Percival Everett’s American absurd
The author behind American Fiction on rewriting Mark Twain, the evolution of racism, and his addiction to irony.
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Why we make art
In Amsterdam, in the Van Gogh museum gift shop, I wonder: is this what we call success?
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Why I was banned from Germany
In the name of protecting Israel’s security, the German government has sunk to farcical new authoritarian lows.
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Rage and conspiracy on Trump’s trail
At a rally in Schnecksville, Pennsylvania, a fervid former president kept his audience rapt. Suburbs like this will soon decide…
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The perils of polyamory
Molly Roden Winter’s riveting, explicit memoir More makes the case for open marriage as self-help – but her logic is…
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How America bought up Britain
From assets to businesses, the high street to the internet, US investors have a stranglehold on Britain’s economy.
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This England: May the farce be with you
This column – which, though named after a line in Shakespeare’s “Richard II”, refers to the whole of Britain –…
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Abortion rights will be worse under Trump
The former president created the chaos and cruelty of America’s reproductive restrictions. And they will only intensify in a second…
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Ukraine is Europe’s problem now
Germany expects a long war of attrition in Ukraine. That is a war Putin is likely to win.
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Plebgate’s Andrew Mitchell furnishes himself with a downmarket ministerial title
Your weekly dose of gossip from around Westminster.
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Letter of the week: Maternal responsibility
Write to letters@newstatesman.co.uk to have your thoughts voiced in the New Statesman magazine.
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The new age of global threats
For decades, the West enjoyed the fruits of the post-Cold War “peace dividend”. This era is now definitively over.
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The Angela Rayner tax row spells real danger for Labour
It may be Tory deflection, but the story’s chief target is Keir Starmer: can he be portrayed as weak and…
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Israel and Iran’s deadly game
They bet that direct attacks would not lead to a disastrous escalation. The Middle East is now on the brink.
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Why Iran’s attack on Israel failed
The drone and missile strike conveyed as much weakness as it did strength.
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Andrew O’Hagan’s maximum city
Caledonian Road is a brick of a novel lobbed at the towering glass houses of London.
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The continuous rain is driving me mad
The long wet spell seems to be straight out of a dystopian story – one that I wrote myself.
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The book that shaped my green politics
I hadn’t connected the women’s and environmental movements until I found Jonathan Porritt’s Seeing Green. A lightbulb moment followed.
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The warm winter’s underwhelming crop
The marvellous front gardens near Kew leave me in awe of those who managed to grow tulips this spring.
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The best of the academic presses for spring 2024
The New Statesman’s highlights, from AI to the American right and Greek drama to goth culture.
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