Culture
The Divine Comedy at 30
The Divine Comedy will be playing a concert at the Barbican on 14 October to celebrate Neil Hannon
Year’s mind: James Small and the 1995 Rugby World Cup
ASH Smyth reflects on South Africa’s historic 1995 Rugby World Cup win
Play for Today celebrates its 50th birthday
Play for Today was a milestone in the history of TV drama
Plagiarism in comedy – homage or theft?
How a hugely popular American satirical show ripped off an online British comedian
No Time for Cinema to Die
What does the postponement of the new James Bond film mean for the future of cinema?
Streaming Daniel Kitson
The Interminable Suicide of Gregory Church explores the possibility of human connection
No prefix required: how gay writers came of age
Douglas Murray refuses to mourn the death of the gay novel — a genre that was once ghettoised has joined the mainstream
Why Sherlock Holmes remains the greatest detective
There is no need to make Sherlock Holmes more likeable, part of his brilliance is in his ambiguity
Shakespearean lore and order
A new anthology displays Shakespeare’s engagement with the sonnet form across his career, but at a high cost
When you pile tragedy too high, you sell it too cheap
Among the Trees, Hayward Gallery (until 31 October)
An unconvincing case against the UNRWA
It should take more evidence to strip the Palestinians of essential support
Canals go national
Canals gave Britain a single national economy, one that connected resources, factories, population centres and ports
Dumb, glum and zero-sum
British thinking has to value supply more than distribution
Staying in place
How history and heritage enrich our surroundings
Old Ireland stirs
The defeat handed to Dublin’s progressive establishment was a reminder of an older Ireland
In praise of the viola
Cantabile: Anthems for viola (Delphian)
The meaning of Navalny’s death
This tragic event illustrates the cruelty and fragility of the Kremlin
Cognition porn and discursive dehumanisation
Cultural and political discourse can follow the reductive yet seductive logic of pornography
The light and the insubstantial
Poulenc and others: Chamber music (Calliope/DG)
Winning the argument, losing the country
Winning debates is all well and good, but it does not represent political progress
Were lockdowns ethical?
Questionable benefits were emphasised above obvious and dramatic harms
