Paris’s post-lockdown blues
The city is opening up but something is missing as the old anger and division return.
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State of the nation
State of the nation
Why we are entering a new age of disorder.
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Coronavirus and the rise of rule-breakers
The pandemic has forced No 10 and its behavioural psychologists to confront the most basic questions: what are rules…
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End of the Golden Decade
Driven by mercantilist ambitions, the Cameroons courted China. But now the Conservatives are turning against the rising superpower.
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How Instagram transformed our personal lives
Ten years after its first post, the app exerts an almost inconceivable degree of influence over our culture, psychology…
By
Dear Postie
A new poem by Joe Carrick-Varty
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Why Ilhan Omar’s This is What America Looks Like is not the usual bland political memoir
Ilhan Omar rejects the usual story of finding the American dream, and complicates the narrative surrounding her.
By
The greats outdoors: Wilhelmina Barns-Graham’s simple statements
The quiet life and bold work of an under-discussed St Ives painter.
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The pandemic letters
The novelist Sarah Perry and the oncologist Sam Guglani discuss the capacity of both medicine and art to respond…
By
Why I’m in love with slick Seventies drama Mrs America
I’m completely nuts about this series – from Cate Blanchett’s alabaster poise and Rose Byrne’s quiet bravery, to the…
By
Radio 4’s “Rethink” season began with an inauspicious start
The festival of “essays, programmes and provocations” on the world post-Covid-19 launched two weeks ago with a Zoom discussion…
By
David Cronenberg’s 2012 film Cosmopolis is even more exhilarating today
The dystopian thriller offers both the soothing image of a billionaire capitalist brought to heel by riots, and one…
By
Haim’s new album is their most intimate
The LA trio’s first two albums offered glossy pop-rock – but Women in Music Pt. III is rawer. It has less of a…
By
Letter of the week: Hancock’s half-hour
A selection of the best letters received from our readers this week. Email [email protected] to have your thoughts voiced…
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Leader: The China problem
Britain assumed that economic liberalisation would lead to political liberalisation in China. This was a delusion.
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Why my tortoise is better than Mourinho, and other lessons from the return of the Prem
Why on Earth did the Spurs board think Mourinho would do any better than Pochettino?
By
I thought I’d spend this pandemic curled up with cosy novels – not reading grisly non-fiction
I so want to be transported somewhere, anywhere but here, but here will not let me go.
By
In the brief interludes when I am not asleep I have become acutely aware of my hair
It’s there, all over my head. I can feel it around and above my ears, like seaweed. It is…
By
Strange things happen in lockdown – and I have fallen in love again
Not with a human being, but with glorious lavender plants.
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Linda Scott Q&A: “My knees have got a bit too creaky for fieldwork“
The economist talks Louisa May Alcott, Elizabeth Warren, and Gloria Steinem.
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Pandemics and the politics of space
The virus may ignore national borders, but governments are busy reinforcing them.
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“It shames me. I was so institutionalised”: Ex-officer Kevin Maxwell on leaving the police
The author of Forced Out, formerly of Greater Manchester Police and the Metropolitan Police, speaks out about the racism and…
By
First Thoughts: Government by television, our ethical friends, and the Daily Mail’s idle talk
From October, the government proposes to hold White House-style televised daily press briefings, hosted by “an experienced broadcaster”.
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Commons Confidential: The chicken or the Tory?
Your weekly dose of gossip from around Westminster.
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I’m afraid of what a life without marriage might be like. And yet, I know I will never get married
It isn’t that I object to marriage on political grounds, it’s more that it has never seemed normal to…
By
Matthew Stadlen Diary: My late nights on radio, and learning from the crisis
To choose a sustainable future we must make our voices heard, otherwise it will be too late.
