The New Statesman guide to the best political fiction: part three
Naomi Alderman, Rachel Reeves, Stuart Maconie and Rowan Williams share their picks.
By
Summer double issue
The New Statesman guide to the best political fiction: part two
Contributions from Jess Phillips, Jason Cowley, Andrew Marr and Neel Mukherjee.
By
The New Statesman guide to the best political fiction: part one
Featuring favourites from Mary Beard, Tom Watson, George Osborne and Ali Smith.
By
David Sedaris Q&A: “Oh, the work I’d do if I weren’t so full of hate for Trump“
The writer and comedian talks House of Cards, abstract expressionism, and the cartoon character Jonny Quest.
By
The time I met hot Jesus at the Christian fundamentalist theme park
It has a famous collection of biblical manuscripts to rival Disney World’s animatronic presidents.
By
We need to start viewing type 2 diabetes as a lifestyle issue
Once patients are on the medical merry-go-round, there’s virtually no way off.
By
How maverick smelliers are reinventing the world of perfume
The sheets of an unmade bed are soaked in a familiar and mildly rebarbative scent.
By
The night a man sidled up to me in the dark and asked: “Do you want a pizza?”
If you do not hear from me again, it is because I have, after all, been poisoned.
By
The man fighting Donald Trump to preserve America’s national monuments
These treasured places include California’s Giant Sequoia woods, and the Upper Missouri Breaks.
By
Elusive sharks, magic carpets, and other summer radio highlights
American singer Beth Ditto on BBC 6 Music is hands down the guest presenter of the season.
By
Against the Law: Peter Wildeblood must be one of the bravest men who ever lived
BBC2's historical gay rights film evokes bewilderment, fear and agonising pain.
By
The Big Sick is well meaning, rather than groundbreaking
There’s a chemistry shortfall between the actors, and some limits to Kumail Nanjiani’s range.
By
Why you should watch BBC3’s This Country
The show is a masterclass in the idiosyncrasies triggered by rustic boredom.
By
Queen Anne shows how gender relations are really power relations
The RSC production leaves you wondering if you have ever seen the real monarch.
By
How grime music fell in love with Jeremy Corbyn
It was a pretty unpredictable union – so what was #grime4corbyn, and how did it happen?
By
The story of WWII is usually told by men – what about the women on the front line?
All three of these books raise questions about the still problematic idealisation of women in combat.
By
H(A)PPY: when a utopia is just a dystopia that’s kidding itself
Nicola Barker's novel creates a sort of wellness republic, like a year-round Burning Man.
By
A marriage of war and peace: the tumultuous world of Lev and Sonya Tolstoy
Andrew Donskov's Tolstoy and Tolstaya charts the couple's life in letters.
By
Is Hungary the EU’s first rogue state? Viktor Orban and the long march from freedom
As a student activist, Orban helped free Hungary from communism. As its prime minister, he practises “illiberal democracy” and praises…
By
Atmospheric carnage: why I love the thrill of summer storms
Their destructive power forces you to recall the vulnerabilities of your human frame.
By
Why it’s not too late for baby boomers to open up about their postwar memories
An examination of people’s “unspoken” emotions is missing from recent British history.
By
Why Ross Poldark is Blue Labour
Family and hard work are central to a story of pride and dignity once familiar to the Labour movement.
By
One night on the Costa del Sol: a true crime story of rape, murder and wrongful conviction
“All I could think of was: why? Why was I here? How had this happened to me, to an…
By
I’m a Marxist – we are misunderstood on both the left and right
In these days of identity politics, the ideology remains refreshingly bracing in its view of the world.
By
How the Oval regained its shape: the famous cricket ground hosts its 100th Test
The challenge for Surrey is to ensure that the new fans drawn to the stadium in recent years keep…
By
Commons Confidential: George Osborne puffs away
Your weekly dose of gossip from around Westminster.
By
The race to save Romania’s forests: how illegal loggers lay waste to the wilderness
“Even inside national parks, nothing is safe.”
By
Like Djokovic and Federer, the best players know the importance of freshness and rest
The most successful sports stars are seldom the ones who practise the most hours.
By
As Trump’s excesses mount, it’s time to reckon with the darker side of Obama’s legacy
The former president deported more than 2.5 million undocumented migrants from the US.
By
Is Germany a normal country? Its citizens are finding that a painful question
It needs to seek a balance: neither forgetting its past, nor succumbing to it.
