Perspective Media | Read the world differently

LATEST HEADLINES

Tony Blair pays tribute after death of election agent John Burton

Sir Tony Blair said John Burton ‘had an extraordinary talent for politics’. Sir Tony Blair has paid tribute to his constituency election agent John Burton, who has died aged 85,…

Army officer killed in training sought to serve ‘common good’, funeral told

Schoolboy, 15, in court accused of attempted murder of teacher in classroom.

Teenager appears in court charged with murder of Leicester student

Gorton and Denton by-election is choice between hope and hate, Greens say

Green leader Polanski calls for Starmer to quit over Mandelson scandal

Tributes paid after death of former SNP health secretary Jeane Freeman

Lib Dems suspend Lord Rennard and launch new sexual harassment investigation

MORE NEWS

COMMENT

VIEW ALL

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…

Peter Phelps

Hopeful histories

“No news is good news”, the saying goes, but the reverse is also true. Good…

Khaled Bazzi

Where hope takes root

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

Michael Janofsky

Roar deal

A century ago, America was ablaze in progressive change: Jazz. Flappers. Shorter skirts. Speakeasies. The…

Sam Fowles

Might is not right

The date of 26 January 2024 may become a watershed moment in the history of…

GET THE PERSPECTIVE NEWSLETTER

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 Lawlor

Question time

A little while ago, I was invited to a small private dinner at a well-known…

Wade Graham

The rewilding Republican

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

Christopher Hart

Hedge fund

According to the great Dr Oliver Rackham, hedges may be the oldest manmade structures on…

VIEW ALL

Perspectives

VIEW ALL

All that jazz

Lucy Moore

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

#MeToo returns

Charlotte Proudman

New high-profile cases expose deep-rooted misogyny

Guns and poses

Michael Burleigh

The Ukraine invasion is changing the future of warfare

Free as a bird

Keggie Carew

A meditation on our complex relationship with wildness

The risk factor

Robert Jackman

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

La La land

Joan Harrison

The road to Hollywood is paved with anti-ageing procedures

VIEW ALL

PEOPLE

VIEW ALL

TCE The Interview The Interview - Front Page

BY

Gavin Esler

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

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 TCE

BY

Ben Wilson

Pasquale Paoli

The Corsican guerilla commander who inspired the modern quest for charismatic political leaders

FROM MY PERSPECTIVE - Q&As

Bobby Seagull

Maths teacher, author and TV broadcaster

Rosie Boycott

The first woman to edit a UK broadsheet newspaper

Sally Phillips

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

Michael Holding

Former West Indies Test cricketer and Sky Sports commentator

Chris Smith

Master of Pembroke College, Cambridge, and former Culture Secretary

Robert Peston

ITV News political editor and presenter of Peston

Tom Curry

England Rugby International and Sale Sharks Flanker

Lucy Easthope

Disaster planner and recovery expert

FROM MY PERSPECTIVE – Q&As

Rosie Boycott

The first woman to edit a UK broadsheet newspaper

Sally Phillips

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

Lord David Owen

Former foreign secretary and co-founder of the SDP

Wasfi Kani, CBE

Founder of Pimlico Opera and Grange Park Opera

Vince Cable

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

Chris Smith

Master of Pembroke College, Cambridge, and former Culture Secretary

Bobby Seagull

Maths teacher, author and TV broadcaster

Phil Hammond

Doctor, comedian, journalist

VIEW ALL

CULTURE

MORE AUTHOR INTERVIEWS

Author Interview - Front Page The author Interview

by

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

Hanna Pylväinen

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

Tessa Hadley

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

FEATURES

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

Anything goes

Christobel Kent

POETRY

Hermeneutics by Rebecca Hurst

Blood Moon by Gillian Clarke

Tight Little Island by Rishi Dastidar

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

There's a Walrus on My Windscreen by Ian Humphreys

ART

Man-made girl bands

Lily Webb

CULTURE

The author Interview

by

Helen Brown

“People ask, is it prose or poetry? Put it on whichever shelf you want, I don’t fucking care!”

Max Porter

Award-winning British novelist, author of Grief is the Thing with Feathers discusses his new book Shy

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

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