The poet of ordinary days: William Trevor’s quiet artistry
Trevor was the literary heir of Chekhov, Maupassant and James Joyce: and one of the great contemporary chroniclers of…
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Israel and the impossible war
Tunes from a planet of one: Arctic Monkeys’ Tranquility Hotel Base & Casino
Space is the place where Alex Turner can let his solipsistic weirdness emerge.
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Sandra: the gripping fiction podcast about voice-activated assistants
Starring Alia Shawkat, Ethan Hawke and Kristen Wiig, Sandra seems to be about one thing when it’s actually about…
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Problems: Jade Sharma’s graphic, funny, relentless debut novel
Problems is explicit, shocking and sure to incite conversation.
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Messing up McEwan: why the film of On Chesil Beach falls flat
Filmmakers love Ian McEwan for his dramatic set-pieces – but ungainly flashbacks and ageing make-up ruin this adaptation.
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The urgency of Jesmyn Ward
Ward’s books deepen our understanding of an iniquitous America
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The NS poem: The Witness
A new poem by Will Eaves.
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Benedict Cumberbatch embodies shivery, shaky addiction in Patrick Melrose
The adaptation of Edward St Aubyn’s novels sees the actor take on the lead role, an upper-class heroin addict living in the…
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The British Empire strikes back
How dreams of the “Anglosphere” returned to British politics.
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Why few comedians can match the precision-engineered satire of Victoria Wood
“Woman says bollocks near Cheadle” is funnier than “Woman says bollocks in Cheadle”.
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From neanderthals to robots: the history of human speech
The Queen’s annual Christmas speech provides an opportunity to trace the evolution of a voice: hers has dropped one…
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Vladimir Putin’s politics of victimhood
Putin paints Russia as the underdog to keep his citizens, like those of Oceania in Nineteen Eighty-Four, in a…
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Like Cleopatra, age cannot wither the desirability of sherry
Ageless appeal is the privilege of the sex symbol, and sherry’s desirability has endured, and triumphed.
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In Kipling’s worst poem he suggests exercise as a cure for the blues
Plus I need to get fit for a cricket match, and at the moment I look like an egg…
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Muting R Kelly? We shouldn’t let tech giants like Spotify make moral decisions for us
The music streaming service has a new policy on “hate content and hateful conduct”, but who gets to decide what…
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The best music writing is done by people who don’t always write about music
Jake Shears’s memoir, Boys Keep Swinging, is a current example, packed with sharply told stories and proper moments of insider insight.
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Ethan’s life with Williams Syndrome will be marked by charm as well as challenges
The rare condition typically leads to moderate learning disability and cardiovascular abnormalities but also striking verbal flair and a passion for music.
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Good luck, Meghan Markle: all the tiaras in the world wouldn’t make me envy you
Your sex life is scrutinised. Your womb becomes public property. Being a royal bride has always been an absurd…
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Right-wing populism is rising as progressive politics fails – is it too late to save democracy?
The populist upheavals in the West are a response to political failure of historic proportions, but its most conspicuous…
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Naomi Klein Q&A: “We’re nearing a revolution in understanding our brains“
The Canadian author and activist on Anne Frank, the “neurodiversity” revolution and being bugged by Twitter
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From the Golan Heights, the tragic legacy of the West’s botched response to the Arab spring is all too visible
In Israel, you have an up-close-and-personal view of Obama’s greatest mistake.
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I’m proud to be a supporter of Israel, but the killings in Gaza made me despair
I’ll always defend Israel’s right to defend itself, but even I have to ask: what is this for?
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Gaza: a city both cursed and blessed
Alexander the Great was one of a multitude of conquerors, from pharaohs to British generals, who recognised in the city…
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The tragedy in Gaza has no end in sight
Unless the international outcry at Israel is matched by action, there will be no relief for the Palestinians.
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How the right-wing Fox News became Donald Trump’s state propaganda channel
The president begins every day by tuning into – and live-tweeting – the channel’s morning show, Fox & Friends.
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Lyn Gardner’s Diary: West End tickets go for £250, while those touring outside London struggle
We’re still in thrall to the romantic notion of starving artists.
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How fake science is costing lives: the malign rise of the anti-vaxxers
More than 1,100 cases of measels have been reported in England this year, as the anti-vax movement causes an alarming surge…
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Onward – the Tory think tank on a mission to remake conservatism
In their first interview, the new group’s founders Neil O’Brien and Will Tanner insist that “the intellectual life is on…
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How a 92-year-old led a people’s revolt to overthrow Malaysia’s ruling party
New-old prime minister Mahathir Mohamad came out of retirement expressly to stop Najib Razak, his former protégé, from wrecking the…
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Commons Confidential: Miliband’s historical muddle would horrify his Marxist historian father
Your weekly dose of gossip from Westminster.
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Taboos break and alliances form: Netanyahu hurries to Moscow and the Iranians to Beijing
The pantomime is in full swing, but no one knows the end of the script.
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The truth behind the Sunday Times annual Rich List
The paper has a peculiar definition of “self-made”.
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Leader: Israel will be forever haunted by the dark shadow of the Palestinian tragedy
No regret or remorse has been shown for the massacre of largely unarmed protestors.
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