Kenneth Branagh’s King Lear is camp, callow and utterly unmoving
Rarely have I been less touched by a production than this one – when Gloucester was blinded, the audience laughed.
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Tim Peake’s Q&A: “Most of my career has been about how to manage risk”
The astronaut on the work of Carlo Rovelli, Star Wars and what he would say to Leonardo da Vinci.
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The white heat of politics
Thirteen years of Tory rule, a season of scandal and Labour on the rise – the hectic Britain of 1963…
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From Nathalie Olah to Stephen Marche: new books reviewed in short
Also featuring Alexandria by Islam Issa and The Factory by Hiroko Oyamada.
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Karl Ove Knausgaard’s thought experiment
The Norwegian novelist doesn’t just want to show his characters’ inner lives, he wants us to take leave of our…
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Insomnia leads me to The Moonstone, and unexpected wisdom
A growing store of worries, including a friend in distress, means less sleep. But at least I’m getting some reading…
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The second series of BBC’s Time is an intimate horror show
The return of this drama series is breathtaking: fierce, and utterly plausible. Awards will be won.
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REM’s soundtrack to the end of history
The album Up captured the dehumanisation and sexless ennui that defined the late Nineties.
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Six years of weightlifting has led me to healthier beauty standards
Along with a growing number of other “gym girlies” I have left behind the pursuit of thinness.
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Arnold Schwarzenegger’s lessons for losers
In his unlikely fourth act, the former movie star is a self-help guru who trades in the toughest of tough…
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Dance First is a catastrophic Samuel Beckett biopic
This film about the great Irish playwright will mystify those not familiar with his life and work – and irritate…
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The Conservative ship is going down – save yourselves!
Your weekly dose of gossip from around Westminster.
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The internet man is coming and I am anxious
I woke at nine with a feeling of impending doom but thought, well, at least I have four hours to…
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The Cloud of Unreason
The Israel-Hamas war is fuelling conspiracies, lies and misinformation.
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The New Statesman’s best books of the academic presses
Our choice of the highlights from the universities in 2023.
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This England: Dasher seeks Dancer
This column – which, though named after a line in Shakespeare’s “Richard II”, refers to the whole of Britain –…
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Cat Person is a lesson in how to ruin a great story
Susanna Fogel’s take on the viral New Yorker story reveals the dangers of lazy adaptation.
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From Naomi Alderman to Francis Spufford: new books reviewed in short
Also featuring The Revolutionary Temper by Richard Darnton and The Wisdom of Sheep by Rosamund Young.
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Letter of the week: World leaders must show the way forward
Write to [email protected] to have your thoughts voiced in the New Statesman magazine.
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