What’s the point of political art?
Art that shocks, offends, and amuses has a purpose beyond aesthetic: its existence is a testament to freedom of expression
The dissident rebels of the art world
We must resist cancel culture and defend freedom of artistic expression
The greatest cancellation
Warriors against cancel culture have been loudest in calling for a republic
We all broke lockdown, and we should have broken it more
Time to admit it: the rules were always silly, and often cruel
Remotely wishing you a Merry Christmas
Woefully out of touch and with falling congregations, the Church of England faces a crisis of leadership and theology
Back from the dead
The UK has a rich comics tradition often obscured by the cultural dominance of Marvel and DC
The Ensueing
Sue Gray’s report certainly can’t make anything worse
Dante, 700 years on
We, too, are exiled from Florence
Murders for late November
From Shakespeare to Agatha Christie, crime novels invoke the genre’s heritage, sometimes ably and sometimes not
December/January: Letters to the Editor
There needs to be a more balanced assessment of the Israel-Palestine conflict
Brahms 4th symphony, MacMillan Larghetto for orchestra
The Larghetto’s organic optimism transcends present woes and looks to bright eternity
The emperors’ new clothes
Beard emerges with a portrait of the emperors’ afterlives as vivid as the busts themselves
Double trouble in chaotic Comedy
Great times to be had in Canterbury despite occasionally clunky comedy and some scandalously overpriced wine