The fabric of nature
It was tapestry, not landscape painting, that first brought the outdoors indoors.
By
American civil war
Making Ma Rainey
She changed popular music forever, but the “Mother of the Blues” is not the household name she deserves to be.…
By
BBC Radio 4’s Bodies explores the human form throughout history
Presenter and anatomist Alice Roberts describes the series as a “time-travelling tour” of “how anatomical knowledge has changed”.
By
ITV’s true crime drama The Pembrokeshire Murders is a story of meticulousness and hard work
Its excitements lay not in revisiting John Cooper’s inexplicably horrible crimes, but in building a case, bit by bit,…
By
Pieces of a Woman is an uneven study of parental grief
In this story of a home birth gone wrong, director Kornél Mundruczó and screenwriter Kata Wéber reach for effects without quite…
By
Max Porter’s The Death of Francis Bacon: a novelist takes on the painter’s final days
The modern artist, Bacon said, must “unlock the valves of feeling and therefore return the onlooker to life more…
By
Ramachandra Guha’s The Commonwealth of Cricket: a delightful sporting memoir
Guha, one of India’s best-known historians and public intellectuals, is a bona fide cricket obsessive.
By
How Augustus rebuilt Rome
Why the age of Augustus still transfixes us.
By
NS Recommends: new books from Rebecca Watson, Ben Machell, Torrey Peters and Eddie S Glaude Jr
Watson’s Little Scratch, Machell’s The Unusual Suspect, Peters’ Detransition, Baby and S Glaude Jr’s Begin Again.
By
Personal Story: On the Covid front line
As a junior doctor walking into the intensive care unit for the first time, I saw a ward lined with unconscious patients attached…
By
Appreciation: Colin Bell
Dubbed Nijinsky, after the champion racehorse, by Manchester City team-mates and fans, the unparalleled footballer was a modest man with…
By
Why Trump isn’t a fascist
The storming of the Capitol on 6 January was not a coup. But American democracy is still in danger.
By
American civil war
The coming struggle against Trump and Trumpism.
By
This England: Out on a limb
This column – which, though named after a line in Shakespeare’s “Richard II”, refers to the whole of Britain…
By
After shielding all year, two of my patients were put at risk by a tiny lapse at Christmas
The race to provide Covid-19 protection is on, but halting. The vulnerable will need to maintain their guard for a…
ByEmail [email protected] if you would like to be the New Statesman’s Subscriber of the Week.
By
Carlo Rovelli Q&A: “I am a very slow thinker with zero memory“
The theoretical physicist on the political ideals of Alexander Bogdanov and why he would fail if he competed in Mastermind.
By
Let me describe the flat in which I will be spending lockdown… it won’t take long
The view from the window is of much nicer houses opposite – or would be if the glass weren’t,…
By
The New Year we long for is the one in which the virus no longer dominates our lives
As fireworks lit up London’s skyline, I thought of us all in the city below watching from our separate…
By
Winemakers, like artists and musicians, know how to wring something bright from murky times
Every cloud has a silver lining, and Hungarian Furmint is something we can all enjoy.
By
First Thoughts: Platforms as publishers, UK Covid deaths and the radical history of Essex
The argument for making Twitter and other social media sites accountable for their content is compelling – and the solution…
By
“What does it mean to be a black man in Britain?”: Courttia Newland on his latest novel and the struggle to get it published
The novelist and screenwriter discusses science fiction, the human soul and working with Steve McQueen on the BBC’s Small Axe series.
By
Commons Confidential: Shy bairns get no sweets
Your weekly dose of gossip from around Westminster.
By
How the exurbs helped decide the US 2020 election
Joe Biden’s gains in low-density, semi-rural residential communities is a story of spatial realignment, and also of political realignment among classes,…
By
Is Tesla a car company, or a casino?
It could take Tesla almost 1,600 years to make as much money as the stock market has invested in…
By
Dominant in Scotland, Rangers may offer the happy ending Gerrard never had at Liverpool
With 20 wins from 22 games, Gerrard has swept away the team’s culture of mediocrity.
By
The mob may have been cleared from the US Capitol but the violence is likely to continue
The party of Trump is angry, and their rage will only intensify in the build-up to Joe Biden’s inauguration.
By
It’s Joe Biden’s job to put a stop to American carnage – and this is what he should say on 20 January
The task of the president-elect’s inauguration speech is, as Lincoln said in 1865, “to bind up the nation’s wounds”.
By
Mark Damazer’s diary: Why Springsteen is still the Boss, talking Booker and my struggles with Covid
Since catching coronavirus, any food that doesn’t taste of sawdust or disgustingly bitter has become a great luxury.
By
As life expectancy falls, we watch the one true miracle of the modern world slipping away from us
We have experienced a tiny taste of the kind of mortality that was once inevitable.
