The restoration of the coffeehouse
How a centuries-old institution can save today’s faltering social media culture.
BySociety
The year woke broke: a brief history of a contested word
From Suella Braverman to Elon Musk, war has been declared on liberalism. How did one word come to mean so…
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It’s time to accept it: there’s no easy, painless way to break up with a friend
Sometimes the only thing that is right for us will be wrong for someone we care about, and there’s nothing…
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Why has it taken me so long to form friendships with other women of colour?
There can be more openness between us now. Growing up, we were trying to feign whiteness and scared of being…
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London isn’t unfriendly – it’s one of the most welcoming places in the world
Just don’t try to make friends by harassing strangers on the Tube.
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Defensiveness doesn’t suit Nepo Babies
Nepotism is often forgiven when people admit their privilege.
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Instead of insulating from winter, I have decided to expose myself to it
Forcing myself outside, and into a new mindset, has altered my way of encountering the world.
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In defence of “vibes”
Is the term helpful for a sentimentally stunted age?
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Britain must finally shed its illusions of greatness
As our public services edge closer to collapse, we need the humility to acknowledge that the country has lost its…
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How to get on with your political opponents
Ultimately, what matters is not whether someone is principled, but whether they have been promoting genuinely good things.
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My life flashed before me. Hang on: where were the good bits?
That first evening in hospital was difficult – more difficult than I knew at the time. I was weak as…
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Am I unwoke for not wanting an open relationship?
Non-monogamy is presented by millennials as the progressive ideal. Funny it’s so often on men’s terms.
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Will there be a great CD revival?
Forty years after their launch, compact discs remain cheaper and more sonically reliable than vinyl.
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Cool Britannia, once the envy of the world, is no more
It’s too expensive, nothing works and Brits don’t like foreigners anymore.
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The quiet revolution in black British identity
Black Britishness used to mean people from Caribbean backgrounds – but now it is more varied than ever.
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From the NS archive: Bricks and mortality
20 May 1933: An experiment in Stockton-on-Tees shows the effect of hygienic housing and proper nutrition on a population’s health.
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What our homes reveal about ourselves
Living Rooms explores what domestic spaces say about class and belonging, from chintz to cleanfluencers.
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Ofgem’s “regulatory failures” cost billpayers £2.7bn
The energy watchdog was “too slow” to prevent supplier bankruptcies, MPs said.
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Elon Musk’s useful philosopher
Silicon Valley billionaires have taken up the ideas of William MacAskill, the leading voice of longtermism. But they will not…
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Prices are rising – and so is insurance fraud
A trend that began at the beginning of the pandemic has accelerated as the cost-of-living rises.
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