The liberty ledger
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…
COMMENT
Reading the room
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…
War reporter
Cambridge In early September I attended the British Red Cross summer school in international humanitarian…
Time’s arrow
“Lest we forget” is carved into stone in village squares, town halls and city monuments…
Where hope takes root
As headlines veer toward the apocalyptic – from collapsing ecosystems to vanishing species – it’s…
Long division
Our good friend Kalyan, a gay Indian-American, was so distraught by rising discrimination against Blacks,…
Natural hazards
The first novel that truly affected me as a young reader was eschatological in nature.…
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COMMENT
Correcting our Grammar mistake
During the Blair years, when recalcitrant Conservatives longed for a…
Rent in two
In this class-themed issue I want to touch on an important social distinction in the…
Roar deal
A century ago, America was ablaze in progressive change: Jazz. Flappers. Shorter skirts. Speakeasies. The…
Hedge fund
According to the great Dr Oliver Rackham, hedges may be the oldest manmade structures on…
Perspectives
A side dish of bugs, please
A trip to Mexico reveals a surprising source of sustainable food for the future
Perspectives
PEOPLE
PEOPLE
Martin Rees
The Astronomer Royal on existential risk, the historic £100 stipend his post still pays and why engineered viruses worry him more than nuclear war
Rory Stewart
The former MP talks about global conflict and the possibility of his return to front-line politics
Caroline Calloway
The headline-hitting American social climber who found fame via a “faked” Cambridge application
FROM MY PERSPECTIVE - Q&As
Craig Brown
The Private Eye satirist on Haywire, Liz Truss as comedy gold and going blackberrying with John Stonehouse
Wynne Evans
The GoCompare opera singer on depression, becoming a Welsh druid and being sent into Stephen Hawking's black hole
Chris Smith
The former Culture Secretary on being the first male MP to come out as gay, the call from Mandela and what It's a Sin revealed
Ed Vaizey
The former Culture Minister on meeting Tom Cruise at BAFTA, his cousin the American chant master and what really keeps him awake
Kate Mosse
The author and Women's Prize founder on her book Warrior Queens, her great-grandmother written out of history and the woman who foresaw global warming in 1856
Lucy Easthope
The disaster planner and recover expert on her book When the Dust Settles, the Welsh word hiraeth for aching loss and a friend's correct snack ratio for the bunker
Michael Holding
The West Indies fast bowler on Why We Kneel, race in cricket and his over against Boycott
Ed Balls
The former Shadow Chancellor on his book Appetite, the Granita dinner with no polenta, and a midlife crisis going really well
John Lloyd
The Spitting Image and Blackadder producer on twenty-one series of QI, why he left satire at 36, and Radio Barking, the comedy station that never aired
Wasfi Kani, CBE
The opera founder on Pimlico, the Merkel arts package shaming Britain and the racist messages that still arrive
Jeremy Bowen
The BBC International Editor on testifying against Karadžić at The Hague, a brush with bowel cancer and Cardiff bars he'd close during play
Joanna Lumley
The actress on a Malayan childhood, Genghis Khan beating Trump and the books she wants in her coffin
Chris van Tulleken
The infectious diseases doctor, author and science presenter on what's really in our food, the politics of poverty, and his "anti-telepathic" twin
Vince Cable
The former Lib Dem leader on Strictly, the Murdoch hidden mic and a Quaker chocolate childhood in York
Sally Phillips
The Smack the Pony comedian on Veep, faith, disability advocacy and the son who's changed how she sees what matters
Lord David Owen
The former Foreign Secretary and co-founder of the SDP on two centuries of British-Russian relations, Brexit and being Steel's pocket puppet
Rosie Holt
The actress and comedian behind the spoof Tory MP videos, on Partygate, Suella Braverman's "wokerati" and the Labour MP she fooled
Doon Mackichan
The actress, author and Smack the Pony comedian on My Lady Parts, Ricky Gervais turning up to "improve" the show and spray-painting over sexist ads
Mike Figgis
The composer and Leaving Las Vegas director on Timecode written as a string quartet, refusing the Hollywood club and missing his friend Julian Sands
FROM MY PERSPECTIVE – Q&As
Vince Cable
The former Lib Dem leader on Strictly, the Murdoch hidden mic and a Quaker chocolate childhood in York
Ed Vaizey
The former Culture Minister on meeting Tom Cruise at BAFTA, his cousin the American chant master and what really keeps him awake
Bobby Seagull
The author, maths teacher, broadcaster and quizzer on his book The Life-changing Magic of Numbers, dancing The Real Dirty Dancing and finding love on Netflix
Lucy Easthope
The disaster planner and recover expert on her book When the Dust Settles, the Welsh word hiraeth for aching loss and a friend's correct snack ratio for the bunker
Daniel Howell
The YouTube comedian on his mental health book, overwatering a bonsai to death and Mr Blobby
Joanna Lumley
The actress on a Malayan childhood, Genghis Khan beating Trump and the books she wants in her coffin
Sally Phillips
The Smack the Pony comedian on Veep, faith, disability advocacy and the son who's changed how she sees what matters
Robert Peston
The ITV political editor on his book Bust?, Trussonomics and the schools charity that's reached half a million children
Ed Balls
The former Shadow Chancellor on his book Appetite, the Granita dinner with no polenta, and a midlife crisis going really well
Chris van Tulleken
The infectious diseases doctor, author and science presenter on what's really in our food, the politics of poverty, and his "anti-telepathic" twin
Michael Holding
The West Indies fast bowler on Why We Kneel, race in cricket and his over against Boycott
Lord David Owen
The former Foreign Secretary and co-founder of the SDP on two centuries of British-Russian relations, Brexit and being Steel's pocket puppet
Mike Figgis
The composer and Leaving Las Vegas director on Timecode written as a string quartet, refusing the Hollywood club and missing his friend Julian Sands
Dan Snow
The historian on the eighteenth century, a picnic with Hilary Mantel, and covering Britain in windmills
Katy Brand
The comedian on Leo Grande, Dirty Dancing as her Mastermind subject and the pilgrimage that made her an atheist
Jeremy Paxman
The Newsnight inquisitor on lying bastards, the Enigma machine he was sent and his dog Derek
Tom Curry
The youngest England forward capped in 100 years, on meditation, mullets and Maro Itoje's scrambled eggs
Craig Brown
The Private Eye satirist on Haywire, Liz Truss as comedy gold and going blackberrying with John Stonehouse
CULTURE
FEATURES
Acts of sedition
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
CULTURE
“All I had ever wanted to do was write a novel. When I held the first copy, aged 42, I cried”
Emma Flint
Novelist Sarah Hall on her Goldsmiths Prize-shortlisted Helm, why it took over twenty years to write a biography of Britain's only named wind, climate collapse, "radical optimism," and the power of imaginative storytelling to transform how we think about environmental crisis
The Whiting Award and Balcones Fiction Prize-winner discusses her novel The End of Drum-Time, the Lutheran church she left at 21 and growing up with seven siblings and thirteen aunts and uncles
Channel 4’s first female news anchor discusses trailblazing women, internet trolls, sexual assault and her book The Ladder
FEATURES
Gothic delights
Exploring the history of a genre that first bewitched Elizabeth as a teenage Joy Division fan
POETRY
Book Reviews
LIFE
LIFE
LETTERS FROM ELSEWHERE
LETTERS FROM ELSEWHERE
MIND OVER MATTER
Neurological-based
advice
FROM DR ASH RANPURA
MIND OVER MATTER
Neurological-based
advice
FROM DR ASH RANPURA