Consider the noble octopus
The Canary Islands will soon host the world’s first industrial octopus farm. But there is no humane way to slaughter…
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Why the government’s court action against striking nurses is an act of vindictive idiocy
Also this week: a guitar from Sting, and a literary reminder of why being 16 was never sweet.
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King Charles III’s secret kingdom
For decades, as he awaited his turn to ascend the British throne, Charles presided over another kingdom: rural Transylvania. What…
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The secret history of how we measure time
Did you know the 24-hour day is likely the result of humans counting with their fingerbones?
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This England: Block and awe
This column – which, though named after a line in Shakespeare’s “Richard II”, refers to the whole of Britain –…
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Why Britain needs to have an honest conversation about rising migration
Few things are more corrosive of public trust than pretending a problem isn’t there. Sooner or later the public notices.
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A generation locked out
Those who cannot afford to buy a property have been forced into the under-regulated private rental market.
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The invention of God
David Baddiel’s new book argues that a deity that saves us from death is confected from human desire.
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The politics of the new space race
Tim Marshall’s The Future of Geography shows how great powers – and Elon Musk – are looking to the stars…
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From Fernanda Melchor to Rafael Behr: new books reviewed in short
Also featuring My Father’s Brain by Sandeep Jauhar and The Seaside by Madeleine Bunting.
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The NS Poem: on the sheep track
A new poem by Lutz Seiler, translated by Stefan Tobler.
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Westminster is broken
Ian Dunt’s new book reveals Britain as a country of inept civil servants, deluded ministers, blinkered journalists and unscrutinised power.
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Daniel Avery’s Q&A: “I’m fascinated by the professional wrestling world”
The electronic music producer and DJ on faith, The Sopranos and culture war fanatics.
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The Windsors is the most painfully accurate depiction of the royals on TV
Forget The Crown – the uncanny veracity of this wild satire rings out like the dinner gong at Balmoral.
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A weekend with old friends turns into a catalogue of injuries – canine and human
The dog seemed distinctly unbothered to be padding around with a bit of her paw wobbling at a right angle;…
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A Thousand and One understands the effects of gentrification
In this sensitive debut about a mother who steals her son from care, AV Rockwell maps the contours of a…
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The brutality of ballet
Alice Robb’s Don’t Think Dear reveals how the elite world of dance exerts a terrible physical and mental toll.
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Jon Ronson’s The Debutante and the myth of the “lone wolf” terrorist
This Audible podcast series delves into the white-supremacist world of Timothy McVeigh and asks: could the Oklahoma City bombing have…
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Subscriber of the week: James Simister
Write to zuzanna.lachendro@newstatesman.co.uk if you would like to feature as subscriber of the week.
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Europe’s centrist parties let industry rot and society fragment. Now they’re being punished for it
In Italy, France, Germany and Britain, the flight of voters to the political extremes can be mapped on to neglected…
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