The dunce of Westminster
Once tipped for the highest office, Gavin Williamson is floundering as Education Secretary – and young people are paying…
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Europe’s tragedy
On the steppe
Torn between China and Russia, and haunted by the ghosts of its communist past, Kazakhstan has taken an authoritarian…
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Europe isn’t working
The EU’s multiple failures are due to a deeper malaise: its formidable immunity to the smallest amount of democracy.
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How we misunderstand depression
Psychological condition or biological disease? Three new books examine the causes and cures of an endemic mental health problem.…
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How Robert Maxwell bullied his way into the establishment
A new biography ventures inside the monstrous ego of the robber baron of Fleet Street.
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NS Recommends: New books from Juliet Nicolson, Shalom Auslander, Simon Kuper and Caleb Azumah Nelson
Frostquake by Nicolson, Mother for Dinner by Auslander, The Happy Traitor by Kuper and Open Water by Azumah Nelson.
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Populism in the pandemic age
Will the Covid-19 crisis fuel populism, or extinguish it?
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The NS Poem: Lone tree
A new poem by Kathleen Jamie.
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The witty landscapes of Dosso Dossi
For the Italian painter, the countryside was a realm of diversion and delight.
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Why Two Lovers is more than just another entry in Joaquin Phoenix’s “isolated eccentric” canon
It’s a tragedy that, at the time of its release, the film – quiet and old-fashioned in its ambitions…
By
The Royal Swedish Opera’s La Passion de Simone: a philosopher’s life
Kaija Saariaho’s opera, which premiered in 2006 in a staging by Peter Sellars, is now available to stream in…
By
Interior Design Masters is a bizarre world of wainscoting and “softscaping”
Even Alan Carr’s pleasing sarcasm can’t save it.
By
Who Cares: BBC Radio Four’s moving verbatim drama about young carers
This is at times a hard listen, but it also has a breezy directness, and a striking lack of…
By
School closures further isolate a lonely generation – and the effect on children could be disastrous
Promised online resources to “boost mental health support” are no substitute for what schools offer children: friends, exercise, purpose and…
By
A consensus is forming among the commentariat that Keir Starmer is not up to the job. Does it matter?
Allies of the Labour leader argue that he has waged an effective campaign to persuade key voters – but MPs are jittery.
By
Why do we struggle to admit we’re sad?
We can’t change how the pandemic makes us feel – but we can be honest with ourselves about those…
By
After 26 years editing the Daily Mail, Paul Dacre will be bored to tears by Ofcom red tape
If he does go to Ofcom, Dacre will have far less sway over the news agenda of the BBC…
By
Alexander McCall Smith’s Diary: Boris Johnson’s Scotland visit, and the problem with cats
I don't know if the Prime Minister has read the 14th-century Declaration of Arbroath recently. If so, he may feel daunted…
By
Why pro-Europeans should be incensed about the EU’s vaccines debacle
We should not be reluctant to criticise the EU. Calling out the failures of the project is the best way…
By
One of the most affecting sights in the natural world is watching birds of prey hunt
Each species has its own style; some rise high in the air and hover, scanning the ground for tell-tale signs…
By
I’m not much of a peeping Tom when my fixation is a bearded sexagenarian doing a jigsaw
In normal circumstances I would have never taken up my binoculars to peer at my neighbour, but, quite frankly, I…
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Locked down in London, I long for a Spanish bar, a Tuscan vineyard – or even a French supermarket
The last time I left the UK was for ten dusty days in Morocco in 2019; had I known what was to come,…
By
How, after Frank Lampard’s sacking, English managers can get back to the top of the Premiership
Top players don't often make top managers, so Ingerlanders shouldn't look to Wayne Rooney and Steven Gerrard next.
By
This England: Stranger than fiction
This column – which, though named after a line in Shakespeare’s Richard II, refers to the whole of Britain…
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Subscriber of the week: Gerry Farrell
Email emily.bootle@newstatesman.co.uk if you would like to be the New Statesman's Subscriber of the Week.
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Bez Q&A: “I’m a bit of a wacky type“
The Happy Mondays percussionist discusses competing in Mastermind, Rembrandt and the chronic underfunding of the NHS.
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Commons Confidential: Blue Wail Conservatives
Your weekly dose of gossip from around Westminster.
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“We are close to becoming robots”: Anne Helen Petersen on millennial burnout
The American writer and journalist on why a whole generation is doomed to exhaustion.
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First thoughts: The GameStop frenzy, Kate Bingham’s nous, and why the PM needs an atlas
Financial markets aren't democratic, and the GameStop affair cannot be seen as another example of “the excluded” destabilising the metropolitan…
By
How Mary-Kay Wilmers transformed the London Review of Books
The celebrated LRB editor, who has stepped down after nearly 30 years in the role, became a quiet salonnière for a fading…
By
Why does Big Tech want us to feel nostalgic?
