Leader: The great British university con
The UK’s reputedly world-class higher education sector has long been a source of pride and consolation for a diminished…
ByNew Statesman Magazine
In this week’s magazine
The great university con
Letter of the Week: Hobsbawm the pragmatist
Richard J Evans makes a strong case for claiming that Eric Hobsbawm “would have been a Remainer” (“Peering darkly into…
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Why a government of national unity will not happen, despite it being the talk of Westminster
One of the biggest and most frequently told lies in the Brexit debate is that there is no majority…
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First Thoughts: My parents the anti-vaxxers, Paul Dacre on TV, and why Labour isn’t ready for an election
When bien pensant opinion is united against somebody, my instinct is to find something to say in their favour.…
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Caroline Lucas’s Diary: Women against a no-deal Brexit, luring swifts to my garden and wishing Greta well
Parliament in recess, the height of summer and a constituency by the sea – Brighton. Everything was in place…
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My working-class dad became a writer by accident because he wanted to speak to his “own people”
My dad, the playwright Jim Nolan, tells a story that makes me laugh every time I hear it. It…
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Football’s adoption of VAR is another symptom of an era that can’t stand nuance
One of the great fallacies you often hear about sport is that it offers a form of escapism from…
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Commons Confidential: Liz Truss’s briefest briefings
Trying times for wonks at the Department for International Trade, where Instagram’s own Liz Truss is raising blood pressure…
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Why Italy is heading for crisis once more
Since his appointment as Italian prime minister in June 2018, congenial law professor-turned-politician Giuseppe Conte has been less a…
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The next recession won’t be like the accelerated 2008 crisis – it will be long, slow and deep
The world is edging towards a recession once again. The yield curve, which shows the return on US government…
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The strange cult of Dominic Cummings
A few days after Boris Johnson took office, a BBC journalist noticed a striking trend on Amazon. Martin Rosenbaum,…
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Deborah Levy’s The Man Who Saw Everything: a mixture of parable, love story and history lesson
One of the big stories in English fiction this decade – in English writing, really – has been the…
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John Dyson’s memoir A Judge’s Journey deftly combines humility, humanity and historical context
Surprisingly for the work of a successful man of any profession, John Dyson’s memoir combines humility, humanity and historical…
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Four Seven (For W.R.F.M)
Snowmelt sogs the field; the farmer knows new growth is coming; with it better food or better money…
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Tove Ditlevsen’s autobiographical trilogy shows the power of great literature
Naming an autobiographical trilogy is a telling business. Tolstoy went straight down the line with Childhood; Boyhood; Youth. JM…
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Channel 4 comedy This Way Up is a funny, moving exploration of loneliness
After a break-up, an unspecified “nervous breakdown” and a stint in a rehab facility, Aine (Aisling Bea) is on…
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Pedro Almodóvar’s Pain and Glory is limp and lacklustre
With Pain and Glory, Pedro Almodóvar brings his tally of movies to 21 – a coming-of-age, you might say…
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BBC Two’s The Octopus in My House reveals the humanity of a sea creature
Mmm, octopus. In her classic book, Flavours of Greece, Rosemary Barron suggests that the cephalopod be lightly grilled over…
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Why I’m a lifelong landlubber who’s in awe of those who live – and eat – on boats
For a lifelong landlubber, I know a lot of people who enjoy messing about on boats. I even, rather…
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New curtains: the most exciting thing in my life, second only to long-ago public indecency
I look out of the window. It is the middle of August, and the first day’s play at Lord’s…
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With my son at a festival in a storm, I try to distract myself with a shocking new TV show
Gale-force winds are sweeping across the country, followed by thunderstorms, followed by more gales. I keep looking at weather…
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Ezra Furman Q&A: “I would have enjoyed the hunter-gatherer era“
Ezra Furman was born in Chicago in 1986. He has released eight rock albums since 2006, known for their…
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