Slouching towards dystopia: the rise of surveillance capitalism and the death of privacy
Our lives and behaviour have been turned into profit for the Big Tech giants – and we meekly click “Accept”.…
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The death of privacy
Letter from Italy: Attending a gathering of ultra conservatives in Rome
The event seemed designed not to explore the intellectual content of conservatism, but to strengthen bridges between new nationalist…
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Personal Story: My torrid affair on G-Chat
The great appeal of having an affair with a colleague via the office’s instant messaging service is that if your…
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The paradox of an atheist soul
Why the idea of a single self only makes sense in a theistic world.
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Hadley Freeman’s House of Glass: a moving memoir told through clothes
Freeman’s story of her family history shows how clothing can be an art form.
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William Gibson on the apocalypse: “it’s been happening for at least 100 years”
For four decades, the inventor of cyberpunk has described near futures that have seemed uncannily well judged. What’s worrying…
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Ta-Nehisi Coates’s The Water Dancer: a slavery novel blending literary and genre fiction
The acclaimed essayist’s debut novel is set in antebellum Virginia and “free” Philadelphia in the first half of the 19th…
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Michael Bond’s Wayfinding: a compelling study of our ability to get from A to B
This fascinating book suggests that navigation is a question of psychology.
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The Pollyanna Principle
A new poem by Rory Waterman.
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Leïla Slimani’s Sex and Lies: a brave and honest look at the lives of Moroccan women
The French-Moroccan novelist Leïla Slimani’s first work of non-fiction is composed of a series of interviews with Moroccan women…
By
Daniel Levitin’s The Changing Mind: a guide to ageing well
This is a passionate and intelligent hybrid of dutiful academic writing and popular science.
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ITV’s Flesh and Blood reminds me that even clichés can be very watchable
Basically, the moment you clap eyes on Imelda Staunton’s Mary, you just know – alert, alert! – she’s the…
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Céline Sciamma’s Portrait of a Lady on Fire: an ingenious take on art and life
With this film, Sciamma challenges the conventional dynamic between sitter and artist, observed and observer.
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The haunted, monochrome pictures of Léon Spilliaert
Why the Belgian artist’s work is anything but black and white.
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Stanley Tucci’s The Californian Century is perfect radio
Written by the talented producer Laurence Grissell, each episode sounds like the ripped pages of a film script.
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The contradictions of Lewis Capaldi
His brand is anchored in irony. But his music is chronically, searingly earnest.
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Nora: A Doll’s House explores Ibsen’s classic in three different contexts
Stef Smith’s era-jumping adaptation goes out of its way to demonstrate why the story remains compelling.
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Letter of the Week: In defence of Twitter
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 long shadow of austerity
For the first time in more than 100 years, life expectancy in the UK has stalled, while food bank…
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Jean Daniel and the the lost age of the intellectual
On the life of the French editor and writer, who has died aged 99.
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First Thoughts: The effects of austerity, coronavirus and quarantine, and what universities are for
Could Corbyn’s advisers, such as Seumas Milne, not have got their hands on a draft of the Marmot report and waved…
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Mandu Reid of the Women’s Equality Party: “Misogyny permeates every facet of our lives”
The leader of the WEP and City Hall insider on why she wants to be mayor of London.
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Commons Confidential: Becky’s haughty couture jibe backfires
Your weekly dose of gossip from around Westminster.
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How British foreign policy lost the art of grand strategy
As the UK emerges blinking into an uncertain post-Brexit dawn, what is its role in the world?
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Greg James Q&A: “Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez will be president one day“
The radio DJ talks Alan Partridge, The Secret Life of Trees and a post-wedding Domino’s delivery.
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A dying man, a doctor who wanted him treated and a paramedic who didn’t
“He’s not even going to make it to hospital,” Brian said. “He’s going to die in the back of the truck.”
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Hunting now provokes revulsion – but in medieval Europe it had very different social connotations
What may surprise us today is the admiration medieval hunters felt for the great boars, even as they chased them…
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The train disruption is personal: Southern Rail is out to get me
Two long years, half the number of trains between Brighton and London. (Yes, I know Thameslink will still be…
By
I don’t smoke or worship roast dinners – but if I got a tattoo, it would say “Nicotine & Gravy“
In fact, my brother and I would get matching ones.
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If you want to be different and better, you have to bear the risk of being different and worse
Statistical analysis can’t measure courage or tell you which individual has the capacity to lead.
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As long as online cruelty remains cool, it won’t be solved by hashtags, T-shirts or even censorship
Society at large still has a playground mentality – niceness and kindness aren’t valued or rewarded.