Old memories construct our sense of self. But what if the way we remember them is being manipulated?
By
Letter of the week: What Mark Fisher knew
A selection of the best letters received from our readers this week. Email letters@newstatesman.co.uk to have your thoughts voiced…
By
Leader: The Covid-19 crisis and the virtues of an active state
The vaccine roll-out is a model of the public-private innovation that governments can nurture.
By How Mary-Kay Wilmers transformed the London Review of Books
The celebrated LRB editor, who has stepped down after nearly 30 years in the role, became a quiet salonnière for a fading…
By First thoughts: The GameStop frenzy, Kate Bingham’s nous, and why the PM needs an atlas
Financial markets aren't democratic, and the GameStop affair cannot be seen as another example of “the excluded” destabilising the metropolitan…
By The NS Poem: Lone tree
A new poem by Kathleen Jamie.
By “We are close to becoming robots”: Anne Helen Petersen on millennial burnout
The American writer and journalist on why a whole generation is doomed to exhaustion.
By Commons Confidential: Blue Wail Conservatives
Your weekly dose of gossip from around Westminster.
By Populism in the pandemic age
Will the Covid-19 crisis fuel populism, or extinguish it?
By NS Recommends: New books from Juliet Nicolson, Shalom Auslander, Simon Kuper and Caleb Azumah Nelson
Frostquake by Nicolson, Mother for Dinner by Auslander, The Happy Traitor by Kuper and Open Water by Azumah Nelson.
By Why do we struggle to admit we’re sad?
We can’t change how the pandemic makes us feel – but we can be honest with ourselves about those…
By School closures further isolate a lonely generation – and the effect on children could be disastrous
Promised online resources to “boost mental health support” are no substitute for what schools offer children: friends, exercise, purpose and…
By The Royal Swedish Opera’s La Passion de Simone: a philosopher’s life
Kaija Saariaho’s opera, which premiered in 2006 in a staging by Peter Sellars, is now available to stream in…
By After 26 years editing the Daily Mail, Paul Dacre will be bored to tears by Ofcom red tape
If he does go to Ofcom, Dacre will have far less sway over the news agenda of the BBC…
By Alexander McCall Smith’s Diary: Boris Johnson’s Scotland visit, and the problem with cats
I don't know if the Prime Minister has read the 14th-century Declaration of Arbroath recently. If so, he may feel daunted…
By Why Two Lovers is more than just another entry in Joaquin Phoenix’s “isolated eccentric” canon
It’s a tragedy that, at the time of its release, the film – quiet and old-fashioned in its ambitions…
By Interior Design Masters is a bizarre world of wainscoting and “softscaping”
Even Alan Carr’s pleasing sarcasm can’t save it.
By Why pro-Europeans should be incensed about the EU’s vaccines debacle
We should not be reluctant to criticise the EU. Calling out the failures of the project is the best way…
By Who Cares: BBC Radio Four’s moving verbatim drama about young carers
This is at times a hard listen, but it also has a breezy directness, and a striking lack of…
By One of the most affecting sights in the natural world is watching birds of prey hunt
Each species has its own style; some rise high in the air and hover, scanning the ground for tell-tale signs…
By A consensus is forming among the commentariat that Keir Starmer is not up to the job. Does it matter?
Allies of the Labour leader argue that he has waged an effective campaign to persuade key voters – but MPs are jittery.
By Letter of the week: What Mark Fisher knew
A selection of the best letters received from our readers this week. Email letters@newstatesman.co.uk to have your thoughts voiced…
By I’m not much of a peeping Tom when my fixation is a bearded sexagenarian doing a jigsaw
In normal circumstances I would have never taken up my binoculars to peer at my neighbour, but, quite frankly, I…
By Locked down in London, I long for a Spanish bar, a Tuscan vineyard – or even a French supermarket
The last time I left the UK was for ten dusty days in Morocco in 2019; had I known what was to come,…
By How, after Frank Lampard’s sacking, English managers can get back to the top of the Premiership
Top players don't often make top managers, so Ingerlanders shouldn't look to Wayne Rooney and Steven Gerrard next.
By This England: Stranger than fiction
This column – which, though named after a line in Shakespeare’s Richard II, refers to the whole of Britain…
By Subscriber of the week: Gerry Farrell
Email emily.bootle@newstatesman.co.uk if you would like to be the New Statesman's Subscriber of the Week.
By Bez Q&A: “I’m a bit of a wacky type“
The Happy Mondays percussionist discusses competing in Mastermind, Rembrandt and the chronic underfunding of the NHS.
By Leader: The Covid-19 crisis and the virtues of an active state
The vaccine roll-out is a model of the public-private innovation that governments can nurture.
By Why does Big Tech want us to feel nostalgic?
Old memories construct our sense of self. But what if the way we remember them is being manipulated?
By