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You are what you ate as a child – in my case, 1950s boarding-school fare
There's only one way to explain my lifelong devotion to pea soup. At my birthday dinner in a glitzy restaurant, my family take their time over a menu of sophisticated stuff such as pollock with...
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Last of the stiff upper lips: how the Somme contributed to modern psychiatry
Taylor Downing's new Breakdown: the Crisis of Shell Shock on the Somme, 1916 reveals a turning point for mental health. Few units in the British army can have fared worse on 1 July 1916 than the...
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The government is struggling, but Nuneaton has not warmed to Jeremy Corbyn's...
Focus groups with former Labour voters in the key marginal revealed no progress on the problems that stopped people voting Labour back in 2015. When former Labour voters liken a Labour leader to...
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How should you vote in the EU referendum? A guide for the undecided
The more you look into it, the more unappealing both sides seem. The argument over Britain leaving the EU is one in which I am genuinely torn. All I know for sure is that I should vote. Everybody...
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Once again, my summer elbows have taken me by surprise
The small, red marks come from sitting at pub tables outside – and they herald the start of a joyous season. My summer elbows always take me by surprise. They appear first as painful red patches...
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Sadiq Khan should use the mayoralty to make more Londoners citizens
Fostering cohesion and making immigration work will be a key part of the new mayor's job. As Sadiq Khan steps through the doors of his new City Hall office the post-mortem has already begun about the...
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Exoplanets – the “other Earths” that could bear life in the universe
The recent discovery of Earth-like planets close to home is reshaping our understanding of the worlds beyond the solar system. Throughout history, civilisations have bridged the gap between...
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How valid is the claim that the EU has delivered peace in Europe?
For many arguing that the UK should remain in the EU, the first and foremost claim is that it is a force for peace. A few years ago, the EU was awarded the 2012 Nobel Peace Prize. The Scottish Herald...
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Brexit has its roots in the British Empire - so how do we explain it to the...
The EU referendum is the last throes of Empire working its way out of our systems. Is Brexit a marvellous opportunity to renew our imperial contacts? On the one hand we have UKIP, who tell us that...
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“Alderley: For Alan Garner”: a new poem by Rowan Williams
“Edges: where owls and snow drift / down, spill quietly and stifle” Edges: where we stop, guessing the drop, the angle and the impact; where a blade has driven down with God knows what weight of anger,...
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History of violence
By conjuring mythic landscapes, the novelist and children’s fantasy writer Alan Garner unleashed his fury at the injustices of postwar Britain. I will have been seven, eight at the most. I was looking...
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Paul Mason on Sykes-Picot: how an arbitrary set of borders created the modern...
100 years ago today, Britain and France carved up Syria, Iraq and Israel. Their imperial mindset still scars the region. One hundred years ago today, Britain and France drew a line through the Middle...
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The spirit of Ukraine's Euromaidan Revolution has been betrayed
Instead of able, technocratic leaders with strong ties to the West, we see a less reformist, less competent cabinet. After more than two months of political horse trading, the Ukrainian parliament...
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Boris Johnson wants to be a people’s politician, but his elitism will always...
References to classical battles and the “liberal cosmopolitan European enlightenment” will do the Vote Leave campaign more harm than good. There's a quote popular on the internet, possibly first...
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The revenge revival: how public displays of vengeance became an industry
Paying for payback time. What, apart from eye-popping wealth, do Beyoncé and Donald Trump have in common? Not a whole lot, really. If you’re after a dose of weak iconoclasm, maybe stick to reading...
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The EU, not Nato, has brought peace to our continent
A military alliance cannot be regarded as an instrument of peace. Of all the richly diverse towns and cities of the South West of England, each with its unique history and culture, Plymouth is the...
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The NS podcast #147: Election results special
The New Statesman podcast. Helen Lewis and Stephen Bush are joined by our acting Staggers editor, Henry Zeffman, to digest last Thursday’s elections. What do the results mean for Labour? How might...
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Thursday's elections show Labour is on the right trajectory
We are no longer in the era of two-party politics. We've got to get used to it. Last week’s elections were good for Labour with a strong showing across England and Wales. Despite the terrible results...
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The Dolittle delusion: what motivates human beings to live like animals?
Wearing a custom-built goat exoskeleton, sucking down worms like a badger – two new books describe extreme adventures in becoming beasts. The English-speaking world has long had a love affair with...
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Mercury in transit: everything you need to know about this rare celestial event
The journey of the planet across the face of the sun marks its first appearance in almost a decade. At this very moment, a rare celestial event is in motion. The innermost planet of our solar system,...
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