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Culture

Ghosts of the Cultural Revolution

Tania Branigan’s Red Memory shows how Xi Jinping’s China is erasing the violence and tyranny of Mao’s purges from history.

By Katie Stallard

Photo of Ghosts of the Cultural Revolution

First Aid Kit: “We realised constant touring was not a good way to live”

First Aid Kit: “We realised constant touring was not a good way to live”

Ellen Peirson-Hagger

Book of the Day

What does Rick Rubin actually do?

Kate Mossman

Edward Hopper’s city of still lives

Nick Burns

The Weekend Essay

Robert Kaplan’s tragic realism

John Gray

Darren Aronofsky’s The Whale is dismal, claustrophobic and sometimes cruel

Darren Aronofsky’s The Whale is dismal, claustrophobic and sometimes cruel

David Sexton

Sam Smith’s Gloria is a bland, contrived pop record

Ellen Peirson-Hagger

Interviews

Francesca Stavrakopoulou Q&A: “In my field, people often talk about doom”

Francesca Stavrakopoulou Q&A: “In my field, people often talk about doom”

New Statesman

Bret Easton Ellis: “Wokeness is running out of room”

The Weekend Interview

Bret Easton Ellis: “Wokeness is running out of room”

Will Lloyd

George McGavin Q&A: “All species live on the knife-edge of survival”

George McGavin Q&A: “All species live on the knife-edge of survival”

New Statesman

Doug Gurr: “We are potentially decades away from a mass extinction”

Energy and Climate Change

Doug Gurr: “We are potentially decades away from a mass extinction”

India Bourke

Reviews

Spielberg’s The Fabelmans is a major and personal work

Ryan Gilbey

How The Last of Us turns the apocalypse into mindless entertainment

Gavin Jacobson

From Don Paterson to Brigitte Reimann: new titles reviewed in short

From Don Paterson to Brigitte Reimann: new titles reviewed in short

Oscar Williams, Tom Gatti, Ellen Peirson-Hagger and Michael Prodger

The myth of America’s love affair with guns

Sarah Churchwell

The fierce women doctors of Maternal show that TV drama is moving on

Rachel Cooke

Everyone Else Burns attempts “edgy” comedy – but ends up predictable

Everyone Else Burns attempts “edgy” comedy – but ends up predictable

Rachel Cooke

The long read

In search of a language of loss

The Weekend Essay

In search of a language of loss

Is there a correct way to mourn? When my mother died, I scoured the literature of grief for answers

By Johanna Thomas-Corr