Happy Valley is that rare thing on British television: an excellent revival
From Sally Wainwright’s fantastic writing to its peerless cast, Happy Valley is a quietly powerful gem.
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The legacy of Europe's worst battle
Just a pretty face: Zoolander 2 is more style than substance
With its over-saturation of guest stars and cheap gags, the chief thing this sequel has going for it is…
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The mizzly tones of Source FM
Drewzy (male, fortysomething) composedly, gently, talks of “time condensing like dew on a damp Cornish window”.
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Leader: Europe and the long shadow of war
Amid the rancour, it is easy to forget what drove European integration in the first place: the two great…
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Tory backbench leader Graham Brady: “When we vote to leave the EU, the PM should stay”
As chair of the 1922 Committee, Graham Brady is a king among Tory backbenchers. So what does the ardent…
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For both the big US parties, 2016 is a horror show, and it’s only just begun
On the left and the right, the US political elite are drifting away from their core supporters.
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The forward march of Patisserie Valerie – Luke Johnson’s relentless campaign for Feedingsraum
I have written before in this column about how deranging chain restaurants are. This week, I want to consider…
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Gaming North Korea’s missiles: what are the mathematics of peace?
The equilibrium of the world’s different nuclear arsenals is a victory for game theory – but North Korea’s ambitions could upset…
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Jeremy Corbyn is just one politician who refuses a tie, but is he right to do so?
For most of my adult life, I’ve escewed wearing a tie in almost all situations. Yet now I’m finally…
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Commons Confidential: Sleepy Zac is too laid-back
Lucy Allan’s “threat”, Clean for the Queen and the case of the invisible frontbencher.
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Who “speaks for England“ – and for that matter, what is “England“?
Demands that somebody or other speak for England have been thick and fast.
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This is the new front in the battle to control women’s bodies
By defining all of us as “pre-pregnant”, women are afforded all the blame – but none of the control.
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Find the EU renegotiation demands dull? Me too – but they are important
It’s an old trick: smother anything in enough jargon and you can avoid being held accountable for it.
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Why football is moving east
Gazza’s time in China was a harbinger of big changes.
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The lute master and the siege of Aleppo
Luthier Ibrahim al-Sukkar’s shop was bombed; when he moved, militants came for him. Over WhatsApp, he told me what’s…
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The latest “lost classics” offer two divergent portraits of 1930s Berlin
After the success of recent re-releases, publishing PR is increasingly searching for the next classic book – could one…
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The court case that Richard Nixon rigged
America’s Dreyfus: the Case Nixon Rigged tells the story of Alger Hiss, the American government official accused of being a…
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The Returning Officer: Hastings II
In 1924, the Australian-born Muriel Matters stood for Labour in Hastings.
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The paintings designed to better sculpture
In Pieter Bruegel’s hands, even black and white paintings can be full of colour, as a new exhibition at…
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The difficulty of staging Ibsen in a post-Yewtree world
The Master Builder at The Old Vic is even stranger than the original – especially when it tries to negotiate…
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The life and times of the London cycle courier
Bike messengers no longer comprise the militia they resembled when the Tories were turning London into a city of…
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“Samphire”: a poem by Alison Brackenbury
Yet how it waved, in coast’s late light. . .
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The marine, and human, costs of illegal fishing
Two new books take us inside the least regulated industry on the planet.
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My first ever vocal performance was singing “Rebel Rebel“ inside a wardrobe
Inspirational artists don’t inspire the brave (they’re fine already): they inspire the timid. That’s what David Bowie did for me.
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What David Vann’s ill-fated “career at sea” taught him about his father’s suicide
In A Mile Down: the True Story of a Disastrous Career at Sea, Vann explores the nature and legacy of mental…
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The stark moral world of Georges Simenon
Simenon is often read as a writer who offers no hope, yet preached a doctrine of cool serenity which is…
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All the Premiership teams are competing to see who’s got the biggest stadium
It’s not just a financial, but a macho thing – the big clubs want to show off that they…
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Partner content
How can growth reduce equality?
This year’s prize-winning essay from the Webb Memorial Trust.
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Ukrainian cooking shakes off the old Soviet fur coat
Forget the stereotype: Ukranian cuisine is about more than just borscht, as a new cookbook shows.
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I’m at the age you could call “peak woe” – but there’s plenty of reasons to be cheerful
The Office of National Statistics says 50 to 54 year olds are the most miserable people in the country.…
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Capitalism for squirrels
The Portable Veblen by Elizabeth McKenzie reviewed.
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