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William praises ‘incredible’ Kevin Sinfield as he nears finish of ultramarathons

The former rugby league star is running seven ultramarathons in seven days to raise money for motor neurone disease. The Prince of Wales has sent his “huge congratulations” to Kevin…

Reform gains first House of Lords member after Tory defection

Lib Dems call for probe into claims test touts are paying driving instructors

Protesters throw crumble and custard at Crown Jewels in Tower of London stunt

Starmer to meet Zelensky in Downing Street as Ukraine peace talks continue

Yellow weather warning as more than half a month’s rain could fall in 24 hours

Will Ferrell’s Elf costume fetches more than £200,000 at auction

DUP seeks to block Sinn Fein bid for European Parliament ‘observer status’

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Sonia Sodha

The pitfalls of assisted dying

One of the first concepts new students of philosophy are introduced to is Isaiah Berlin’s famous distinction between “freedom to” and “freedom from”: an illustration of the fact that giving…

Simon Heffer

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…

Kate Devlin

You’re on camera

There’s a quotation by American historian Timothy Snyder currently circulating on social media. It comes…

Michael Janofsky

America’s third man

With all the focus on Joe Biden-Donald Trump redux, it’s easy to ignore more than…

Khaled Bazzi

Where hope takes root

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

Sally Hayden

War reporter

Cambridge In early September I attended the British Red Cross summer school in international humanitarian…

Wade Graham

The rewilding Republican

Some years ago, I saw the legendary radical environmentalist Dave Foreman give his famous “howl…

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

COMMENT

Sonia Sodha

Breaking the class ceiling

Aspiration and social mobility were at the heart of Tony…

Simon Heffer

An age without rival

It wasn’t long before Hallowe’en that I noted many of…

Peter Phelps

Free for all

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

Guy Shrubsole

English pastoral

Guy Shrubsole explores England’s buried tradition of land reform, where less than one percent of…

Nathaniel Tapley

Passing as upper class

Lots of things from the 1990s are difficult to explain to your teenage children now:…

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Perspectives

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All that jazz

Lucy Moore

The carefree socialites of the 1920s can teach us how to let our hair down

The end is nigh for old politics

Lily Webb

The young are desperate for change

All my friends are having Botox now

Róisín Lanigan

Guns and poses

Michael Burleigh

The Ukraine invasion is changing the future of warfare

Perspectives

Snob value

Philip Hensher

Looking down your nose at “common” behaviour can create a constructive social dynamic

The wheel turns

Nick Hunt

Why doomsday scenarios appeal to our linear concept of time

Democracy inaction

Gavin Esler

From Russia to Rwanda, a year of record global voting masks a deepening crisis for democratic freedom

The emblem of excess

Christobel Kent

Fashion is the essence of capitalism

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PEOPLE

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TCE The Interview The Interview - Front Page

BY

Joanna Grochowicz

Charles Spencer

The writer, historian, podcaster and 9th Earl Spencer Charles Spencer talks about boarding school trauma, class aspirations and the importance of speaking out

In Conversation In Conversation - Front Page TCE

BY

Joanna Grochowicz

Michael Palin

Talks about his new volume of diaries, his support for the Prison Reform Trust, the loss of his wife Helen, and his determination to keep travelling in his 80s

Reputations Reputations - Front Page

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Lucy Ward

Catherine the Great

The enlightened empress who inoculated herself to protect her subjects and advance science

FROM MY PERSPECTIVE - Q&As

Joanna Lumley

Actress, campaigner and national treasure

Sally Phillips

The much-loved UK actress on comedy, faith, disability and Christmas

John Lloyd

Producer of Blackadder and Spitting Image

Michael Holding

Former West Indies Test cricketer and Sky Sports commentator

Tom Curry

England Rugby International and Sale Sharks Flanker

Rosie Boycott

The first woman to edit a UK broadsheet newspaper

FROM MY PERSPECTIVE – Q&As

John Lloyd

Producer of Blackadder and Spitting Image

Ed Balls

Economist, broadcaster and former cabinet minister

Vince Cable

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

Rosie Boycott

The first woman to edit a UK broadsheet newspaper

Chris Smith

Master of Pembroke College, Cambridge, and former Culture Secretary

Tom Curry

England Rugby International and Sale Sharks Flanker

Robert Peston

ITV News political editor and presenter of Peston

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CULTURE

MORE AUTHOR INTERVIEWS

Author Interview - Front Page The author Interview

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Helen Brown

“Most people, most of the time, are if not collaborators then co-operators with the ruling regime”

Mary Beard

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

Francesca Beauman

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

Cathy Newman

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

Hanna Pylväinen

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

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

Gothic delights

Elizabeth Sharkey

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

FILM

Tribal fashion

Christobel Kent

POETRY

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

There's a Walrus on My Windscreen by Ian Humphreys

Tight Little Island by Rishi Dastidar

Hermeneutics by Rebecca Hurst

Blood Moon by Gillian Clarke

ART

Man-made girl bands

Lily Webb

CULTURE

The author Interview

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Helen Brown

“All I had ever wanted to do was write a novel. When I held the first copy, aged 42, I cried”

Emma Flint

The crime author discusses her new book Other Women

Sarah Hall

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

Tessa Hadley

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

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

FEATURES