Issue: May 2026
Day of judgement
The judges were determined to maintain the honour of France; it almost worked
Like a homecoming
A haunted house
Brave new world or fools’ paradise?
For Dubai’s quarter of a million British expats, the Iran war is a mere blip in a luxurious lifestyle
Angst, Nazis and forgotten treasure
Transcription / You Are the Führer’s Unrequited Love / For the Love of Willie
Drill, baby, drill
We need Cornish lithium and tin just as much as North Sea oil — whatever the nimbys say
Dining in a different world
Transported by a restored institution
Taking the Sheen off
Shiny old lies remain the very bedrock of our trade
Were we close to a revolution in 1926?
Nine Days in May / The Edge of Revolution
Better Slayyyter than never
Like the first Strokes album if Max Martin had produced it
Rich portrait of a master poet
Auden, Peter Ackroyd
Most Read
American strategy in Iran is wiser than it seems
President Trump’s intervention will leave the world safer than it was
Saint Nicola
Nicola Sturgeon wants sympathy for her husband’s crimes—but after years spent avoiding awkward questions, her latest reinvention may be the hardest sell yet.
The lonely death of Henry Nowak
We must draw lessons from a horrendous and disgraceful case
Rewatching the English
English identity has become too surreal and discomfiting to define
A failed war on fags
The black market has taken over the tobacco trade Down Under
The roots of hatred
Antisemitism, an ancient subject, has once again become a hot topic
New model Auntie
David Elstein spells out the big decisions that Matt Brittin, the BBC’s new director-general, needs to make very quickly in order to save the Corporation
We can restrict doctors’ strikes
Well-paid doctors should not be allowed to endanger patients uninhibited
The Middle Kingdom and the middle powers
China’s clash with Western power shattered its civilisational self-image. Europe is heading for a similar reckoning
Standing up for cultural freedom
We must follow the example of brave artists who oppose censorship
Who will pound longest?
America has military might — but does it have the appetite for war?
It is time for antidisestablishmentarianism
Church establishment is still worth fighting for
Dancing with death
The rush to judge Liam Scarlett was cruel and unjust
Europe’s French nuclear shield?
With the NATO alliance under threat, will
Europe really trust President Macron’s
offer of a pan-EU nuclear deterrent?
Soft-Play Britain
Britain’s governing class talks of growth and grandeur but focuses on planters and paint schemes
The meaning of Zack Polanski
The icon of geriatric millennials is one of life’s drifters