Re-examining the life of David Ben-Gurion
Ben-Gurion was a divisive leader, an uninspiring and humourless speaker, but still a revered and visionary giant to many…
By
Britain alone
Vesna Main’s Good Day? is sharp and quick-witted meta-fiction
This Goldsmiths Prize-shortlisted book, told entirely in unattributed dialogue, offers a fast-paced, intimate discussion of sex work, gender bias,…
By
Mark Haddon’s The Porpoise: effortlessly inventive and absorbing
Mark Haddon’s Goldsmiths Prize-shortlisted novel draws on stories from the ancient world, medieval literature and Shakespeare and makes a…
By
Jenny Slate’s charismatic vulnerability
In her new show Stage Fright, Slate mines both her irresistible stage presence and her willingness to be open…
By
Ken Loach’s Sorry We Missed You is an indictment of the gig economy
Ken Loach’s latest excursion into breadline Britain follows a delivery driver on a zero-hours contract.
By
BBC Two’s Who Are You Calling Fat?: a cheap stunt-show
“Experiments” like this can’t hope to unpick the complex effect of such things as our genes and our toxic…
By
The Missing Cryptoqueen is a truly gripping podcast
The tension is hideous. I am a blinking cursor, anticipating instructions.
By
Don Pasquale at the Royal Opera House: a muted take on an old comedy
This production is exercise in style, some sort of post-modern universe where everything is signified but nothing means anything.
By
David Blunkett Q&A: “I can genuinely say that I ‘looked up’ to Nelson Mandela”
The former politician talks Celebrity Mastermind, an early hospital visit, and the need for a unifying, radical but realistic Labour government.
By
Remembering my friend Deborah Orr, who would only accept a favour if she really needed it
I was glad she was going to be my neighbour in Brighton and volunteered to help her with anything she…
By
From the pear-leaved willow to the willow-leaved pear, many familiar plants are impostors
There really is no perfection in gardens – one plant escapes a problem by looking like something else, but…
By
On the anti-Brexit march, I begin to think this kind of protest is a bit too mild
I don’t want to leave the EU but that doesn’t mean I love it so devotedly that I want to…
By
What Gareth’s bottom lump says about the need for gender-neutral immunisation
From 2015, there were mounting calls for the HPV vaccine to be administered to all children irrespective of gender, as…
By
How white supremacists around the world are being connected
Deepening lines of communication and funding are creating the kind of loose, nefarious networks that once haunted the far-right’s…
By
“Horrified, but not shocked”: how 39 deaths exposed a cruel underworld in an Essex town
“These lorries are so easy to get into,” says Rob Watson, a 53-year-old who has been driving them since…
By
“It feels like everything could tip very quickly”: Naomi Klein takes on the climate crisis
Klein, who has done more to popularise the inseparability of capitalism and climate change than perhaps any other author,…
By
First Thoughts: The Barclay Brothers, scrapping SUVs and Britain’s sporting prowess
Once respected for its wide-ranging news coverage, the Telegraph became a sectarian, propagandist rag under the Barclays.
By
The fall of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the world’s most brutal terrorist
Even al-Qaeda and leading jihadi theorists were compelled to condemn some of Baghdadi’s most extreme acts.
By
Commons Confidential: Attack of the 50-foot flowers
Your weekly dose of gossip from around Westminster.
By
Japan’s Rugby World Cup is a glorious reminder that sport has the power to tear down borders
Far from swallowing it up in apathy, the Japanese have thrown open their arms and welcomed the World Cup…
By
I used to cringe at Irish novels, plays and television, but one book changed all that
The Butcher Boy, published in 1992, was a turning point for Irish literature.
By
Fixed-term parliaments make an old constitutional conflict around Brexit even harder to resolve
In practice, significant constitutional laws have passed unaccompanied by either an election or referendum.
By
Rory Stewart’s Diary: Running for London mayor, life in a gang, and getting coached by Dominic Cummings
How do you harness the strength of that young ex-offender on behalf of his city?
By
Jeremy Corbyn defied the odds in the 2017 election, but can he pull off the same trick twice?
He faces a Conservative campaign with greater unity of purpose, message discipline and policy cohesion.
