Life with a smartphone is like having a second brain in your pocket
Where there was once soul and body, now there’s also a phone.
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The New Times
So much for “the table never lies“ – data unravels football’s biggest lie of all
London side Brentford FC are using data to rethink the usual football club model.
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The world has entered a new Cold War – what went wrong?
Peter Conradi’s Who Lost Russia? How the World Entered a New Cold War traces the accumulation of distrust between the…
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A sketchy legacy? How Pieter’s sons kept Brand Bruegel going
For all his business acumen, Pieter the Younger was no original and his skill was weedy compared to the…
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Who is in the running to replace Jeremy Corbyn as Labour leader?
Although Corbyn is safe, all factions in the party are searching for his successor.
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Why gender became the ultimate forum for self-expression
Gender identity is now embedded in many people’s self-perception, as well as in day-to-day bureaucracy.
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“We don’t BeLiviu”: how Romania is rising against corruption
Night after night, activists gather in Victory Square to demand the resignation of the government.
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The Good Lieutenant is a haunting novel by a former war reporter
Whitney Terrell’s third novel is a powerful, and sometimes heartbreaking, war story.
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David Keenan’s new novel is a dizzying recall of adolescence
This Is Memorial Device vividly recalls the teen years of the post-punk generation. I’m just not sure I wanted to…
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I am special and I am worthless: inside the mind of a narcissist
There’s been a lot of discussion about narcissists this week. But what does the term actually mean?
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America doesn’t have a fascist in the White House, but a bumbling incompetent
This week in the media, from Trump’s utter incompetence to how I survived the Great Lettuce Crisis.
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From Poland to Istanbul, take a trip with this week’s recommended reads
New books from Elif Shafak, Rory MacLean and Howard Jacobson.
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Why Nigel Farage is hoovering up all the women I know
Beware young fogeys.
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The fisher bird that unites levity with strength
We think the planet’s fish are rightfully ours. But the brown pelican is known to snatch fish from other…
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Could “microdoses“ of LSD be used to help depression?
In A Really Good Day, Ayelet Waldman tells her story of self-medicating with LSD.
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Commons confidential: Michael Gove’s secrets
John Shannon’s trainers, a sleeping Johnson, and the well-beaten path from Auntie to the Tories.
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“The fat lady sings no more“: inside opera’s diva effect
Performances by Angela Gheorghiu and Jonas Kaufmann provide the perfect opportunity to reflect on operatic star power.
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Leader: The chaos and mendacity of Trump’s White House
That General Flynn was the first of the president’s men to fall should perhaps not have caused surprise.
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How my visit to the Church of Scientology ended in a police station
The Scientologists sent me to prison – but I still have a particle of admiration for their ways.
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From Netflix to rented homes, why are we less interested in ownership?
Instead of owning things, we are renting experiences.
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Let’s face it: supporting Spurs is basically a form of charity
Now, for my biggest donation yet . . .
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High explosive, damp squibs: the history of bombing raids
Governing from the Skies by Thomas Hippler examines the changing role of aerial bombing.
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How Northern Ireland’s DUP boosted Brexit
As unrest grows in Stormont, the alliance between the DUP and Theresa May’s Conservatives may yet cause problems in…
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How nature created consciousness – and our brains became minds
In From Bacteria to Bach and Back, Daniel C Dennett investigates the evolution of consciousness.
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Why the John Bercow row is really about parliament itself
The attacks on the Speaker are about traditionalism, tribalism and anger at his political journey.
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How Facebook and Google are killing papers and transforming news
If journalism is to survive, it needs either to cut costs (read: sack journalists), or build revenues.
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Young people want big ideas – that’s why I refuse to dumb down Radio 4
My week, from finding a way through the fog to getting the quarterly audience figures.
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How the internet has democratised pornography
With people now free to circumvent the big studios, different bodies, tastes and even pubic hair styles are being…
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Forbidden places: a journey into Europe’s borderlands
Kapka Kassabova’s Border: a Journey to the Edge of Europe is a timely, powerful story of immigration, friendship and travel.
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The cult of clean eating in a fast-food nation
In Britain, it used to be vulgar to comment on one’s food. Now, it’s a bit weird not to.
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The internet makes writing as innovative as speech
When a medium acquires new functions, it will need to be adapted by means of creating new forms.
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How the sports industry inspired us to become less active
Sport’s obsession with being “inspirational” doesn’t help public-health interventions – it hinders them.
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Even Drew Barrymore can’t save the unfunny, tone-deaf Santa Clarita Diet
In essence, the show is just Dexter meets Desperate Housewives: think shiny kitchens splattered with industrial quantities of ketchup. Plus: The Great British…
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In the age of podcasts, the era of communal listening is over
Where once the nation would listen to radio events together, now, it is the booming podcast market that commands…
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Caravaggio in Miami: the mesmerising world of Moonlight
Barry Jenkins’s story of a boy who finds a father figure in a local drug dealer shows, in minute…
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How plankton can make food delicious – but deadly
“Often people say it’s the best thing they ever ate,” someone warned.
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A dictator in the family: why Ebrima Jammeh wants retribution in Gambia
“I want to see Yahya Jammeh jailed and prosecuted in this country. Justice will finally come.”
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Mad King Donald’s Executive Disorder
Mental health problems are no excuse for bigotry and abuse – even if you’re the president.
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New Times: Tom Kibasi on what the left fails to see
How long will Labour be content to walk by on the other side, and leave others to determine our…
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Leader: The future of the left
Is this a post-liberal moment? Must these new times be associated with the ascendancy of the right?
