The right says empathy is suicidal – but Andy Burnham thinks it might save us
The prime minister’s emotional conference speech laid down a challenge to populists who say compassion makes us weak
The Magazine
Why is Farage so keen to protect Russia’s right to lie and cheat?
Reform’s leader is protesting too much as he wails about free speech in the face of Putin’s disinformation
Worried about the AI apocalypse? You’re already living in it
The instant gratification supplied by AI assistants masks their greatest danger – their use is plunging us into an abyss of isolation, digital sedation and perpetual cognitive infancy
The New World at 500: Independence isn’t our marketing slogan. It’s our business model
Founder Matt Kelly on how a small, pop-up newspaper grew into something worth celebrating
Memo to Burnham: this is how you beat the populists
Carney, Mamdani and Ossoff are all showing you can take on the raging right and win. But there’s one crucial lesson from them that Andy Burnham must learn
The terrifying evolution of fascism
It’s different to last time. But just because it doesn’t look the same, doesn’t mean it’s any less fanatical, or sinister
The problem with Tom Cruise’s push for an Oscar
In Digger, the Hollywood hero is taking on his toughest stunt yet: trying to disappear
Writers
Alastair Campbell
Why is Farage so keen to protect Russia’s right to lie and cheat?
Marie Le Conte
I was born in France, I love France – but now it horrifies me
Matthew d’Ancona
Worried about the AI apocalypse? You’re already living in it
Patience Wheatcroft
The UK government has got a serious problem with its numbers
Tanit Koch
In Germany, the extremists of left and right are soaring as the centre folds
Paul Mason
Is the future communist?
Latest
Can UKIP even afford the Holborn and St Pancras deposit?
Trump officially renames AI ‘super intelligence’… because it ‘sounds much better’
Even rotter Ratcliffe wants to distance himself from Reform
The right says empathy is suicidal – but Andy Burnham thinks it might save us
Bev Turner’s back as GB News reports yet more losses
The Tories, Reform and the right wing media get into a lather over Labradors
Podcasts
Touching Grass
Fairford falsehoods and KFC cannibalism claims
The Two Matts
The Two Matts Q&A: Ketamine epidemic and trouble in Narnia
The Two Matts
A lot of Andy Burnham and a bit of Hitler
Touching Grass
The great iced coffee row, and is internet hustle culture getting out of hand?
The Two Matts
The Two Matts Q&A: What is it crypto billionaires love so much about Nigel Farage?
The Two Matts
Is AI really coming to eat us all… and how do we stop it?
Arts & Culture
The problem with Tom Cruise’s push for an Oscar
In Digger, the Hollywood hero is taking on his toughest stunt yet: trying to disappear
How Salman Rushdie rose again
The secret life of Renoir’s party paintings
The women who helped bring down Diddy
What Danny Boyle gets badly wrong about The Sun
Audio
Fairford falsehoods and KFC cannibalism claims
This week James Ball takes us through the online right’s reaction to the Fairford 5 and its descent into madness, and Lucy Reade unpacks how a KFC advert has prompted accusations of cannibalism
The Two Matts Q&A: Ketamine epidemic and trouble in Narnia
The Matts answer listeners’ questions in their regular Sunday morning edition, including: How does Andy Burnham take Britain into the EU?
A lot of Andy Burnham and a bit of Hitler
The Matts discuss Andy Burnham’s speech to the United Nations
Touching Grass
The great iced coffee row, and is internet hustle culture getting out of hand?
This week Lucy Reade unpacks the latest Gen Z discourse: is it unprofessional to drink iced coffee in a job interview? And James Ball asks whether internet hustle culture is getting out of hand…
The Two Matts Q&A: What is it crypto billionaires love so much about Nigel Farage?
The Matts answer listener questions, including: Why do crypto billionaires fall over themselves to give Nigel Farage money?
Is AI really coming to eat us all… and how do we stop it?
