MAGA’s coming purge
MAGA wants all-out war on the left after the shooting of the right wing commentator, Charlie Kirk. Will Trump oblige?
The Magazine
It’s time for Starmer to confront Elon Musk’s extremism
Tesla’s owner wants a “fight back” to create regime change in the UK. The government must stop indulging him and using his platform
Where Starmer went wrong with the Mandelson debacle
Politics is as much about relationships and an understanding of human nature as it is about policy and legislation. The PM must learn this before it’s too late
How to deal with Tommy Robinson’s far right mob
The extremist march was infested with vile racism and incoherent ideas. That is their weakness. It must be exploited
Why retirement isn’t working
Raising the state pension age assumes people can walk into new jobs in their sixties. It’s not as easy as that
When clever politicians turn stupid
Mandelson and Rayner seemed to be in total command, right up until the moment when it was revealed they’d done something unbelievably misguided
The Gazan child who spoke to the world
The Voice of Hind Rajab, about the last hours of a five-year-old, is breaking audiences and winning awards
Arts & Culture
The Gazan child who spoke to the world
The Voice of Hind Rajab, about the last hours of a five-year-old, is breaking audiences and winning awards
Sweet soulless music: the rise of AI pop
David Bowie, the Great Curator
Nothing could prepare you for this blockbuster exhibition
The blandness of algorithmic TV
Audio
The Traitor’s Circle: the price of standing up against evil
The Matts are joined by author and journalist Jonathan Freedland to discuss his remarkable new book, The Traitor’s Circle. It’s a forensically-researched historical story of resistance against the Nazis from inside Germany. Written in the style of a classic whodunnit, Freedland has created a thriller that not only sheds new light on the actions of […]
The killing of Charlie Kirk and the fall of Peter Mandelson
Two inevitable topics dominate the Matts discussion today – first up, the murder of US conservative commentator Charlie Kirk. It’s a simply atrocious event but the reaction from many has been shameful. The Matts explain why Kirk was unusual in the MAGA organisation … and why his assassination matters so much. In the second half, […]
If Labour don’t rescind Palestine Action ban, here’s their nightmare scenario
The Matts get to grips with the turmoil of the last few days and use their meticulous political calculus to work out whether Keir Starmer is weaker or stronger than he was a week ago. Spoiler alert: they haven’t got a clue. But they certainly enjoy themselves finding that out. One thing they know – […]
Do cannibals go to heaven?
Philosophers have long debated the concept of immortality but now Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping are concerned too
When I unpacked the Putin papers
Today, the west sees Putin as a bloodthirsty dictator hellbent on destroying peace democracy in Europe. 25 years ago, the picture was very different
Angela Rayner, Take 2. She should go.
On Tuesday the Matts were staunch in their defence of Angela Rayner. Then she came out and admitted she had paid too little tax on her new flat. The Matts work through the various scenarios available to her and conclude she should resign – but not for the obvious reason. Also – Nigel Farage was […]
How Trump lost the moral high ground to China
Right now, Xi Jinping is letting Trump do all the soft power heavy lifting for him
Why Authoritarians can’t silence journalists
In today’s world, media doesn’t need AI – it needs real journalists
How much does the Daily Mail hate Angela Rayner?
Labour’s Deputy PM Angela Rayner has been the brunt of a propaganda campaign waged relentlessly by the Daily Mail and Daily Telegraph. What is it about her authentic working class credentials that these two newspapers find so threatening? The Matts have some thoughts. But first, will Keir Starmer’s government reshuffle change the trajectory his premiership […]
Did Artificial Intelligence kill Adam Raine?
The Matts are shaken by the story of a 16-year-old who took his own life after pouring his heart out to ChatGPT which, his parents claim, encouraged him to act. It’s a desperate case and raises profound questions about the technology and how it will change society. The conversation focuses on the need for governments […]
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Politics
How you can beat populism
Exclusive: Royal Society to debate throwing out Elon Musk
Robert Redford, not always the president’s man
Letter of the week: Have we reached America’s Reichstag moment?
