Why the Guardian’s first priority is not profit, but to retain its character
From Kath Viner’s King Lear moment to shooting Meryl Streep’s latest turkey.
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The Great Huckster
Lionel Shriver’s new novel creates a whole world – but can’t quite grasp its inhabitants
Like Shriver’s previous offerings, The Mandibles: a Family – 2029-2047 takes on a difficult topic: this time, American debt.
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Unchained melodies: the forgotten women composers of Western classical music
Sounds and Sweet Airs: the Forgotten Women of Classical Music by Anna Beer reviewed.
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My daughters voted for the first time – now I have to tell them they won’t always win
When they ask me what I think of Jeremy Corbyn’s chances in 2020, I look at their bright little…
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The Jewish lawyers who reinvented justice
Two new books explore the trials of Nazis – and ask how they changed our conception of justice.
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How Francis Bacon boldly thieved his signature image from Munch – and gave it teeth
A new exhibition at Tate Liverpool reveals how Bacon constructed his striking faces.
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The Unexplained With Howard Hughes: the podcast that investigates the paranormal
The podcast always seems to feature a guest sweetly insisting, “This is not a bunch of baloney!”
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Peston on Sunday seems to respect politicians more than other species of human
Between “screeny” and Allegra Stratton as, effectively, Peston’s Anthea Redfern, the new show isn’t quite up to scratch.
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Has Alexei Sayle managed that rare thing – a smart, funny comedy memoir?
Despite its “zany” title, Thatcher Stole My Trousers is a provocative and original look back at Sayle’s life.
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Commons confidential: Pure and easy
From “rebel with a cause” Iain Duncan Smith to Tim Farron’s rock band years.
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Why dissecting a frog explains nothing about life
Surely there’s a better way to teach children to venerate life than the current biology curriculum?
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Mosquitoes on the march: how zika will spread across Europe
The saving grace for Europe and North America will be their relative affluence and greater levels of education.
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When do you step in when a stranger is in distress?
Methodically, he lined up four cans of beer, spirit miniatures and a glass of wine, and got to work…
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Make Croatia great again: how fascism emerged in the EU’s youngest state
In the Croatian heartlands, economic decline has combined with fears over migration from the Middle East.
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What a film about a dog has to teach us when it comes to love and death
Heart of a Dog is a part-documentary, part-film essay with a skew-whiff sense of humour.
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I’m playing sports again – but things just aren’t cricket
I start the new season with red wine stains on my cap, a dodgy shoulder and a burnt nostril.
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Leader: Stop meddling in our schools
Instead of meddling with structures, the government should address the growing teacher shortage.
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Is Facebook’s newsfeed really biased against conservatives – and, if not, should it be?
There is no such thing as objective journalism, and in the case of Facebook, no requirement to be objective.
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Why English schoolchildren are so unhappy
With more testing than ever and increased waiting times for child mental health services, what can be done to…
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The Pier Falls is a skilful short story collection – and the glummest book I’ve read in years
There’s no doubting Mark Haddon’s talent, but if his stories are sympathetic, there’s not much pity in them.
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Alan Rusbridger on paywalls, funding schemes and the future of the media
My week, from tackling elitism at Oxford to a lecture on the Panama Papers.
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How Moby’s Porcelain reinvents the music memoir
Porcelain: a Memoir swerves around the tired tropes of most rock stories in a joyfully honest look at his life in…
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The refugee crisis proves that Fortress Europe is a fantasy
In 2015, more people landed in Greece in a single month than the whole EU has agreed to share…
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I can’t be the only one who has noticed that every dish in the Western world’s a cheese sandwich
Raclette, cheesy crackers, baguettes – even ice-cream is just cheese in waiting.
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Jon Lansman interview: “There’s no leader who would find it easier to win than Jeremy“
The Momentum chair on Jeremy Corbyn’s electability, mandatory reselection of MPs and the mistakes the left made in the…
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The hidden joy of charity shops
Mary saw her colleagues at the charity shop every day, but she didn’t tell them she was sleeping on…
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