What’s behind a successful academic hoax?
The competitive nature of academia produces a tendency to group-think, which hoaxers exploit.
BySociety
Leader: In defence of the open society
A healthy liberal democracy must guarantee freedom of expression; it must not guarantee freedom from offence.
By
From the NS archive: New Woman
2 October 1964: Anti-domestic, anti-romantic and rather anti-men: there is an outburst of programmes on women in society.
By
How politics became the chosen hobby of retirees
The politicisation of the young has been widely discussed, but it is the politicisation of the old that has been…
By
Why libraries matter for Britain
These cherished spaces will play a crucial role in regenerating the public realm.
By
Why public policy shouldn’t be guided by master numbers
GDP, the Wellby and other indicators may tell us something about societal well-being, but they aren't substitutes for political decision-making.
By
Are we progressives forgetting how far we’ve come?
An old game of Scruples taught me not to feel despondent.
By
Why the left don’t get “family”
Labour are too embarrassed to embrace traditional values – even when they might help everyday voters
By
Progressives prefer political purity to winning the culture war
Why did no one on the left support Tom Harwood's defence of trans rights?
By
Female empowerment? Sex and the City is just empty sex and consumption
For Carrie and her friends, having sex “like men” means behaving like selfish arseholes.
By
“Why are people so angry?” Minouche Shafik on how the pandemic will change society
The director of LSE and former deputy director of the Bank of England calls for a post-Covid rethink of our…
By
The biggest barrier to radical climate action is the global epidemic of mistrust
It’s no good bowling alone if we’re to have any success in resolving Covid-19 or climate change.
By
The mystery of nightclub needles should not distract from rising cases of drink spiking
As women start to boycott night clubs across UK cities, experts are divided over claims of spiking by injection. But…
By
Would the British public support another Covid-19 lockdown?
Public support for doing everything possible to limit the spread of coronavirus is at a near-record low.
By
Injection spiking is likely very rare – so why are we so scared?
The image of the malevolent syringe is all the more frightening because the usual female rituals are no defence.
By
Did Covid-19 push public opinion in a more left-wing direction?
The landmark British Social Attitudes survey reveals a public more aware of inequality and sympathetic to welfare. But pollster John…
By
The ghosts of our lives
From communism to dubstep, our politics and culture have been haunted by the spectres of futures that never came to pass
By
Grayson Perry: The rise and fall of Default Man
How did the straight, white, middle-class Default Man take control of our society – and how can he be dethroned?
By