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I worked as a teacher – so I can tell you how regressive grammar schools are
The grammars and “comprehensives” of Kent make for an unequal system. So why does Theresa May consider the county…
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James Purnell: the Labour minister who could be king at the BBC
Whatever reshuffle is confirmed, Purnell will also be spoken about as a potential BBC director general.
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New Times: Mariana Mazzucato on why it’s time for progressives to rethink capitalism
Politically, the choice is presented as static and binary: austerity or infrastructure spending. What we really need is bold…
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New Times: Marc Stears on why democracy is a long, hard, slow business
Too many of us have learned to measure our democratic impact in retweets and Facebook Likes, or at best,…
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New Times: Neal Lawson on what the new, 21st-century left needs now
In all of the new left’s urgent, bottom-up energy, the danger is cacophony and not symphony. A new form…
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New Times: John Harris on why Labour is losing its heartland
Conventional class-consciousness has been overtaken by collective resentment. We must face the fact Labour as we know it may…
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New Times: Gary Gerstle on Corbyn, Sanders and the populist surge
The mustering of Bernie’s and Donald’s armies, along with the Brexit vote, may signify the end of the neoliberal…
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New Times: Robert Ford on why the left must reckon with the anger of those left behind
The social divide between old, working-class voters and young graduates in the British left is more marked than ever. Labour’s catch-22…
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New Times: Vince Cable on how a financial crisis empowered the right
With financial turmoil, the vote share of social democratic parties has fallen across western Europe. The new challenge for…
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New Times: Charles Leadbeater explains why we are all existentialists now
Existential crisis is the new normal on the left – so it’s time to decide what type of existentialism to…
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New Times: Nick Pearce on why the left is haunted by the ghosts of the 1930s
The ghosts of when Labour was split and impotent outside local government still rattle around in the collective memory.…
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New Times: Philip Collins on why it’s time for Labour to abolish its crisis
The three aspects of Labour’s disaster – doctrine, history and sense of purpose – add up to a fourth,…
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New Times: Ros Wynne-Jones on the people who need a Labour government most
I wish those people who talk about a “long game” would realise that every second the Tory government remains…
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New Times: David Runciman on networks and the digital revolution
The digital revolution has had two profound effects on how power is distributed – both of which squeeze the…
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New Times: John Bew mourns the lost left
When Labour lurched to the left under Michael Foot, James Callaghan warned the Party of their obligation to work as…
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New Times: Paul Mason on why the left must be ready to cause a commotion
The right side does not always win, and history rarely affords second chances. It’s time for the British left…
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New Times: David Miliband on why the left needs to move forward, not back
Miliband explains why credible values are the bedrock of radicalism – and why not everyone who disagrees with Corbyn is…
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New Times: Lisa Nandy on how Labour has been halted and hollowed out
To change the country we must first change ourselves, creating a political culture that is much more open, capable…
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New Times: John Gray on moving right in the new times
If the 1980s were a time when the global market was expanding, our time is one in which globalisation…
ByPoliticians and fashion? Why their approach can be telling
My week, from spying on the spies to Theresa May’s fashion charm offensive – and how Sadiq stole hearts.
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The age of self: the strange story of how YouTubers saved publishing
When 21-year-old Alfie Deyes released his first book, it was No 1 on the Sunday Times bestseller list for 11 weeks. Who…
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There are only two rules for an evening drink: it must be bitter, and it must be cold
A Negroni is the aperitif of choice in bars everywhere from London to Palermo – and no wonder.
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Moving on up: why Ira Sachs is king of the “Rightmovie“
Little Men reminds us that Sachs is the the cinematic poet laureate of the gentrification drama.
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A friend bet a fiver on me writing this story – but it’s still taken me 25 years
“It’s like Trevor’s on a tightrope,” said my boyfriend, “but the tightrope is only a foot above the ground”.
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This week, a top tip to save on washing powder (just don’t stand too near the window)
I write this, at 3.04pm on a sticky Thursday afternoon, in the state in which Adam, before his shame, strolled in the…
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Commons confidential: Own up, Owen
Why is the Owen Smith campaign asking for money? Plus: the Lib Dem villege fete, and why Emily Thornberry…
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In Aleppo, the buildings are strong – it’s the communities that will be hard to rebuild
Aleppo once housed the greatest souk in the Levant, but now it’s a city in ruins and the people…
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What are the New Times? Why we’re looking back to assess the future of the left
The world according to Martin Jacques, the return of the state, and why we’re tackling the new “New Times”.
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Putin’s vote-winning trick? He makes power personal
Representatives in the Russian parliament, the Duma, have long been unpopular. Yet President Putin is immune to voter’s discontent.
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Why can you change gender but not race?
Marina Benjamin on the curious logic of modern identity politics.
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What David Hockney has to tell us about football
Why the sudden glut of blond footballers? A conversation I had with the artist back in 1966 gave me…
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Humanity Mk II: why the future of humanity will be just as purposeless as the past
The next great stage of our evolution has begun. But what will our successes look like – and will they…
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Do you see yourself as British or English? The answer could help define modern politics
The rise of English identity has left a glaring space in politics for an English nationalist party. Who is going…
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Hands across the pages: the stories of the world’s most beautiful books
Meetings With Remarkable Manuscripts by Christopher de Hamel allows us to see inside the books most of us will…
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The Bake Off? Channel 4 should be putting more money into things like National Treasure
The story of a disgraced light entertainer, written with a light touch by Jack Thorne, is the most challenging…
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Absolutely Fashion showed what fashion week is really like: nasty, brutish and short
With fake meetings about fake covers, the documentary gave a glimpse into the abyss at the heart of the fashion…
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Buckets of pasta and the radio blaring? It’s back to school on Lake Como
The breakfast show on 102.5 FM Sportiva blasts from windows and my friend Lucia sucks her teeth as we…
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