The Staggers Gavin Williamson's threat to Theresa May is more dangerous than it looks The divisive defence secretary might not profit from it, but May allies fear defence rows have the potential to destabilise the Prime Minister. By Patrick Maguire
Religion How humans shape God in their own image What does God look like? Or, more accurately, what do American Christians think he looks like? By Sophie McBain
UK A World Cup summer reawakens a deep nostalgia in the English Who are the English and what do they want? The Brexit vote has been described as an English revolt, what Orwell called a “tug from below”. By Jason Cowley
Books Why humans are fascinated by birds Our obsession with creatures of flight, from Homer to Hamlet to Hitchcock. By Philip Hoare
Books Bill Clinton’s first foray into fiction writing is a thinly-veiled, cringe-worthy... The President is Missing’s hero is an embattled Democratic president with “rugged good looks”. It’s not hard to see where Clinton got the idea. By Stephen Bush
UK The crisis of conservatism Theresa May aspired to be a transformative prime minister and understood the need for change, but her tragedy is that she has been unable to deliver it. By Nick Timothy
UK The crisis of conservatism Theresa May aspired to be a transformative prime minister and understood the need for change, but her tragedy is that she has been unable to deliver it. By Nick Timothy
Music & Theatre 50 years on, the Beatles film Yellow Submarine tells the story of the Sixties The Beatles had little interest in the making of Yellow Submarine. But, the animation in which they barely appear says far more about them than they could have predicted. By DJ Taylor
North America Donald Trump and the art of the diplomatic handshake When Reagan shook hands with Gorbachev, a “spark of mutual trust” ignited between the two men. Today, Trump warmly greets the North Korean dictator while spurning his G7 allies. By David Reynolds
Media Paul Dacre’s “nasty paper” and dancing with the Jezziah Corbyn’s biggest cheer was when he promised music lessons for primary kids. The Second Coming it wasn’t. By Rachel Johnson
North America The new US border policy rips families apart. This is Trumpism: the politics of hatred The cruel separation of families at the border is not an unfortunate side-effect – it’s the whole point. By Sophie McBain
UK Jeremy Hunt is openly pitching for the Tory leadership The health secretary’s hard line on Brexit is a bid to prove his credentials to colleagues. By Patrick Maguire
UK Labour's four tests for Heathrow expansion have been met A third runway would meet the economic and environmental conditions I set as shadow transport secretary - MPs must back Britain's interests. By Michael Dugher
Devolution Sadiq Khan’s Conservative opponents can’t win. Which means they can’t lose, either For any ambitious Tory with connections to the capital, even losing has its advantages. By Stephen Bush
The Staggers How the SNP just gained 5,000 members – and how other parties could do the same Only about two per cent of the population are members of a political party. By Sam Power and Kate Dommett
UK The Brexiteers are discovering that the UK already had the best model: EU membership Even some Tory Leavers now concede that Britain will end up in an inferior position. By George Eaton
Music & Theatre 50 years on, the Beatles film Yellow Submarine tells the story of the Sixties The Beatles had little interest in the making of Yellow Submarine. But, the animation in which they barely appear says far more about them than they could have predicted. By DJ Taylor
TV & Radio BBC Four’s documentary The Many Primes of Muriel Spark is as fascinating as her fiction Not many writers come with lives as interesting as their books. By Rachel Cooke
Books How manners made man Without its own code of manners, any social group would dissolve into anarchy. By Frances Wilson
UK The soft power of the British Library, a Chinese Jane Eyre, and my dreams of a day at the... Britain is endowed with tremendous assets in terms of its knowledge infrastructure. By Tessa Blackstone
Film The Deer Hunter, Vertigo, Die Hard... it’s a shame re-releases are so often familiar films Returning to the same films over and over can only inhibit our viewing habits. By Ryan Gilbey
UK Two musicians and two audience members, but the show had to go on The hardest part of attending an accidentally private gig, I learned, was knowing the applause etiquette and what to do with your face while being sung to. By Kate Mossman
Social Media Putting video ads in Facebook Messenger may be the final straw for users This fever dream, this nightmare, is your brand new user experience. By Sarah Manavis
Social Media The talking cigarette packet in your pocket: why tech companies must fix notifications now Addictive design is getting kids and adults hooked on apps. By Mic Wright
Health The Billy Caldwell case shows how outdated the UK’s cannabis laws are The government has as good as admitted that its attitude toward medicinal marijuana is simply wrong. Now it must do something about it. By Sanjana Varghese
Health Lessons learnt from a man who just couldn’t stop himself from falling asleep Sleep apnoea and narcolepsy were ruled out – until Ben remembered that sometimes his legs would buckle beneath him. By Phil Whitaker
Media Paul Dacre was Fleet Street’s last silverback gorilla No other editor will have the same power he had during his 26 years at the Mail. His departure from the Daily Mail will trigger a sea-change in the British media. By Helen Lewis
Media Shame and accountability: too many journalists and presenters forgot both after Brexit If a fortune is to be made, then there will always be cowboys. By Nesrine Malik
Media Reporting on the Italian mafia is becoming more dangerous than ever before Italy’s new populist government is threatening to take away police protection from investigative journalists. By Jemimah Steinfeld
The Staggers As Greece’s bailout nears end, is the eurozone better equipped to handle future crises? Unless the internal politics of the 19 member states line up with one another, necessary reforms will always hit the buffers. By Stephen Bush
Middle East “I left the home I had lived in for 32 years”: Syria’s invisible refugees The conflict in Syria has now lasted longer than the Second World War. By Lizzie Porter
Europe The Italian far right won’t get a Roma census, but its anti-minority propaganda is working Matteo Salvini’s proposal would violate the Italian constitution, but it will also help his party gain support. By Francesco Zaffarano
Europe Poland is rewriting history – and the consequence is the rise of anti-Semitism A visit to a concentration camp reveals that an illiberal government is reshaping the reality of the Holocaust. By Paul Mason
The Staggers Will an immigration battle spell disaster for Angela Merkel’s fourth term? For the EU, the row in Germany is a reminder of the ability of the migrant crisis to cause political crisis across the bloc. By Stephen Bush
