Perspective Media | Read the world differently

LATEST HEADLINES

LATEST HEADLINES

Keir Starmer to face second bruising day in Parliament over Mandelson scandal

MPs are to hold an emergency debate on Lord Mandelson’s appointment as US ambassador. Sir Keir Starmer is to face another bruising day in Parliament over the scandal surrounding Lord…

‘Critical diplomatic moment’ as Iran ceasefire deadline looms, says Cooper

I am not afraid to take on vested interests, Swinney to say

Steve Nicol’s FA Cup medal could fetch up to £20,000 at memorabilia auction

Mid-lifers ‘put off exercise by school PE’ – charity

Charles pays tribute to ‘darling Mama’ in heartfelt video message

Family of UK’s youngest blood transfusion recipient express gratitude to donors

Marathon runner says Marie Curie helped mum’s confidence after dad’s death

COMMENT

Breaking the class ceiling

Aspiration and social mobility were at the heart of Tony Blair’s “education, education, education” pitch in 1997. They are similarly echoed in Keir Starmer’s vision for Britain: he has repeatedly framed his desire to be…

Why Labour has to be conservative

Here’s a paradox for you: Britain is a conservative country that hates the Conservative party. As our American cousins vulgarly say: “Do the math.” On 4 July 24 per cent…

Unfree speech

Free speech is “under threat”, or so we are continually told. Under threat from whom?…

Natural hazards

The first novel that truly affected me as a young reader was eschatological in nature.…

Where hope takes root

As headlines veer toward the apocalyptic – from collapsing ecosystems to vanishing species – it’s…

Past futures

When we reach for past visions of the future to measure against our reality, we…

Michael Janofsky

Fight madness with more madness

Most of my friends and I live in a bubble (Los Angeles) within a bubble…

GET THE PERSPECTIVE NEWSLETTER

For some of the world’s best independent writing on the stories and ideas shaping our world

COMMENT

The pitfalls of assisted dying

One of the first concepts new students of philosophy are…

Why Labour has to be conservative

Here’s a paradox for you: Britain is a conservative country…

Posh performance

I recently wrote a column for The National that provoked some, let’s say, passionate reactions. Two…

Free for all

When you’re stuck in the swamp of a midlife crisis, there’s generally only two ways…

All that jazz

When we were finally released from lockdown in summer 2021, a hedonistic return to real…

Perspectives

The end of days

If the apocalypse comes, we will almost certainly have brought it on ourselves

Fierce courage

How a Belgian princess, a waitress and a British nurse risked their lives during WWI

Xi the Peacemaker

Michael Burleigh

China’s diplomatic manoeuvring wrong-foots the West

The emblem of excess

Christobel Kent

Fashion is the essence of capitalism

Perspectives

Free as a bird

A meditation on our complex relationship with wildness

The joy of text

Online life brings perennial pleasures

Les Temps Modernes

The Liberation of Paris in August 1944 led to an era of philosophical, political and sexual ferment

The risk factor

New fiscal regulations don’t address the thin line between scams and foolish investments

PEOPLE

PEOPLE

TCE The Interview The Interview – Front Page

BY

Martin Rees

Gavin Esler talks to the UK’s Astronomer Royal. "The solutions for reducing existential threats are within our grasp"

In Conversation In Conversation – Front Page TCE

BY

Ian Anderson

The leader of prog rock band Jethro Tull talks about the end of days, faith, fencesitting, Jacob Rees-Mogg and the band’s new album, RökFlöte

Reputations Reputations – Front Page

BY

Terence Blacker

Chuck Berry

The revolutionary musician who single-handedly transformed rock 'n' roll

FROM MY PERSPECTIVE - Q&As

Ed Vaizey

Member of the House of Lords

Jeremy Bowen

International Editor of BBC News

Lucy Easthope

Disaster planner and recovery expert

Rosie Boycott

The first woman to edit a UK broadsheet newspaper

Katie Brand

Award-winning writer and comedian

Mike Figgis

Film director, composer, musician

Wynne Evans

Opera singer and radio presenter

John Lloyd

Producer of Blackadder and Spitting Image

DBC Pierre

Booker Prize-winning author

Vince Cable

Former Leader of the Liberal Democrats and Secretary of State (2010-2015)