By
The BBC pay gap storm shows money, not sex, is now our biggest source of scandal
Employers know what you are worth with far more accuracy than you do.
By
Tim Shipman’s Diary
The Sunday Times political editor on poker, pasta – and being called fat by Andrew Marr.
By
Swimming in Aleppo: why people still head to the pool in war zones
They cling to time in the water, if they can get it, as a last vestige of the lives…
By
Corbyn is personally fireproof, but his manifesto could be torched by the Brexit blaze
There is no evidence that EU migration has depressed wages – but most Labour MPs believe it has.
By
What the tragic case of Charlie Gard tells us about the modern world
People now believe medical science can perform miracles, and many search for them online.
By
Leader: Corbyn’s second act
Left-wing populism is not enough – Labour must provide a real alternative.
By
The East End from the inside
John Claridge’s intimate photographs from the 1960s capture a lost world of wonder and possibility.
By
Remembering the personal side of the Olympics, in the pool and out
There was a lot to be learned from Eric the Eel, kicking and flailing his way through the Sydney…
By
The Returning Officer: Enid Lapthorn
The 1929 Liberal candidate for Hitchen throws an "American shower party".
By
The best summer reading, as chosen, half cut, from my deckchair
I like my holidays chatty, boozy, and booky – the only problem is what to pack.
By
How Rome’s new mayor Virginia Raggi is leading a normality revolution
The first female Roman mayor has promised an end to posturing public figures.
By
Why a new Keith Richards documentary doesn’t give enough satisfaction
I wonder whether Julien Temple is stitching up Richards in his documentary The Origin of the Species.
By
The biggest divide in politics is not left against right, but liberals against authoritarians
My week, including a Lib Dem membership rise, The Avalanches, and why I'm putting pressure on Theresa May over child…
By
Commons confidential: Vive May’s revolution
It's a risky time to be an old Etonian in the Tory party. . .
By
Escape to victory: the refugees who will run at the Rio Olympics
Escaping South Sudan in 2005, Yiech and his family had to eat leaves to stave off hunger. Now, he's part of…
By
The lessons of Finding Dory are commendable, but why make a children’s film so complicated?
Pixar's latest animation, a sequel to Finding Nemo, gives forgetful fish Dory a lead. Plus: Jason Bourne.
By
Philip Lancaster’s War Passion draws on beautiful material – but lacks feeling
With a lot of commemorative art to compete with, the premiere of Lancaster's new piece could have used, well,…
By
Got to catch them all: why is Pokémon Go so popular?
For all its much-publicized perils, the game remains successful. The reason why is surprisingly simple.
By
The slacker’s sanctuary: in Berlin, without a job or a plan
A Brexit exile in Berlin tries to adjust to life, and heads to German lessons alongside Polish workers, fashionable Swedes and…
By
The great earth-mover: just how capable was Capability Brown?
It's time we re-examined the legacy of England's greatest gardener.
By
“Return of the Kogarah Kid”: a new poem by Clive James
“From here my ashes go back to the sea / And take my memories of every friend / And…
By
Erdogan’s purge was too big and too organised to be a mere reaction to the failed coup
There is a specific word for the melancholy of Istanbul. The city is suffering a mighty bout of something like hüzün at…
By
Memory flash: can you teach creative writing?
D B C Pierre ponders whether writing is a teachable subject in his new book, Release the Bats: Writing Your Way…
By
Let all the children boogie: how a new Bowie biography took me back to teenage subversion
Thank God Paul Morley’s The Age of Bowie doesn't try to be an objective, sensible biography.
By
Jeremy Corbyn and his opponents are now locked in a permanent struggle
Labour MPs will neither accept Corbyn’s leadership nor abandon the party if he wins again.
By
Excitement, hatred and belonging: why terrorists do it
A new book by Richard English suggests that killing can bring its own rewards.
By
The news this week: BHS, MI5 and BMWs
A Brexit boon for accountants, knights and peers in disgrace, and more woe at the Guardian.
By
Women drop out of sport early and rarely come back – and our society is much the worse for it
The image of sport is ready for a “pivot”, to borrow a phrase from Silicon Valley.
By
Leader: On capitalism and insecurity
The truth behind Philip Green's business practices is out, as Theresa May pledges to ensure the benefits of growth…
By
Why Philip Green’s fall should bring down the honours system – but won’t
Sir Shifty may fall in disgrace, but our ridiculous system will endure. No matter what's happening in the rest…
By