A tumultuous year of renewal and revolt
Restless electorates have voted out incumbent parties worldwide.
ByThe Magazine
In this week’s issue
Christmas and New Year Special 2024
Letter of the week: Revival of the leftists
Write to [email protected] to have your thoughts voiced in the New Statesman magazine.
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Battle of the charity single jingles
Your daily dose of gossip from around Westminster.
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Smartphones don’t suck. People do
I have spent more time looking at the hard, cracked face of my iPhone than those of my children.
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The gospel according to Dolly Parton
Also this week: Good King Wenceslas’s winter fuel allowance and grumpy monks.
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Richard Bates: “When is a pile of stones not just a pile of stones?”
The geophysicist and archaeologist on uncovering Petra’s secrets.
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My farewell to the New Statesman after 16 years
A key challenge for any NS editor: what to do about the Labour Party?
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The political annexation of America’s swing state media
Plus: Jason Cowley’s New Statesman legacy, and how crypto bought the US election.
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Labour must beware Reform, the British wing of Trumpism
While liberalism is in decline, Nigel Farage’s party is only growing in strength.
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Looking back on a year of great drama for the media
There have been high-profile sales, far-right hate and a smattering of BBC scandals.
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As a new America First era begins, Europe must unite
Donald Trump’s return to office ought to be a deafening wake-up call for EU leaders. But will it?
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France’s budget turmoil reveals an EU damaged by Brexit
During its membership, the UK exerted a disproportionately strong influence on EU legislation, often in subtle ways.
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This Christmas, spare a thought for the world’s richest man
For disruptors like Elon Musk, the statement of intent is all. What happens next – such as running a…
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The Church of England has been my life’s work. What has it done to my soul?
This Christmas is not an easy one for the Church – but fundamentally, its mission has not changed.
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Kingmakers of the album charts
How Banquet became the UK’s most influential record store.
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How to spot an excellent editor
As with a good coach in sports, a measure of benign ambiguity will always be in the mix.
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The rise of machinepolitik
In this era of raw power, Labour must find a new statecraft.
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Creatures of the broken contract
As the seasons have been disrupted by climate change, many species have been left mercilessly exposed.
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The counter-elite gambled on Trump and won
The energy in politics is with the populist right – and the left doesn’t know how to respond.
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Gary Lineker: “I seem to live in the Daily Mail’s head”
Exclusive interview: Gary Lineker on leaving the BBC, the war in Gaza and his new career as a “media…
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The dawn of the anti-woke era
Having rejected the Democrats’ progressivist dogma, the American electorate is undergoing a social and demographic revolution.
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Why Paul McCartney cannot let it be
The great Beatle and the shadow of John Lennon.
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Quitting social media gave me a new creed: only disconnect
Online, intimacy is imagined and mystery non-existent. It’s time to lose our smartphones and find ourselves again.
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Jerusalem: city of blood and blame
The violent summer of 1929 reveals the deep and tangled roots of the Israel-Palestine conflict.
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Notes on the ineffable
How the psychologist and philosopher William James defined “mystical” experience.
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The reluctant politician
A year ago, our writer stood for local election – and won by a landslide. But there was a…
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Who can answer the English Question?
Great Britain’s largest constituent is a nation lost within a multinational state.
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John Simpson: “No matter the danger, I wanted to strut my stuff”
At 80, the broadcaster reflects on his favourite dictators, being tortured, why Trump is “so distasteful”, and the damage…
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Into the dark wood
My father died long ago. I now understand that he was part of the lost world of the stoical…
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The meaning of ecstasy
Simon Critchley’s On Mysticism shows how the language of religious rapture can help us teach us how to live.
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Joan Didion vs Eve Babitz
Lili Anolik’s dual biography reveals the writers’ vicious battle to be the true voice of 1970s California.
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Sven-Göran Eriksson’s struggle
The football manager’s posthumous memoir A Beautiful Game reveals his battle to make England’s golden generation shine.
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The case against George Orwell
As with DH Lawrence, Orwell’s private life has imperilled his reputation. Is there a way back?
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The best children’s books for Christmas 2024
Find thrilling adventures and unlikely characters in the best books for young readers.
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Why the novel matters
We read and write fiction because it asks impossible questions, and leads us boldly into the unknown.
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Anthony Burgess’s Napoleon complex
In Napoleon Symphony, the life of the French statesman was transformed into a virtuoso romp that still dazzles 50…
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The NS Poem: Espalier
A new poem by Moniza Alvi.
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The triumph of Paddington Inc
How Paddington Bear became one of Britain’s most distinctive international brands.
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Charli XCX’s victory lap
A recent London show proved Brat is the album of the year, and she is the artist of the…
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The women behind Humphrey Bogart
The documentary Bogart: Life Comes in Flashes searches for new insights into the actor’s life in his five closest…
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Tirzah Garwood’s English satires
The artist’s worlds are full of humour – but something else moves beneath.
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Berlioz’s Christmas hit
The composer was not religious but saw his L’enfance du Christ as a deeply human story – and audiences…
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Luca Guadagnino’s Queer: a sexy thwarted romance
Daniel Craig is cast against type in this stylish adaptation of William Burroughs’ novel. Plus: Nightbitch and We Live…
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Netflix’s Black Doves is as irresistible as it is annoying
This festive spy thriller is farcical and freewheeling –and like a decent cracker it packs a certain bang.
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Elton John’s The Devil Wears Prada musical can’t improve on the film
The songs don’t stick, and the fashion is more The Only Way Is Essex than made in Milan.
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The best food gifts for Christmas
A biased guide.
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Christmas disease is not as festive as it sounds
The story of Stephen Christmas – for whom the clotting condition was named – highlights both medical advances and…
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Adieu, Groucho Club
An establishment where my heart and my lighter were stolen.
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At “Mini Christmas” with my friends I will measure my life against theirs
Like tides, we go out and come back again. But our annual gathering has become part of the rhythm…
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Half-time honours for the Premier League season 2024-25
Highlights include: Jude’s flair, long hair and the end of an earpiece for Gary Lineker.
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This England: Astronomical blunder
This column – which, though named after a line in Shakespeare’s “Richard II”, refers to the whole of Britain…
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Michael Palin Q&A: “When was I happiest? On stage with Monty Python”
The comedian on HMS Erebus and life as an octogenarian.
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