Civilisation
Spoiled for choice
Joshua Harmon’s new play about the struggle to get into top American universities could not be more timely
Women storm the podium
In classical music nothing happens overnight, but the rise of female conductors marks a massive change
The lasting worth of ‘worthless’ books
Nothing written is utterly without value, as I proved to myself by reading two random works
Why being normal is the new normal
Self-help advice might seem painfully obvious, but those who struggle with “normality” need it
Last reel of a postwar idyll
John Fuller’s ninth novel is rich in comic phrase-making, with the kinetic subtlety of his finest poems
Laughter the best medicine
Since April 2018, Titania McGrath has been making people laugh, cringe, and go insane with her satirical tweets sending up social justice lunatics
Literary molehill
Marc Hamer, a retired mole-catcher and tweed-wearing existentialist, has led an unusual life and still isn’t quite sure who is he today
Sweet but weird
Cuteness has flooded our lives: from entertainment to advertising to the very way we communicate
Playing the numbers game
Mark Spiegelhalter’s book helps explain how implausible statistical nonsense arises in the first place
Bloody liberties
“Amazon’s puff for On Freedom says that Sunstein takes a “pathbreaking” approach to the subject. In fact, confounding ability with freedom is an old mistake”