Where Starmer went wrong with the Mandelson debacle
Living among the tigers
Ed Davey: decency versus division
Inside Trump’s gulag
Writers
Alastair Campbell
Where Starmer went wrong with the Mandelson debacle
Marie Le Conte
The blandness of algorithmic TV
Matthew d’Ancona
Ian McEwan’s sinking feeling
Patience Wheatcroft
When clever politicians turn stupid
Tanit Koch
AfD are ringing alarm bells – again
Paul Mason
How to deal with Tommy Robinson’s far right mob
Latest
Trump’s latest free speech triumph – the suspension of Jimmy Kimmel
Giles Coren finds out that Times readers are terrible
Exclusive: Royal Society to debate throwing out Elon Musk
Robert Redford, last of the golden gods
Robert Redford, not always the president’s man
Welsh council didn’t mark Charlie Kirk’s death, fumes Reform
Podcasts
The Two Matts
The Traitor’s Circle: the price of standing up against evil
The Two Matts
This week’s Two Matts Q&A: Do we support Palestine Action?
The Two Matts
The killing of Charlie Kirk and the fall of Peter Mandelson
The Two Matts
If Labour don’t rescind Palestine Action ban, here’s their nightmare scenario
The Two Matts
Q&A: Why didn’t Nigel Farage go back to school with the rest of class?
The Two Matts
Angela Rayner, Take 2. She should go.
Brexit
Brexit is silencing British musicians
The bureaucratic demands put on artists touring the continent are so great that many acts are simply giving up. And the government is doing nothing about it
Sarah Vine’s Windsor knot
The Daily Mail commentator thinks bringing the late Queen into politics is distasteful. It’s hard to imagine a more hypocritical view
No, the Queen didn’t back Brexit
The Sun claimed the late Queen backed leaving the EU. Now, nine years later, its then editor has been forced to change his tune
The Reform voters who think Brexit has failed
Labour have failed to connect Farage with economic disaster in the minds of ordinary people. That must change
Nigel Farage, the man who broke Britain
The man who would be PM has already spent a decade getting much of what he wanted – and none of it has worked
This is the moment Britain went wrong (and it’s not Brexit)
The financial crisis left Britain weaker, poorer and more vulnerable to liars – and we’ve never recovered
Ukraine
The Ukrainians reclaiming Odesa’s history
Vladimir Putin claimed the city was Russian in 2023, but staking the claim doesn’t make it so
Why Trump can’t end the Ukraine war
Donald Trump says his interventions have brought Ukraine and Russia close to peace. So why does it feel further away than last week?
The warm embrace that could freeze Europe
Donald Trump has favoured Ukraine over Russia in recent weeks. But when he meets Putin in Alaska, all that could change
War in the quiet hours
Russia has intensified its aerial assault on Kyiv. One night may pass in relative calm, giving a fragile sense of normality. The next, destruction starts again
The drone and the death of compromise
The first unmanned flying weapon was launched over a century ago – the full implications of that flight are only now being understood
How to beat Putin
Europe could save Ukraine and defeat a dictator by shutting down Russia’s shadow fleet and scaling up its own defence production. But will wary voters accept rising tension as the price of peace?
The big picture
Inside Trump’s gulag
El Salvador has become an absolutist police state. Part prison camp, part Bitcoin Beach, it’s the perfect place for Trump to send all the people he doesn’t want in America
Joe Caroff’s instant creativity
A giant of 20th-century design had fallen into obscurity – but then it turned out he was still alive
Great Lives
Jimi Hendrix, the guitarist who kissed the sky
Salvador Allende, the Chilean too much for the Nixon White House
Sérgio Mendes, the man who drove the new Brazilian sound to worldwide acclaim
Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry and the studio that changed music for ever
Aretha Franklin, the Lady of Mysterious Sorrows
