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Paul Thomas Anderson pays tribute to late assistant director with Bafta win

The British filmmaker Adam Somner was diagnosed with cancer just weeks into production. One Battle After Another filmmaker Paul Thomas Anderson paid tribute to his late British assistant director as…

King and Queen offer ‘heartfelt congratulations’ to Winter Olympics medallists

Ancient brass instrument used to interpret the heavens turns 1,000 years old

William says he needs to be in ‘calm state’ for Hamnet: ‘I’m not at the moment’

Wunmi Mosaku wins Bafta for Sinners role

Hollywood stars including Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Hudson arrive at Baftas

Foo Fighters fans rush to buy tickets for surprise Dublin gig

Bafta chairwoman: It’s been a really good year for watching films

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Sonia Sodha

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…

Simon Heffer

An age without rival

It wasn’t long before Hallowe’en that I noted many of the significant women in my life – including my wife and the editrix of this august publication – were devoting…

Michael Janofsky

America’s third man

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

Kate Devlin

You’re on camera

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

Khaled Bazzi

Where hope takes root

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

Peter Phelps

Time for a class act

January is San Francisco’s coldest and wettest month, and generally its quietest. That wasn’t the…

Rowan Pelling

Letter from the editor

It often feels there are only three topics worth discussing: sex, death and freedom. And…

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

COMMENT

Sonia Sodha

The pitfalls of assisted dying

One of the first concepts new students of philosophy are…

Simon Heffer

An age without rival

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

Peter Lawlor

History’s false promises

In 2015, when interviewing Jonathan Sumption, Matt Stadlen asked a deceptively simple question: “Why does…

Nathaniel Tapley

Passing as upper class

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

Peter Phelps

Beware Project Fear

A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, the googly-eyed sage Yoda lectured…

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Perspectives

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The end of days

Boris Starling

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

Cough cough

Jennifer Traig

Spun sugar

Kate Devlin

Childhood books feed us Christmas dreams by the spoonful

AI: A wake-up call

Khaled Bazzi

Perspectives

All that jazz

Lucy Moore

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

Les Temps Modernes

Antony Beevor

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

All my friends are having Botox now

Róisín Lanigan

The many and the few

Amir Amirani

Reflecting on the twentieth anniversary of the Iraq War

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PEOPLE

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The Interview The Interview - Front Page

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Lipika Pelham

Zahra Joya

Airlifted to London after the Taliban invasion in 2021, journalist Zahra Joya runs a platform for silenced Afghan women

In Conversation In Conversation - Front Page

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Rowan Pelling

Lysette Anthony

The actress speaks about the repercussions of outing Harvey Weinstein for repeatedly assaulting her as a young woman

Reputations Reputations - Front Page

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Mic Wright

Caroline Calloway

The headline-hitting American social climber who found fame via a “faked” Cambridge application

FROM MY PERSPECTIVE - Q&As

Lynn Barber

author and journalist

Jeremy Bowen

International Editor of BBC News

John Lloyd

Producer of Blackadder and Spitting Image

Ronni Ancona

Comedian, actress and filmmaker

Rosie Boycott

The first woman to edit a UK broadsheet newspaper

Wasfi Kani, CBE

Founder of Pimlico Opera and Grange Park Opera

Chris Smith

Master of Pembroke College, Cambridge, and former Culture Secretary

Robert Peston

ITV News political editor and presenter of Peston

Phil Hammond

Doctor, comedian, journalist

Bobby Seagull

Maths teacher, author and TV broadcaster

Vince Cable

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

Daniel Howell

Author, entertainer and comedian

Dan Snow

Historian and TV presenter

Wynne Evans

Opera singer and radio presenter

Zandra Rhodes

Fashion designer

Michael Holding

Former West Indies Test cricketer and Sky Sports commentator

Lord David Owen

Former foreign secretary and co-founder of the SDP

Kate Mosse

Author and founder of the Women’s Prize

Rosie Holt

Comedian and actress

DBC Pierre

Booker Prize-winning author

FROM MY PERSPECTIVE – Q&As

DBC Pierre

Booker Prize-winning author

Vince Cable

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

Kate Mosse

Author and founder of the Women’s Prize

Andrew Roberts

Historian and journalist

Phil Hammond

Doctor, comedian, journalist

Sally Phillips

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

Lynn Barber

author and journalist

Doon Mackichan

actress, comedian, author

Rosie Holt

Comedian and actress

Dan Snow

Historian and TV presenter

Chris Smith

Master of Pembroke College, Cambridge, and former Culture Secretary

Mike Figgis

Film director, composer, musician

Craig Brown

Author and satirist

Zandra Rhodes

Fashion designer

Bobby Seagull

Maths teacher, author and TV broadcaster

Robert Peston

ITV News political editor and presenter of Peston

Chris van Tulleken

Doctor, author and science presenter

Lord David Owen

Former foreign secretary and co-founder of the SDP

Ed Vaizey

Member of the House of Lords

Jeremy Paxman

Journalist, broadcaster and quizmaster

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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

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

Naomi Alderman

The novelist, gamer and Bailey Women’s Prize winner discusses tech billionaires, apocalypse bunkers, her fans Obama and Gates, and her new book The Future

Francesca Beauman

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

FEATURES

The politics of colour

Tina Gharavi

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

Gothic delights

Elizabeth Sharkey

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

FILM

Primetime Potus

Anne Billson

STYLE

Dressing for utopia

Christobel Kent

POETRY

I Am Waiting For You by Risalet Merdan

There's a Walrus on My Windscreen by Ian Humphreys

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

Tight Little Island by Rishi Dastidar

Blood Moon by Gillian Clarke

ART

New images, new perceptions

Max Lunn

MUSIC

Prisoner with a key

Laura Barton

CULTURE

Author Interview - Front Page The author Interview

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Helen Brown

“The current generation don’t seem to be using their power for much more than shooting penis-shaped rockets into outer space”

Naomi Alderman

The novelist, gamer and Bailey Women’s Prize winner discusses tech billionaires, apocalypse bunkers, her fans Obama and Gates, and her new book The Future

Tessa Hadley

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

Hanna Pylväinen

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

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

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