The Critics
Paper trail
Thrillers from Finland to Afghanistan
Spotlight on the Black Country
BBC on the Black Country and on the passing of Michael Parkinson
High-octane despair
Das Rheingold, Royal Opera House
Bad-boy opera
Tosca, Grand Opera House, Belfast
From slobs to royalty
How the Royle Family mirrored working class life
Sound of a free press?
How did a film wishing to highlight the sexual exploitation of children become a culture war?
Growth, grift and speculation
What can art tell us about economics?
Not having a gay old time
On BBC radio’s preoccupation with Americans and identity politics.
Polish lessons for Ukrainian reconstruction
What can the Ukrainians learn from post-war Warsaw?
Aryan idol
On the surprising legacy of an iconic eleventh century sculpture.
“Bold vision”
An action or choice can perfectly well be bold without being good
Humble pie?
Ric Holden is painfully aware that he is only just Holden on to his seat
Why does the establishment want to harm farms?
The Government expects farmers to act as environmental agents of the state
Death by a thousand cuts
The near-invisibility of the Proms on BBC TV is a symptom of the collapse of public service broadcasting in Britain
Is Cheltenham beyond parody?
A books bash these days has to offer Geri and Geoff Hurst and that bloke out of Radiohead
Twilight of the hacks
“A Very Royal Scandal” and the emptiness of modern journalism
The British state is failing to protect women
Misogyny, rape and sectarian violence go increasingly unchallenged in the UK
The downfall of the podcast-industrial complex
How did some of our finest podcasters get the election so wrong?
Tom Stoppard’s Hampstead drama
Best not try to memorise this deceptive Connect Four of relationships — just get into the flow
What do Labour think a conversion therapy is?
There has to be a middle ground between complete denial and complete affirmation
When the farmers took on Starmer
It was an inspiring day in London as farmers resisted Labour’s class warfare
