Gary Shteyngart Q&A: “I’m the guy listening to rap in his Volvo… pathetic“
The Russian-American author on Lenin, BoJack Horseman and dreams of herding sheep.
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The hard man of the Left
We are at crisis point with child mental health – so don’t dismiss it as mere teen angst
The roots of this are complex and involve much more than the oft-cited villain, social media – or caffeine.
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I thought I was the only person who enjoyed their hangovers. Apparently not
A hangover is a day when you allow yourself to be a child.
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Back to Scotland – to cure both my bacon and my sense of failure
Things have changed a bit up here, even in the relatively short time I was away.
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Don’t sit and watch your fruit turn brown – get in early and wage war on the spores
Gardeners must prevent the initial damage that allows the decay fungi to enter.
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In My Head: Radio 4 goes on the road with a notorious paparazzo
George’s dream is to snap David Cameron upon the sand in his shorts “with his belly out”.
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Mike Bartlett’s Press is going to drive journalists wild
Bartlett’s chops as a playwright can be felt everywhere in this drama for BBC One.
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American Animals: a heist movie that’s both fast-paced and contemplative
Bart Layton’s thriller alternates between interviews with the real-life subjects (all now in their thirties) and the actors who portray…
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All Among the Barley is an unflinching account of the harshness and beauty of rural life
Melissa Harrison combines an eye for detail and an ear for prose with a skill for constructing a plot.
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The Silence of the Girls: a revisionist reimagining of the Iliad
Even if Pat Barker’s book isn’t a great one, it is perhaps a necessary one.
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Kate Atkinson’s Transcription is a nimble and convincing tale of espionage
The author clearly amuses herself with the sheer implausibility and theatricality of the world she describes.
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Why Boygenius are a supergroup worth getting excited about
Julien Baker, Phoebe Bridgers and Lucy Dacus are all fresh from making critically acclaimed albums.
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The British in India offers a rich and nuanced social history of empire
Historian David Gilmour is interested in the motives and identities of individuals.
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Why We Get the Wrong Politicians is a vital and compelling read
Isabel Hardman’s book explores some of the fiddly, complicated and frankly unbelievable ways in which our political system works.
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Breaking News: Alan Rusbridger asks a lot of questions, with no certain answers
The former Guardian editor retired in 2015 but his story has, in his own words, “no ending, happy or otherwise”.
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The tragedy of power: how Thomas Cromwell engineered his own downfall
Diarmaid MacCulloch’s superb biography explores the motives of Henry VIII’s right-hand man.
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From Martian invasions to Andrew Marr in Bodyguard, we are most credulous when reality feels unreal
If you imagine an online equivalent to Orson Welles’s The War of the Worlds in 2018, there’s no reason…
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Sylvia shows the Pankhursts were stubborn, ruthless, hypocritical – and successful
The Old Vic’s new musical depicts fallible women – rather than one-dimensional feminist heroines.
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From satirical coins to subversive salt-shakers: a history of political protest through objects
A new exhibition at the British Museum gathers seditious items from across the world and the centuries.
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The new science of psychedelics
Once dismissed as a hippie indulgence, drugs such as LSD are now at the front line of research into…
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Who is the real John McDonnell?
From Marxist ideologue to shadow chancellor, Corbyn’s intellectual guru and closest ally has long been reviled. But now that…
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A Virgin rebirth: the restlessness of Chris Evans
His decision to quit Europe’s biggest radio programme has surprised BBC insiders and listeners alike.
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Policing parenthood: why are we turning mothers into criminals?
Kim Brooks left her four-year-old son alone in her car for a few minutes – and a stranger called…
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Commons Confidential: Gove’s unlikely comrade
Your weekly dose of gossip from around Westminster.
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The left must take the anxieties of British Jews seriously
In the wake of the Stephen Lawrence case, racism was defined as “any incident which is perceived to be…
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Leader: John McDonnell’s long march
Rather than simply insulting the shadow chancellor, his opponents should understand the forces behind his rise.
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Vote Leave head Matthew Elliott: “The Brexiteers won the battle but we could lose the war”
The influential campaigner says “the Leave side left the battlefield after the referendum” and fears a soft Brexit will result.
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Jeremy Corbyn’s two universes
The Labour leader is under fire at Westminster and in the media. But out in the country, his supporters…
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