We at the New Statesman are no strangers to hard work, but even the most diligent strivers need to take a break sometimes, and recently the New York Times was kind enough to provide us all with some distraction.
“Could you have landed a job at Vogue in the Nineties?” it asked, atop a cultural-literacy quiz, based on one once used to test applicants to the magazine. Once we were done smugly trading our scores, I began dwelling on what such a quiz would look like for this title. So, I present: “Could you land a job at the New Statesman in the 2020s?” Match the numbers and letters to find out; answers below (don’t cheat). Score full marks and I’m told Tom McTague will graciously vacate his office for you*.
Four Shades of Grey
1) “Great White Male” guest editor
2) Chronicler of Southgateism
3) Tina Brown successor
4) Feline Philosophy author
a) James Graham
b) Graydon Carter
c) John Gray
d) Grayson Perry
Further reading
1) “Books are the mirrors of the soul”
2) Nicola Six
3) George Smiley
4) “Only connect”
a) EM Forster
b) John Le Carré
c) Virginia Woolf
d) Martin Amis
Boys George
1) Rhapsody in Blue composer
2) Real name: Eric Blair
3) Austerity posterboy
4) Real name: Mary Ann Evans
a) George Gershwin
b) George Orwell
c) George Eliot
d) George Osborne
The Kate Mossman interview
1) Old Brightonian
2) Mostly Men author
3) The Pervert’s Guide to Cinema writer
4) Joni Mitchell muse
a) Slavoj Žižek
b) Nick Cave
c) Lynn Barber
d) Cary Raditz
Go figure
1) Seven
2) 49
3) 20th Century Women
4) 13
a) Liz Truss
b) David Fincher
c) Blur
d) Greta Gerwig
Life of (B)rian
1) Popular 20th-century philosopher
2) New Statesman illustrator
3) Scarface director
4) Former New Statesman film critic
a) Ryan Gilbey
b) Brian De Palma
c) Ryan McAmis
d) Bryan Magee
Man and boy
1) Scottish satirist
2) Welsh illustrator
3) Fury author
4) Any Human Heart author
a) Ralph Steadman
b) William Boyd
c) Salman Rushdie
d) Armando Iannucci
The Tony Awards
1) Prison Notebooks author
2) The Future of Socialism author
3) Stop the War president
4) Start the War prime minister
a) Tony Crosland
b) Tony Blair
c) Tony Benn
d) Antonio Gramsci
* There is no actual reward for any score in this quiz, nor will taking it in any way influence your prospects of being employed by the New Statesman, and Tom is quite attached to his office, thank you very much.
Answers: 1d, 2a, 3b, 4c; 1c, 2d, 3b, 4a; 1a, 2b, 3d, 4c; 1b, 2c, 3a, 4d; 1b, 2a, 3d, 4c; 1d, 2c, 3b, 4a; 1d, 2a, 3c, 4b; 1d, 2a, 3c, 4b.
[See also: Labour’s summer of discontent]
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This article appears in the 07 Aug 2025 issue of the New Statesman, Summer Special 2025