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How Trump uses the culture wars as a distraction from the accelerating Covid-19 crisis
The president is resorting to racism in the hope that his fervent supporters will savour it and the media…
By
A new study finds evidence of racial bias in football commentary. We cannot ignore it any longer
White players are hailed for their courage and commitment, while black players are more likely to be criticised for…
By
For some sufferers, Covid-19 doesn’t come with an end-by date – it just goes on and on
For #LongCovid sufferers – around 5 per cent of those who catch the disease – debilitating symptoms drag on interminably.
By
Keir Starmer knows he’s more popular than his tainted party, but he is ready to play the long game
So far, the leadership is succeeding in selling Brand Starmer. The problem is it is having less success in…
By Commons Confidential: The chicken or the Tory?
Your weekly dose of gossip from around Westminster.
By Pandemics and the politics of space
The virus may ignore national borders, but governments are busy reinforcing them.
By I’m afraid of what a life without marriage might be like. And yet, I know I will never get married
It isn’t that I object to marriage on political grounds, it’s more that it has never seemed normal to…
By How Trump uses the culture wars as a distraction from the accelerating Covid-19 crisis
The president is resorting to racism in the hope that his fervent supporters will savour it and the media…
By Matthew Stadlen Diary: My late nights on radio, and learning from the crisis
To choose a sustainable future we must make our voices heard, otherwise it will be too late.
By A new study finds evidence of racial bias in football commentary. We cannot ignore it any longer
White players are hailed for their courage and commitment, while black players are more likely to be criticised for…
By First Thoughts: Government by television, our ethical friends, and the Daily Mail’s idle talk
From October, the government proposes to hold White House-style televised daily press briefings, hosted by “an experienced broadcaster”.
By “It shames me. I was so institutionalised”: Ex-officer Kevin Maxwell on leaving the police
The author of Forced Out, formerly of Greater Manchester Police and the Metropolitan Police, speaks out about the racism and…
By Dear Postie
A new poem by Joe Carrick-Varty
By Letter of the week: Hancock’s half-hour
A selection of the best letters received from our readers this week. Email [email protected] to have your thoughts voiced…
By Why Ilhan Omar’s This is What America Looks Like is not the usual bland political memoir
Ilhan Omar rejects the usual story of finding the American dream, and complicates the narrative surrounding her.
By Radio 4’s “Rethink” season began with an inauspicious start
The festival of “essays, programmes and provocations” on the world post-Covid-19 launched two weeks ago with a Zoom discussion…
By Why I’m in love with slick Seventies drama Mrs America
I’m completely nuts about this series – from Cate Blanchett’s alabaster poise and Rose Byrne’s quiet bravery, to the…
By For some sufferers, Covid-19 doesn’t come with an end-by date – it just goes on and on
For #LongCovid sufferers – around 5 per cent of those who catch the disease – debilitating symptoms drag on interminably.
By David Cronenberg’s 2012 film Cosmopolis is even more exhilarating today
The dystopian thriller offers both the soothing image of a billionaire capitalist brought to heel by riots, and one…
By Strange things happen in lockdown – and I have fallen in love again
Not with a human being, but with glorious lavender plants.
By I thought I’d spend this pandemic curled up with cosy novels – not reading grisly non-fiction
I so want to be transported somewhere, anywhere but here, but here will not let me go.
By Keir Starmer knows he’s more popular than his tainted party, but he is ready to play the long game
So far, the leadership is succeeding in selling Brand Starmer. The problem is it is having less success in…
By In the brief interludes when I am not asleep I have become acutely aware of my hair
It’s there, all over my head. I can feel it around and above my ears, like seaweed. It is…
By Why my tortoise is better than Mourinho, and other lessons from the return of the Prem
Why on Earth did the Spurs board think Mourinho would do any better than Pochettino?
By Leader: The China problem
Britain assumed that economic liberalisation would lead to political liberalisation in China. This was a delusion.
By Linda Scott Q&A: “My knees have got a bit too creaky for fieldwork“
The economist talks Louisa May Alcott, Elizabeth Warren, and Gloria Steinem.
By Haim’s new album is their most intimate
The LA trio’s first two albums offered glossy pop-rock – but Women in Music Pt. III is rawer. It has less of a…
By