The Matts open with a heartfelt tribute to the late, great Bonnie Greer, who died this week. In the first half they discuss the extraordinary pace of developments and concern around AI
Aella, and why BookTok has changed how people read
This week James Ball inflicts upon us a strange cocktail of Aella, AI doomerism and Harry Potter fanfiction. Meanwhile, Lucy Reade discusses why BookTok has changed how people read and… also gets on to the topic of Harry Potter fanfiction
Most popular
Sorry Nigel, but the polls show you’ve had it
“We will hope again”: Andy Burnham’s full speech to the 2026 Labour Party Conference
Why is Farage so keen to protect Russia’s right to lie and cheat?
Vigour, passion, purpose: Why Andy Burnham’s bold speech will be talked about for many years to come
Worried about the AI apocalypse? You’re already living in it
I was at Eton with Charles Spencer – this is how it explains his battle with the royals
American Hagwon, the epic novel that explores the heavy cost of raising winners
The decline of the Daily Mail
Memo to Burnham: this is how you beat the populists
Emily Maitlis’s diary: Trump doesn’t fear the AI apocalypse – but he’s terrified about the midterms
Puzzles
Sudoku Hard
Sudoku Medium
Sudoku Easy
Number Fit
Jigsaw
Cryptic Crossword
Crossword
Codeword
Politics
We waited 500 editions for this speech
Churchill, the Beatles, St George: All the English heroes who aren’t actually English
The UK government has got a serious problem with its numbers
You might not have noticed, but the US midterms have come to Britain
The problem is they just don’t care about us any more
The New World at 500: Independence isn’t our marketing slogan. It’s our business model
Immanuel Kant versus the far right activists
The terrifying evolution of fascism
Brexit
The problem is they just don’t care about us any more
But when you come to Brussels, you realise how far down the list of priorities we have not fallen
The New World at 500: Independence isn’t our marketing slogan. It’s our business model
Founder Matt Kelly on how a small, pop-up newspaper grew into something worth celebrating
Blair gives Burnham some European pre-conference counsel
The former prime minister has popped up to urge Labour to restart negotiations on Britain joining the EU within a decade
Canada is now closer to Europe than Britain
Mark Carney, the Canadian PM, was governor of the Bank of England during Brexit. He knows how to deal with Europe – and it shows
Should Britain take a (maple) leaf from Canada’s book on EU?
The country led by Mark Carney has been offered “associated EU membership”. Might it be a model for the UK?
John Healey, the growth-seeking chancellor who won’t mention Europe
The chancellor wants to see the economy grow. Yet his set piece speech this week failed to mention the EU once
Ukraine
Why is Farage so keen to protect Russia’s right to lie and cheat?
Reform’s leader is protesting too much as he wails about free speech in the face of Putin’s disinformation
The chilling banality of Putin’s kingdom of fear
Åsne Seierstad’s extraordinary Never Say War exposes the violence and indifference at the heart of Russia
Russian voters are tired of Putin – and he is running out of options
There’s no way for citizens to discuss the thing that’s ruining their lives – the war. At Russia’s parliamentary elections, there’s no way to vote against it either
Putin’s greatest enemy? It’s laughter
As the bombs fall, Oleksiy Kustovsky is turning the dictator into an object of ridicule
Books are the key to understanding the world. That’s why Putin wants to burn them
Putin wants an all-out attack on Ukraine’s culture – and on the things that make life bearable in horrific times
The queer Ukrainians voguing while Putin bombs them
In the face of war and discrimination, the country’s ballroom scene refuses to surrender its joy
The big picture
Putin’s greatest enemy? It’s laughter
As the bombs fall, Oleksiy Kustovsky is turning the dictator into an object of ridicule
The eternal life of Ian Curtis and Joy Division
How one photographer helped create the image of the band that we still believe
Great Lives
The lesson that Jamal Khashoggi left behind
Bessie Smith: the woman who faced down the Ku Klux Klan
Hiroshi Yamauchi, the unlikely genius behind Nintendo
Noor Inayat Khan, the pacifist turned wartime secret agent
The kiss that turned Michael K Williams into Omar
BKS Iyengar, the ferocious gentleman of yoga
Trump officially renames AI ‘super intelligence’… because it ‘sounds much better’
Even rotter Ratcliffe wants to distance himself from Reform
