Arts Council England (ACE) is an organisation that cares — and you can tell what it cares about by searching through the hundreds of documents on its website. Diversity, racism and inclusion; class and disability; the environment and the climate …
The Bank of England gambled with your money — and lost
As the UK limps into another recession, and with inflation set to rise again today, it’s hard not to conclude that Britain’s economic cognoscenti really don’t know what they’re doing. For years, we’ve been lavished with promises of growth, investment …
When Gaza came to Rochdale
“From the river to the sea,” the familiar-hatted figure roars. “Palestine will be free,” his supporters chant in unison. George Galloway is conducting his followers like a religious cleric. “In our thousands, in our millions,” the high-priest cries. “We are …
The peasants won’t go quietly
Farmers hurl eggs at the European Parliament. They dump manure wherever they go. In Spain, they burn tyres. In Occitania, office buildings. Their tractors have cursed the capital of Germany with terrible traffic. As in the Holy Roman Empire circa …
John Podesta: the Democrat dictator of reason
After John Kerry stepped down from his role as Biden’s climate envoy, another Democratic stalwart was bound to take his place. Enter John Podesta, a consummate Washington insider and veteran of the last three Democratic presidencies. Already an overseer of …
Why I imagined my husband’s death
In my new novel, A Book of Days, a husband is dying slowly. While I was writing it, my own husband died suddenly, with no warning. He died in his sleep, I was told. His children and I hope that …
The betrayal behind America’s border battle
The Rio Grande is shallow, but wields a powerful current where it slices sharply between the small windy Texan city of Eagle Pass on its northern bank and the larger Mexican city of Piedras Negras — Black Stones, after its …
The amateur sleuths taking on the CCP
“Stop touching her! Don’t touch her!” The screams rang out across the concourse of London’s St Pancras station. “Please. Do not touch her! Please. You are not the same age. Please do not touch her. Don’t touch her. Please don’t …
Why did three journals reject my puberty-blocker study?
What happens during puberty? And what happens if we try to stop it? It’s one of the most fraught questions of our time. Given its significance and the vulnerability of the people it involves, you might be surprised to learn …
How Polish farmers ignited a European revolution
Donald Tusk probably thought the worst was behind him. Just last month, Polish truckers suspended the months-long blockade of the Polish-Ukrainian border they had staged with the help of Polish farmers since November. The chaos, it seemed, was over — …
Taylor Swift, America’s national hero
A record number of Americans are likely to watch this Sunday’s Super Bowl, probably only half of whom will be following the actual game. The other half will be scanning the luxury boxes for tantalising glimpses of Taylor Swift, the …
How Biden can still beat Trump
After Donald Trump’s succession of early primary victories, and Nikki Haley’s stinging loss in Nevada on Tuesday, a Biden-Trump rematch seems all but inevitable come November. The outcome of that contest, however, is far from certain.
According to most accounts, …
Biohack feminism won’t save women
A well-worn and tear-soaked origin story, vaguely reminiscent of biblical incarnation, tends to accompany press reporting on new fertility ventures. Once upon a time there was an ordinary Californian woman with great LinkedIn connections who was trying for some particular …
The delusions of the climate power bloc
We live in an age of climate doomerism, and culture has responded in kind. One of its best avatars is Bong Joon-ho’s 2013 film Snowpiercer, set on a Snowball Earth created when scientists released aerosols into the sky in a …
The delusions of the climate power bloc
We live in an age of climate doomerism, and culture has responded in kind. One of its best avatars is Bong Joon-ho’s 2013 film Snowpiercer, set on a Snowball Earth created when scientists released aerosols into the sky in a …