The water of life that’s a memento of death
The apparently unappetising remains of good wine take on new life when distilled into marc.
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The anti-Trump
Our guests overstayed their welcome so long, I moved an imaginary one in to evict them
When at last they got a bigger place and the couple came and took their cases away, Imaginary Chris…
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How the shape of my father’s trousers prepared me for the life we live now
“So many,” as Eliot might well have said, “who would’ve thought life would’ve untucked so many?”
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Is this the end of sex?
A baby grown from a flake of skin or from the genes of three parents – the future of reproduction…
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What Belongs to You is a love story that captures Balkan psychology
Garth Greenwell’s debut novel is marked by a feeling that consolation, or even moral action, is impossible.
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Scarlett Johansson in Ghost in the Shell: why Hollywood whitewashing isn’t always racist
All of acting is pretending – so why do we demand that a character’s race be “real”?
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Zapping your own brain to treat depression? Surely it’s too good to be true
How neurostimulation fooled us all – and why the field needs to take a hard look at its methods in…
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The jolly refugee: how Teffi captivated the world
Memories: From Moscow to the Black Sea reveals the eye for truth and optimistic spirit of an extroadinary Russian celebrity.
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A biography of a 19th-century Bengali mystic, complete with haikus – and emoticons
The Cauliflower® could only have been written by Nicola Barker’s bitingly intelligent mind. How else could such a zany novel…
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I’m enjoying Billions – but that doesn’t mean I understand what the characters are saying
No-one speaks plain English in Sky Atlantic’s latest export, but with compelling characters – and a great set of eyebrows – it hardly…
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The BBC makes mistakes – but we should still demand its editorial freedom
My week, from the Baftas to election results, provided a perfect chance to reflect on what the BBC gets…
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Watching the parade in Red Square, I saw Soviet propaganda get a slick rebirth
Between pro-Kremlin hacks recording our conversations and the circling helicopters, things in Russia were starting to echo old norms.
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Why are we asking which way Churchill would have voted in the EU referendum?
Summoning Tory ghosts, Toby Young’s school climbdown and Chatsworth’s shabby show.
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Music technology has changed – but do we actually listen to songs differently?
The digital revolution has turned pop into a world of smart playlists and surprise albums. Yet the way we…
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Leader: The BBC is a virtuous institution
The BBC is excessively bureaucratic, bloated at the top and under-resourced on the front line. But it must be…
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Lab Girl disproves the common myth that women always rate feelings over facts
Hope Jahren travelled from state to state, building a laboratory – almost from scratch – in each. Now, a memoir reveals…
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Why was English cricket so terrible in the Nineties – and why does it matter now?
Following On: a Memoir of Teenage Obsession and Terrible Cricket by Emma John takes us back to the era…
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It’s the end of the season: here’s what we’ve learned
It’s time for the round-up of bests – so I’m revisiting my notes, from chants to haircuts.
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Why we need a fat people’s Olympics to reclaim sport from the sporty
Now I’m running regularly, I find myself wondering what we could do to make exercise an appealing habit from childhood –…
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Is this the worst radio station in the world?
WGN beams out from Chicago – but is at as terrible as some people claim?
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Everybody Wants Some!! is a college film with some bitter truths to impart
Richard Linklater’s new study of masculinity may be a little off in the details, but there are some meaningful…
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Commons confidential: Laying it on fairweather Vaz
Zac Goldsmith’s failure, Corbynistas assemble, and Vaz chasing the Foxes.
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Wisden 2016 reveals how cricket’s most faithful supporters suffer from collective denial
Modern cricket has a split personality: the die-hard fans all agree that five-day Test matches and four-day domestic matches represent…
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The New Statesman editor caught me in the street – but why is he talking about Colin?
Normally when I hear an editor’s approach in public my instinct is to hide. Weirdly, though, this one seems…
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Don DeLillo’s latest is an ambitious novel of opposites – but can its halves be reconciled?
Zero K can’t resist reaching for Beckettian heights while remaining rooted in the banal.
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“Algiers“: a new poem by Fred Johnston
What I can remember are taxis and a long walk by the docks. . .
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How a tennis match between Caravaggio and a Spanish poet reveals the “blurriness“ of history
Álvaro Enrigue’s intellectually formidable novel Sudden Death takes an unusual approach to an unusual subject matter – with startling results.
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Is Ruth Davidson a new type of Tory for the 21st century?
A kick-boxing, Territorial Army-trained, gay Christian with working-class roots, Davidson has taken the stereotype of a Conservative politician and tossed…
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The New Chauvinists try to defend women – but who will defend us from them?
Groups such as the Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) have taken up the old banner of chaperoning white womanhood. But nothing…
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Why the EU referendum outcome could depend on one man: Jeremy Corbyn
Both Vote Leave and the In campaign are set to target Labour swing voters ahead of June 23rd. Could…
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