The best books of 2018
Hilary Mantel, Andrew Marr, Francis Fukuyama, Michael Sandel, Nicola Sturgeon, Clive James and many others choose their books of…
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How the Brexiteers broke history
Why we chose Robin Robertson’s The Long Take as the winner of the 2018 Goldsmiths Prize
Robin Robertson has won this year’s Goldsmiths Prize, in association with the New Statesman, for his verse novel The…
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Is Netflix’s Outlaw King the silliest film of the year?
Don’t be duped by anyone selling Outlaw King as earnest political drama: it’s silly, over the top and absurd.
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Alan Bennett’s play The Madness of George III has new relevance in 2018
Like Bennett as a playwright, the play has deepened with time.
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Michael Waldman’s Inside the Foreign Office sometimes feels like a clever PR stunt
Plus: Running Wild with Bear Grylls.
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How the lack of borders on social media and the dominance of the US means we all speak “American” online
British speakers are importing terms and analytical frames from the US, regardless of how well they actually fit our…
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What the rise of Piers Morgan tells us about modern Britain
As a precocious tabloid editor, bullish presenter, friend of Trump and Twitter provocateur, Morgan has found the fame he…
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How the Brexiteers broke history
Boris Johnson, Jacob Rees-Mogg and their allies propagate a confused nostalgic fantasy of “global Britain”, wartime heroism and an…
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Luca Guadagnino’s Suspira remake is bloated and unworkable
Plus: The Coen Brothers’ The Ballad of Buster Scruggs.
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The case of the disappearing giblets: why do most chickens now come without livers, hearts and toenails?
A Tesco spokesman tells me the company hasn’t sold them for “many, many years”.
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Why Corbyn’s scruffy Armistice Day anorak is a warning sign that something bigger could be wrong
Either his team did not feel confident enough to mention the coat, or they did – and he ignored…
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John Simpson’s Diary: The BBC boss who tried to sack me, and David Attenborough’s defection to Netflix
Now I was going to stay at the BBC, I had to do an intensive and radical rewrite of…
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You know you’re in trouble when HMRC tells you to “have a cup of tea”
“Would you mind if I put you on hold, please? I need to talk to someone about this.” I get…
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How the supermarket plastic bag levy could save the lives of thousands
The the 5p charge introduced in 2015 has been spectacularly successful, plastic bag consumption has fallen by 85 per…
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Why lingerie label Victoria’s Secret is struggling to be “woke”
When millennial women opened Instagram they were met with “feminist” influencers posting from the show, describing how “empowered” they felt.
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Adam Gopnik Q&A: “My childhood hero was, inappropriately, James Bond“
The author and essayist on London in the 1890s, Beatles trivia, and James Bond.
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John McDonnell: Labour will not raise taxes for ordinary workers
Only the top 5 per cent will pay more. The left has the chance to build a majoritarian base…
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Commons Confidential: Red Ed plots a comeback
Your weekly dose of gossip from around Westminster.
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Why conspiracy theories are not just a harmless joke
Conspiracy and modern anti-Semitism are deeply irrational world-views that developed in tandem and are almost impossible to disentangle.
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Labour’s fear now is whether rejecting May’s deal means no-deal Brexit or no Brexit
Labour backbenchers know the fate of the country is in their hands – and that rolling the dice has…
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First Thoughts: Jo Johnson’s dire policy legacy, Andrew Neil’s tweets and the Confederate States of America
The “other” Johnson sibling’s introduction of the TEF for universities has created a hollowed-out, managerial culture for those in academia.
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Leader: Why Britain should offer Asia Bibi asylum
Although acquitted of blasphemy, Bibi’s life remains in permanent danger as long as she remains in Pakistan.
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Leader: The country’s great tax conundrum
Rather than merely taxing the rich more heavily, Labour and other parties should turn their focus on unearned income…
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