By
Fighting Covid-19 is an exercise in delayed gratification – a truth that Boris Johnson has failed to grasp
At every stage the Prime Minister has acted too late, and now hospitals are bearing the consequences.
By
With Germany’s political future in the balance, centrist “Merkel voters” will be crucial
Angela Merkel’s cautious, incremental progressivism drew strong support from women and migrants. Can her successor retain them?
By
Leader: The Big Tech reckoning
Twitter and Facebook’s action against Donald Trump shows why the tech giants should no longer enjoy the privileges of being publishers…
By
Letter of the week: Much-needed good news
A selection of the best letters received from our readers this week. Email [email protected] to have your thoughts voiced…
By Carlo Rovelli Q&A: “I am a very slow thinker with zero memory“
The theoretical physicist on the political ideals of Alexander Bogdanov and why he would fail if he competed in Mastermind.
ByEmail [email protected] if you would like to be the New Statesman’s Subscriber of the Week.
By After shielding all year, two of my patients were put at risk by a tiny lapse at Christmas
The race to provide Covid-19 protection is on, but halting. The vulnerable will need to maintain their guard for a…
By This England: Out on a limb
This column – which, though named after a line in Shakespeare’s “Richard II”, refers to the whole of Britain…
By The New Year we long for is the one in which the virus no longer dominates our lives
As fireworks lit up London’s skyline, I thought of us all in the city below watching from our separate…
By Let me describe the flat in which I will be spending lockdown… it won’t take long
The view from the window is of much nicer houses opposite – or would be if the glass weren’t,…
By Winemakers, like artists and musicians, know how to wring something bright from murky times
Every cloud has a silver lining, and Hungarian Furmint is something we can all enjoy.
By BBC Radio 4’s Bodies explores the human form throughout history
Presenter and anatomist Alice Roberts describes the series as a “time-travelling tour” of “how anatomical knowledge has changed”.
By ITV’s true crime drama The Pembrokeshire Murders is a story of meticulousness and hard work
Its excitements lay not in revisiting John Cooper’s inexplicably horrible crimes, but in building a case, bit by bit,…
By NS Recommends: new books from Rebecca Watson, Ben Machell, Torrey Peters and Eddie S Glaude Jr
Watson’s Little Scratch, Machell’s The Unusual Suspect, Peters’ Detransition, Baby and S Glaude Jr’s Begin Again.
By First Thoughts: Platforms as publishers, UK Covid deaths and the radical history of Essex
The argument for making Twitter and other social media sites accountable for their content is compelling – and the solution…
By “What does it mean to be a black man in Britain?”: Courttia Newland on his latest novel and the struggle to get it published
The novelist and screenwriter discusses science fiction, the human soul and working with Steve McQueen on the BBC’s Small Axe series.
By Commons Confidential: Shy bairns get no sweets
Your weekly dose of gossip from around Westminster.
By How the exurbs helped decide the US 2020 election
Joe Biden’s gains in low-density, semi-rural residential communities is a story of spatial realignment, and also of political realignment among classes,…
By Dominant in Scotland, Rangers may offer the happy ending Gerrard never had at Liverpool
With 20 wins from 22 games, Gerrard has swept away the team’s culture of mediocrity.
By The mob may have been cleared from the US Capitol but the violence is likely to continue
The party of Trump is angry, and their rage will only intensify in the build-up to Joe Biden’s inauguration.
By As life expectancy falls, we watch the one true miracle of the modern world slipping away from us
We have experienced a tiny taste of the kind of mortality that was once inevitable.
By It’s Joe Biden’s job to put a stop to American carnage – and this is what he should say on 20 January
The task of the president-elect’s inauguration speech is, as Lincoln said in 1865, “to bind up the nation’s wounds”.
By Mark Damazer’s diary: Why Springsteen is still the Boss, talking Booker and my struggles with Covid
Since catching coronavirus, any food that doesn’t taste of sawdust or disgustingly bitter has become a great luxury.
By With Germany’s political future in the balance, centrist “Merkel voters” will be crucial
Angela Merkel’s cautious, incremental progressivism drew strong support from women and migrants. Can her successor retain them?
By Fighting Covid-19 is an exercise in delayed gratification – a truth that Boris Johnson has failed to grasp
At every stage the Prime Minister has acted too late, and now hospitals are bearing the consequences.
By Letter of the week: Much-needed good news
A selection of the best letters received from our readers this week. Email [email protected] to have your thoughts voiced…
By Leader: The Big Tech reckoning
Twitter and Facebook’s action against Donald Trump shows why the tech giants should no longer enjoy the privileges of being publishers…
By Is Tesla a car company, or a casino?
It could take Tesla almost 1,600 years to make as much money as the stock market has invested in…
By Pieces of a Woman is an uneven study of parental grief
In this story of a home birth gone wrong, director Kornél Mundruczó and screenwriter Kata Wéber reach for effects without quite…
By