
What do you do?
I am, for the present, a gentleman of leisure. Or, if one must be blunt, I’m unemployed.
Where do you live?
Glasgow.
Do you vote?
Yes, when required.
How long have you been a subscriber?
Almost a year.
What made you start?
It more thoughtful than its competitors.
Is the NS bug in the family?
Alas not.
What pages do you flick to first?
The juicily lengthy essays in the latter half of the magazine.
How do you read yours?
Sequentially, generally.
What would you like to see more of in the NS?
The occasional short story would be welcome.
Who are your favourite NS writers?
John Gray, Nicholas Lezard and Rowan Williams.
Who would you put on the cover of the NS?
Isaiah Berlin.
With which political figure would you least like to be stuck in a lift?
Does Elon Musk now constitute a political figure?
All-time favourite NS article?
John Gray’s “JG Ballard’s apocalyptic art”.
The New Statesman is…
judicious in its querying where others are all too full-throated.
[See also: Elon Musk’s hostile takeover]
This article appears in the 22 Jan 2025 issue of the New Statesman, Messiah Complex