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Melvyn Bragg’s Diary: The battle for the BBC, the teacher who changed my life, and “the greatest novelist of all”
After almost 100 years of history, we have in the BBC – apart from the royal family – the…
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Europe is still struggling to contain the nationalist forces unleashed by the fall of the Soviet Union
Nationhood’s resilience as a political sentiment stands in the way of Emmanuel Macron’s eurozone reforms.
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There is growing unease in the Tory party but while it’s directed at Dominic Cummings, the PM is safe
The time for Boris Johnson to worry will be when Conservative MPs feel able to speak out against the Prime…
By As long as online cruelty remains cool, it won’t be solved by hashtags, T-shirts or even censorship
Society at large still has a playground mentality – niceness and kindness aren’t valued or rewarded.
By Melvyn Bragg’s Diary: The battle for the BBC, the teacher who changed my life, and “the greatest novelist of all”
After almost 100 years of history, we have in the BBC – apart from the royal family – the…
By Jean Daniel and the the lost age of the intellectual
On the life of the French editor and writer, who has died aged 99.
By If you want to be different and better, you have to bear the risk of being different and worse
Statistical analysis can’t measure courage or tell you which individual has the capacity to lead.
By First Thoughts: The effects of austerity, coronavirus and quarantine, and what universities are for
Could Corbyn’s advisers, such as Seumas Milne, not have got their hands on a draft of the Marmot report and waved…
By The Pollyanna Principle
A new poem by Rory Waterman.
By Mandu Reid of the Women’s Equality Party: “Misogyny permeates every facet of our lives”
The leader of the WEP and City Hall insider on why she wants to be mayor of London.
By Ta-Nehisi Coates’s The Water Dancer: a slavery novel blending literary and genre fiction
The acclaimed essayist’s debut novel is set in antebellum Virginia and “free” Philadelphia in the first half of the 19th…
By Michael Bond’s Wayfinding: a compelling study of our ability to get from A to B
This fascinating book suggests that navigation is a question of psychology.
By Leïla Slimani’s Sex and Lies: a brave and honest look at the lives of Moroccan women
The French-Moroccan novelist Leïla Slimani’s first work of non-fiction is composed of a series of interviews with Moroccan women…
By Commons Confidential: Becky’s haughty couture jibe backfires
Your weekly dose of gossip from around Westminster.
By How British foreign policy lost the art of grand strategy
As the UK emerges blinking into an uncertain post-Brexit dawn, what is its role in the world?
By Letter of the Week: In defence of Twitter
A selection of the best letters received from our readers this week. Email [email protected] to have your thoughts voiced…
By Daniel Levitin’s The Changing Mind: a guide to ageing well
This is a passionate and intelligent hybrid of dutiful academic writing and popular science.
By Europe is still struggling to contain the nationalist forces unleashed by the fall of the Soviet Union
Nationhood’s resilience as a political sentiment stands in the way of Emmanuel Macron’s eurozone reforms.
By The contradictions of Lewis Capaldi
His brand is anchored in irony. But his music is chronically, searingly earnest.
By There is growing unease in the Tory party but while it’s directed at Dominic Cummings, the PM is safe
The time for Boris Johnson to worry will be when Conservative MPs feel able to speak out against the Prime…
By The haunted, monochrome pictures of Léon Spilliaert
Why the Belgian artist’s work is anything but black and white.
By Leader: The long shadow of austerity
For the first time in more than 100 years, life expectancy in the UK has stalled, while food bank…
By Stanley Tucci’s The Californian Century is perfect radio
Written by the talented producer Laurence Grissell, each episode sounds like the ripped pages of a film script.
By ITV’s Flesh and Blood reminds me that even clichés can be very watchable
Basically, the moment you clap eyes on Imelda Staunton’s Mary, you just know – alert, alert! – she’s the…
By Céline Sciamma’s Portrait of a Lady on Fire: an ingenious take on art and life
With this film, Sciamma challenges the conventional dynamic between sitter and artist, observed and observer.
By Hunting now provokes revulsion – but in medieval Europe it had very different social connotations
What may surprise us today is the admiration medieval hunters felt for the great boars, even as they chased them…
By I don’t smoke or worship roast dinners – but if I got a tattoo, it would say “Nicotine & Gravy“
In fact, my brother and I would get matching ones.
By The train disruption is personal: Southern Rail is out to get me
Two long years, half the number of trains between Brighton and London. (Yes, I know Thameslink will still be…
By A dying man, a doctor who wanted him treated and a paramedic who didn’t
“He’s not even going to make it to hospital,” Brian said. “He’s going to die in the back of the truck.”
By Greg James Q&A: “Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez will be president one day“
The radio DJ talks Alan Partridge, The Secret Life of Trees and a post-wedding Domino’s delivery.
By Nora: A Doll’s House explores Ibsen’s classic in three different contexts
Stef Smith’s era-jumping adaptation goes out of its way to demonstrate why the story remains compelling.
By