Olivier Messiaen
Olivier Messiaen: Quartet for the end of time (OUR)
Messiaen’s quartet, first performed in a freezing barracks in 1941, is a thing of great beauty
The paper tiger and the Russian bear
NATO’s naive and supine response will not drive Putin’s army from Ukraine and emboldens Moscow still further
The poverty of miners’ strike nostalgia
We should not romanticise a futile and sometimes thuggish struggle
Beethoven: Nine symphonies+ (Decca)
This Beethoven gift set is not for Christmas. It is for life
Ukraine’s cross-cultural contradictions
Has Ukraine overcome its legacy of historical antisemitism?
Vanishing act
Jeremy Hunt did not, in fact, pull a rabbit out of his hat
The revised Scottish Prison Service transgender prisoner policy is not fit for purpose
Any work for bringing it into force should be stopped
Michael Gove’s new definition of “extremism” is extremely silly
We cannot define such a vague term with such vague terms
Why should young people join the Army?
It should hardly be surprising that recruitment and retention are too low
How Britain fell in love with cars
From Wind in the Willows to Wodehouse, cars captured the imagination
Four women seers in a time of strife
Eilenberger’s design is to present philosophy outside the lecture theatre in its life-transforming power