"Yuletide revels were designed to see you through the dark days — and how dark they seem today"

The ravenous longing for the infinite possibilities of “otherwhere”

‘For anyone who cares about peace within the British Isles and liberal democracy without, there are strong reasons to oppose Scottish independence. But how? In the 2014 referendum the case for the Union was made almost entirely in the unromantic terms of pounds and pence. It worked then, but it probably wouldn’t work now’

‘From roughly 2015 onwards, the Mumsnet feminist forum became a key platform for gender critical discussion—or, as one less sympathetic American magazine dubbed it, “the ground zero for British transphobia”’

Television in 2020 has been prescient, poignant and palliative

In an age of stark ideological cleavages, Muslims are living through a battle of ideas over the meaning of religion in the modern world

The life of Diego Maradona epitomised the working-class soul of Argentinian football and mirrored the country he loved

We have become reluctant to accept death as an integral part of life. Perhaps coronavirus will give us a more realistic attitude to mortality

The religion, education, culture and language of China’s ethnic minorities are being forcibly constrained and changed

Many countries want to imitate Australia’s success. But its values and governance are eccentric—and may not travel