Conor McPherson Q&A: “Aged nine, I heard the Beatles. My life as an artist began“
The playwright talks Northern Ireland, kaleidoscopic dream music, and the Six Million Dollar Man.
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Corbyn’s next move
My dream is to see Harry Maguire play for Britannia at Neasden Stadium
First of all I like his name, as if he might be one of Flashman’s friends.
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I’ve been remixed so many times – you hand yourself over and wait to see what they do
I like it when musicians break out of the bands they’re supposed to belong to, the box they’ve been…
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The children are evolving. “Splishy splashy?” my eldest says, presenting his empty glass
I now have to treble the order at Majestic.
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The secret to life turns out to be the ruby glow of a glass of Bandol
It’s the red wines that really last, in the bottle and the memory.
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Blowers bows out: highlights of the Lord’s cricket commentary
Pure professionalism on BBC Radio 4.
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Grim autopsies and heavy metaphors in Taylor Sheridan’s Wind River
Most of the dialogue would look good on a series of commemorative tea towels.
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Mitchell and Webb’s Back is a promising imposter comedy with plenty of awkwardness
David Mitchell could just stand there and pull a face – you know, that face – and I’d be happy.
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Terrace House: the strangely addictive Japanese reality show about nice, normal people
Men bond in the laundry rooms, girls chat in the bath and there’s lots of talk about food.
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Chilling echoes of Charlottesville in Omar El Akkad’s American War
The dystopian novel’s politics and situation are all too believable in our current climate.
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Keegan and Dalglish: putting human faces on the transformation of football
Keegan typified the birth of the new football; Dalglish the demise of the old, writes Richard T Kelly.
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Sigrid Rausing’s Mayhem is lit up by its author’s remarkable candour
This is an awkward memoir, tentative and fragmented, but it is also a brave one
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Home Fire expertly distils a vast socio-political landscape into human bodies
Kamila Shamsie’s Booker-longlisted novel has a heart-stopping momentum.
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Robert Webb’s How Not To Be a Boy: a bittersweet picture of men dealing with loss
In his memoir, the actor remembers the goodwill of those who made him with grace and gratitude.
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Towards the Revival of Everyday Courtesies: Funeral Rites
A new poem by John Burnside.
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The Golden House is Salman Rushdie’s not-so-great American novel
It seems little more than an exercise in googling, an attempt to sell the listicle as literature.
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John le Carré’s A Legacy of Spies is a compelling tale of Cold War duplicity
It may seem a strange observation, but love is a major component of the author’s fictional world.
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The story of Adam and Eve: exploring the myth of the original sinners
Stephen Greenblatt’s book is a pellucid and absorbing account of the Biblical tale’s great significance.
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Love, Labour and loss: how James Graham became the king of political theatre
He captured the spirit of the Commons at the end of the Seventies in This House. Now, he’s turned…
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Ruth Davidson: “Brexit could deliver a hit we can’t recover from”
The Scottish Tory leader has revitalised the party north of the border. Is she now destined to occupy the hottest seat…
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The unfinished revolution: can Corbynism as a force survive its creator?
The lack of an heir to Jeremy Corbyn is far from ideal, but not yet the subject of full-blown…
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Arsenal’s decline shows what happens when a once-great leader develops blind spots
Arsène Wenger has cultivated a particular kind of resilience that is now harming him.
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Sylvie Bermann’s Diary: London farewells and a new start in Moscow
The French ambassador reflects on three politically turbulent years in the UK.
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Myanmar’s fallen hero: the silence of Aung San Suu Kyi
Under her rule Rohingya Muslims, a persecuted minority in Myanmar, are fleeing to Bangladesh.
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The internet’s bigotry problem: how Google searches reveal our dark side
Online data suggests explicit racism is far more widespread than we thought.
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Commons Confidential: Is Corbyn a secret Catholic?
We think we know the answer to the age-old question about the Pope.
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What’s really driving North Korea’s nuclear quest?
There is a chance to resolve the crisis through dialogue.
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Why we should worry that the only restraint on Trump is three unelected generals
John Kelly, James Mattis and HR McMaster form a triumvirate of power at the heart of US democracy.
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History tells us why North Korea really wants the bomb
If your country had a past like Kim Jong-un’s, wouldn’t you seek a nuclear deterrent?
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Leader: Smiley, Brexit and Europe
John le Carré’s spymaster is not alone in yearning for a new age of reason in these troubled times.
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