The Rise of Greedflation

A Tory electoral timebomb

Voters move right with age – this was once regarded as an iron law of politics. The Conservative electorate…

Letter of the week: The health challenge

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Rural Oxfordshire proves a hostile environment for Boris and Carrie Johnson

Your weekly dose of gossip from around Westminster.

The dark reality of Ron DeSantis’s disastrous campaign launch

It was embarrassing for the Florida governor and Elon Musk. It could be a tragedy for American democracy.

A life in books and why prizes matter

Also this week: the art of rejecting authors and how all the best stories are true.

Ben Smith: “The New York Times hired a bunch of lunatics”

The former BuzzFeed News editor on covering Donald Trump, the lure of social media, and how to restore trust…

A rising backlash against green policies is energising Europe’s far right

The spectacular blooming, then rapid wilting, of Germany’s Greens is a warning for progressives everywhere.

If the Tories are the party for hard-working people, why are they so spectacularly lazy?

For the past 13 years, Britain has been run by people who fundamentally can’t be bothered.

My adventure in burlesque

A combination of masochism and narcissism sent me onstage.

The meaning of Essex

Built for commuters, the county created a brash new consumerist identity. But its success has come at a price.

The NS Poem: let the lilac in

A new poem by Michael Pedersen.

From the war in Ukraine to the life of Roger Deakin: new books reviewed in short

Also featuring Anna Metcalfe’s Chrysalis and Octavia Bright’s This Ragged Grace.

How germs shape history

Jonathan Kennedy’s Pathogenesis reveals how diseases have built and broken empires and economies.

The science of fandom

What communities devoted to hero-worship tell us about the psychology of belonging.

Deborah Levy’s double lives

At the heart of her new novel August Blue is the question: where does one self begin and another…

How Succession made fools of us all

The brutal drama told us who the ultra-rich were again and again. We chose not to listen.

At Chelsea Flower Show, I find a rare thing: a truly unforgettable garden

Sarah Price’s planting, inspired by the artist Cedric Morris, is for both dreaming and living in.

The battle for the soul of London

The capital survived the Blitz only to be attacked by zealous city planners – but its citizens fought back.

Reality is a chilling, forensic dramatisation of a whistleblower interrogation

Tina Satter’s verbatim treatment of the FBI’s questioning of a young NSA translator is deeply unsettling.

Shane Meadows’ The Gallows Pole has plenty of vomiting and swearing – but very little drama

The 18th-century fable about coining gangs, adapted from Benjamin Myers’ novel, is relentless and self-indulgent.

When Justin Welby met John Cleese

In BBC Radio 4’s Archbishop Interviews, the unlikely pair talk about faith, forgiveness, cancel culture – and whether Jesus…

All it takes to transform me is the warmth of the first rays of the summer sun

I am going to put my nose in lilac and honeysuckle and roses and be generally unbearable with luxuriousness.

Among my life’s highlights is the time I made Martin Amis slap his thigh with laughter

Ever since then, when I have been feeling down, or stupid, or generally undervalued, I have consoled myself with…

This England: Pet hates

This column – which, though named after a line in Shakespeare’s “Richard II”, refers to the whole of Britain…

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Rainn Wilson’s Q&A: “As a child, I found my father wishy-washy and forlorn”

The actor on Star Trek’s James T Kirk, his love of Succession, and how not following advice can make…