Jeremy Corbyn and the politics of catastrophe
If the Blairites are beached in the past, Jeremy Corbyn addresses a non-existent world.
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Corbyn's Civil War
A letter to Rosa Luxemburg
The socialist pioneer Rosa Luxemburg was killed in Berlin in 1919. In 2015, John Berger sits down to write a…
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The men saving Syria’s treasures from Isis
A remarkable group of archaeologists are battling to save the country’s ancient artifacts.
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Between revolution and reform: the challenge facing Jeremy Corbyn
Jeremy Corbyn may be electable – but that would require another financial crash or an improbable swing to the…
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Leader: The duties of an opposition leader cannot be wished away
Jeremy Corbyn has received a remarkable mandate. To succeed, he now needs to convince the party – and reach…
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A new faction has emerged and it could decide Labour’s future: the “soft right”
These are politicians who are far more moderate than Corbyn but who believe, in the words of one: “We’re…
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Lost on the outlaw seas: the dangerous treatment of staff on superyachts
Why is manning a superyacht such a risky job? We wade through the murky waters of exploitation beneath the sailing status symbols.
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Diversity quotas are meritocracy in action
For centuries, there was a quota for the representation of men in politics. It was 100 per cent.
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Joe Biden could yet be the one to beat Hillary Clinton
Where Clinton is polarizing, Biden is respected across the aisle and well placed to consolidate Obama’s achievement.
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Tony Abbott’s inevitable fall
If the ousted prime minister faced challenges from the left of Australia’s Liberal party, Malcolm Turnbull will have to manage the…
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Corbyn’s lost poem, the Aussie Battler and the BBC’s take on The Go-Between
From the clips I have seen, this latest BBC version is being promoted as if it were some kind…
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Commons Confidential: Corbyn’s game of thrones
Corbyn will be anxious about scheming Labour MPs plotting to flush his leadership down the toilet.
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Afraid of circles? How fear reveals our most simple selves
We often forget that fear is our most primal, deep-seated response. Why else would we be scared of such…
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No dementia without adventure: why Australia’s “grey nomads” hold the keys to the kingdom
Australia can indeed be an intimidating place, which is why the grey nomads are entirely worthy of respect.
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The Returning Officer: Blackburn Spy
In 1885, Frank John Holloway started the Blackburn Spy. A Mr Stirrup knocked him down at Sudell Cross the…
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Riddle me this – if you’re squatting in a homeless persons unit, are you breaking the law?
I was to be evicted for being illegally in accommodation for homeless people. They, Camden Council, would then have to…
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My bike ride to Kolkata, Corbyn’s position on HS2, and the plight of the metropolitan hedgehog
Did ZSL fully realise, I asked, the threat to the hedgehogs posed by HS2’s plans?
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Quiet at the back! Rob Brydon is formidable, but can’t quite save Future Conditional
Matthew Warchus’s first production at the Old Vic feels like a declaration of intent – but does it stand…
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English magic: how folklore haunts the British landscape
The Land of the Green Man by Carolyne Larrington shows how supernatural stories can help us understand reality.
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Purely platonic: why a Greek philosopher may have liked this week’s Woman’s Hour
Kim Cattrall’s plain-speaking Woman’s Hour edit left the drama aside to look at everyday experience as unfolding layers of reality.
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Sweet Caress tries to be inventive – but it can’t quite muster the energy
The novel’s use of found photos is an interesting conceit but, like the legerdemain around the book’s title, emphasising…
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Jeremy Corbyn faces a viciously hostile press – but shutting out the media won’t help
The mainstream press may be nasty, but they still control what the public sees. If Jeremy Corbyn is to…
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How pop went indie at Tate Modern
“The World Goes Pop” shows a side of pop art we’re not used to: global, challenging and politically angry.
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The use of 3-D in Everest feels about as vital as a grand piano up a mountain
The Icelandic director Baltasar Kormákur’s film is like an inexperienced climber: caught between the ground and success.
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Myths and monstrosities of the Holocaust
Two histories of the Holocaust reveal the what we didn’t know about the concentration camps.
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Kabul is no longer in darkness – but a new chaos has emerged
The Taliban have been focusing their attacks on Kabul, with far-reaching results. Afghans are now the second-largest group of…
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Take my hand and step back in time to the day that changed Carlisle for ever
I had just turned 15 at the time, and all the local Carlisle schools were given the half-day off.
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The Ascent of Woman isn’t perfect – but it does let female expertise shine
The Ascent of Woman seems like it was born to be broadcast on the BBC, unlike All Change at…
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The defeat of the Assisted Dying Bill is a lost chance to turn bad deaths into good ones
I’ve had relatives plead with me to hasten their loved one’s end, pointing out (accurately) that we wouldn’t allow…
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Cricket needs America to stride to the wicket, rather than step up to the plate
If cricket is to survive as a major sport, let alone expand, it needs new regions and fresh voices.
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The best of the bubbly begins at home
We English drinkers need no longer sip from the bitter amphora of agricultural inadequacy: we can have our wine and everyone…
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Like sex, tobacco is very bad for you
How to stop young people smoking – put a bloody great curtain in front of the fags!
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Simon Jenkins on military intervention reminds me of the times we didn’t act
Mission Accomplished? The Crisis of International Intervention shows how military action can lead to suffering – but what about…
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Edmund de Waal’s The White Road follows the journey of creativity
White is a dangerous colour – and de Waal’s journey shows the human cost of porcelain.
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Max Porter’s Grief is the Thing With Feathers: a new take on the Ted Hughes myth
Hughes’ Crow sprang up after the death of Sylvia Plath – now a debut novel brings the wild bird back.
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All hail the sex robots! Margaret Atwood’s new book explores how tech meets human fear
While some of her other dystopian fiction becomes preachy, even hectoring, here a character hears about a sex robot that…
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After Jeremy Corbyn’s troubled start, even fewer in Labour expect him to last
The chaos and confusion of the new leader’s first days has dismayed allies.
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Making myths: Chigozie Obioma’s The Fishermen
Shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize, this tale of Nigeria in the 1990s is a mighty fry-up of pop-culture,…
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