By
Leader: The Brexit election
Above all, December’s general election will determine whether the UK leaves the EU after 46 years of engagement with the…
By I used to cringe at Irish novels, plays and television, but one book changed all that
The Butcher Boy, published in 1992, was a turning point for Irish literature.
By Japan’s Rugby World Cup is a glorious reminder that sport has the power to tear down borders
Far from swallowing it up in apathy, the Japanese have thrown open their arms and welcomed the World Cup…
By Fixed-term parliaments make an old constitutional conflict around Brexit even harder to resolve
In practice, significant constitutional laws have passed unaccompanied by either an election or referendum.
By The fall of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the world’s most brutal terrorist
Even al-Qaeda and leading jihadi theorists were compelled to condemn some of Baghdadi’s most extreme acts.
By “Horrified, but not shocked”: how 39 deaths exposed a cruel underworld in an Essex town
“These lorries are so easy to get into,” says Rob Watson, a 53-year-old who has been driving them since…
By Vesna Main’s Good Day? is sharp and quick-witted meta-fiction
This Goldsmiths Prize-shortlisted book, told entirely in unattributed dialogue, offers a fast-paced, intimate discussion of sex work, gender bias,…
By Mark Haddon’s The Porpoise: effortlessly inventive and absorbing
Mark Haddon’s Goldsmiths Prize-shortlisted novel draws on stories from the ancient world, medieval literature and Shakespeare and makes a…
By First Thoughts: The Barclay Brothers, scrapping SUVs and Britain’s sporting prowess
Once respected for its wide-ranging news coverage, the Telegraph became a sectarian, propagandist rag under the Barclays.
By Re-examining the life of David Ben-Gurion
Ben-Gurion was a divisive leader, an uninspiring and humourless speaker, but still a revered and visionary giant to many…
By Jenny Slate’s charismatic vulnerability
In her new show Stage Fright, Slate mines both her irresistible stage presence and her willingness to be open…
By “It feels like everything could tip very quickly”: Naomi Klein takes on the climate crisis
Klein, who has done more to popularise the inseparability of capitalism and climate change than perhaps any other author,…
By Don Pasquale at the Royal Opera House: a muted take on an old comedy
This production is exercise in style, some sort of post-modern universe where everything is signified but nothing means anything.
By How white supremacists around the world are being connected
Deepening lines of communication and funding are creating the kind of loose, nefarious networks that once haunted the far-right’s…
By Ken Loach’s Sorry We Missed You is an indictment of the gig economy
Ken Loach’s latest excursion into breadline Britain follows a delivery driver on a zero-hours contract.
By The Missing Cryptoqueen is a truly gripping podcast
The tension is hideous. I am a blinking cursor, anticipating instructions.
By BBC Two’s Who Are You Calling Fat?: a cheap stunt-show
“Experiments” like this can’t hope to unpick the complex effect of such things as our genes and our toxic…
By Commons Confidential: Attack of the 50-foot flowers
Your weekly dose of gossip from around Westminster.
By From the pear-leaved willow to the willow-leaved pear, many familiar plants are impostors
There really is no perfection in gardens – one plant escapes a problem by looking like something else, but…
By Remembering my friend Deborah Orr, who would only accept a favour if she really needed it
I was glad she was going to be my neighbour in Brighton and volunteered to help her with anything she…
By On the anti-Brexit march, I begin to think this kind of protest is a bit too mild
I don’t want to leave the EU but that doesn’t mean I love it so devotedly that I want to…
By What Gareth’s bottom lump says about the need for gender-neutral immunisation
From 2015, there were mounting calls for the HPV vaccine to be administered to all children irrespective of gender, as…
By Rory Stewart’s Diary: Running for London mayor, life in a gang, and getting coached by Dominic Cummings
How do you harness the strength of that young ex-offender on behalf of his city?
By Jeremy Corbyn defied the odds in the 2017 election, but can he pull off the same trick twice?
He faces a Conservative campaign with greater unity of purpose, message discipline and policy cohesion.
By David Blunkett Q&A: “I can genuinely say that I ‘looked up’ to Nelson Mandela”
The former politician talks Celebrity Mastermind, an early hospital visit, and the need for a unifying, radical but realistic Labour government.
By Leader: The Brexit election
Above all, December’s general election will determine whether the UK leaves the EU after 46 years of engagement with the…
By