Tom Curry

Black and white photo of Tom Curry in England Rugby kit

England Rugby International and Sale Sharks Flanker

Lynn Barber

author and journalist

Chris Smith

Master of Pembroke College, Cambridge, and former Culture Secretary

Doon Mackichan

actress, comedian, author

Phil Hammond

Doctor, comedian, journalist

Lucy Hughes-Hallett

Historian, biographer, novelist

Bobby Seagull

Maths teacher, author and TV broadcaster

Zandra Rhodes

Fashion designer

Michael Holding

Former West Indies Test cricketer and Sky Sports commentator

Dan Snow

Historian and TV presenter

FROM MY PERSPECTIVE – Q&As

Daniel Howell

Author, entertainer and comedian

Joanna Lumley

Actress, campaigner and national treasure

Jeremy Bowen

International Editor of BBC News

Andrew Roberts

Historian and journalist

Lucy Easthope

Disaster planner and recovery expert

Dan Snow

Historian and TV presenter

Zandra Rhodes

Fashion designer

Wynne Evans

Opera singer and radio presenter

Katie Brand

Award-winning writer and comedian

Chris Smith

Master of Pembroke College, Cambridge, and former Culture Secretary

Robert Peston

ITV News political editor and presenter of Peston

Tom Curry

Black and white photo of Tom Curry in England Rugby kit

England Rugby International and Sale Sharks Flanker

John Lloyd

Producer of Blackadder and Spitting Image

Rosie Holt

Comedian and actress

DBC Pierre

Booker Prize-winning author

Lynn Barber

author and journalist

Jeremy Paxman

Journalist, broadcaster and quizmaster

Wasfi Kani, CBE

Founder of Pimlico Opera and Grange Park Opera

Michael Holding

Former West Indies Test cricketer and Sky Sports commentator

Lord David Owen

Former foreign secretary and co-founder of the SDP

CULTURE

MORE AUTHOR INTERVIEWS

Author Interview – Front Page TCE The author Interview

by

“When you see extremely violent sexual stuff on stage you always need to ask: who’s creating it for who and why?”

Ruth Ivo

The former burlesque dancer discusses her fictionalised memoir of Soho life in Performance, the exhilarating freedom of club nights in her youth and “hatching” from an egg on stage

The acclaimed novelist discusses her Goldsmiths Prize-shortlisted novel Helm, writing a "strange biography" of Britain's only named wind, climate collapse and "radical optimism," and why sorority is the key to consolidating power shifts and positive change

Hanna Pylväinen

Whiting Award and Balcones Fiction Prize-winner discusses her strict Lutheran upbringing and her novel The End of Drum-Time

The classicist, Cambridge don and trustee of the British Museum discusses flamingo-brain feasts, gender surgery in antiquity and her new book Emperor of Rome

FEATURES

Zealots not harlots

Elizabeth Sharkey

How Quaker dissenters became England’s first feminists

Acts of sedition

Pauline F Kiernan

Shakespeare’s Richard II was pure treason, so how did he get away with it? asks the author

The politics of colour

Tina Gharavi’s full response to the controversy surrounding Queen Cleopatra, a Netflix series about the identity of the legendary last pharaoh

Gangster wrap

Girls will be boys

Christobel Kent

POETRY

There's a Walrus on My Windscreen by Ian Humphreys

Tight Little Island by Rishi Dastidar

Blood Moon by Gillian Clarke

Hermeneutics by Rebecca Hurst

Things to Consider in the Design of Your First Space Suit by Harry Man

The art of perturbation

Rachel Campbell Johnston

Man-made girl bands

CULTURE

The author Interview

by

“For too long, women writing literary fiction – especially the funny kind – were not being taken seriously”

Amanda Craig

Discusses older women and her new book The Three Graces

The critically acclaimed novelist discusses her 1950s-set novella The Party with Helen Brown

Francesca Beauman

The Persephone Books publisher discusses forgotten gems written by women and the imprint’s 150th book

Channel 4’s first female news anchor discusses trailblazing women, internet trolls, sexual assault and her new book The Ladder

FEATURES

Zealots not harlots

Elizabeth Sharkey

How Quaker dissenters became England’s first feminists

Gothic delights

Elizabeth Sharkey

Exploring the history of a genre that first bewitched Elizabeth as a teenage Joy Division fan

Film, Film – Front Page, TCE

Primetime Potus

Style, Style – Front Page, TCE

Anything goes

Christobel Kent

POETRY

Tight Little Island by Rishi Dastidar

Hermeneutics by Rebecca Hurst

Art, Art – Front Page, TCE

The art of perturbation

Rachel Campbell Johnston

Music, Music – Front Page, TCE

Prisoner with a key

Book Reviews

LIFE

Trussst in me…

Siân Wainwright

How do we stop snakes from scamming the elderly?

Alas, poor Yorick

When your childhood garden is a charnel house, and skeletons your toys

The go-between

Growing up in a tied cottage on a landed estate

Heart of Ochre

Colour foraging and the politics of pigment

LIFE

Trussst in me…

Siân Wainwright

How do we stop snakes from scamming the elderly?

Free spirit

How a gap year full of travel and adventure became a “gap life” boundaried only by possibility and curiosity

Cutting ties

Rowena Macdonald

The stress of breaking up with your hairdresser

Spaniel stories

How a mischievous companion transformed my life

MIND OVER MATTER

Neurological-based
advice

FROM DR ASH RANPURA

Dealing with a child who lies and a dinner party refusenik

How to be optimistic and an autism diagnosis

In-law etiquette, and seeking an ADHD diagnosis

Teenage consent and a flaky friend

Yo-yo dieting and a petrolhead husband

MIND OVER MATTER

Neurological-based
advice

FROM DR ASH RANPURA

Mid-life rage and teenage drugs

Finding new love and domestic stand-offs

Othello syndrome and kitchen wars

Gender norms and New Age neighbours

Shopping addiction and a divisive will