the…
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Why the Grenfell Tower fire inquiry must not drag on too long
This is the 68th public inquiry set up by ministers since 1990 – the average time from inquiry announcement…
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We are entering the post-democratic age – and it’s up to all of us to stop the strongmen
The number of countries that can plausibly be described as democracies is shrinking.
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Colm Tóibín Q&A: “I’m not sure I think at all – it doesn’t get me anywhere”
The novelist talks Mary Tudor, Jesus and America’s foolishness.
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Patrick Langley’s debut novel Arkady crackles with energy
Arkady explores an England wrecked not by obvious dystopian tropes, but by rent hikes, gentrification and the “decanting” of…
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Leader: How Brexit triggered the UK’s latest identity crisis
The union is far from secure, with Nicola Sturgeon expected to unveil a detailed new blueprint for Scottish independence.
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John McCain’s last stand
John McCain ended his career in his inimitable fashion.
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Lost boy: the meanings and motivations of Michael Jackson
Jackson wanted his career to be “the greatest show on earth”, but he paid for it with his childhood.
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No
A new poem by PB Hughes.
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Only Artists: the Radio 4 discussion show that cuts out the middle man
The show is strikingly and joyously like something from an earlier time, when less offence was taken and given.
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