Category Archives: Culture

THE GUARDIAN WEEKLY – MAY 9, 2025 POLITICS PREVIEW

THE GUARDIAN WEEKLY (May 7, 2025): The latest issue features ‘Trump meets political gravity’…

The Weekly’s cover focuses on the US president, who has at last been feeling the pull of domestic political gravity. Trump’s chaotic first 100 days in office – marked last week – have featured a blitz of sweeping and vengeful changes to America that have been hard to fully compute. But as the US economy falters and his poll ratings sink, David Smith asks whether the seemingly unchallengeable president is showing some signs of vulnerability.


Five essential reads in this week’s edition

Spotlight | Russia’s new sabotage campaign in Europe
Moscow’s intelligence services have launched a new type of attack on the west, violent but piecemeal and hard to prove, writes Shaun Walker

Spotlight | Palestinians face difficult decisions over future in Gaza
As Israel’s aid blockade rumbles on and humanitarian zones disappear, fears of a ‘second Nakba’ are being realised. Bethan McKernan reports

Feature | How Ticketmaster ate the live music industry
From grassroots gigs to stadium shows, there’s no escaping the ticketing giant, making billions from increasing prices (and whacking on fees). Dorian Lynskey investigates who is really to blame for the great rock’n’roll rip-off

Opinion | We recall the joy of VE Day. My worry is what we forget
In 1945, Sheila Hancock’s street party tea was a muted celebration, full of uncertainty. Then, as now, we faced a long struggle towards a better world

Culture | Black Sabbath on reconciling for their final gig
Heavy metal’s godfathers are preparing a star-studded farewell – but will Ozzy Osbourne be well enough to perform? In their first interview for two decades, the original lineup talk to Alexis Petridis

COUNTRY LIFE MAGAZINE – MAY 7, 2025 PREVIEW

Country Life May 7 cover

COUNTRY LIFE MAGAZINE (May 7, 2025): The latest issue features ‘The Cotswolds Issue’…

An outpouring of joy

Jubilation and bittersweet tears greeted the end of hostilities in 1945, reports Octavia Pollock.

May 7 issue spreads
Mrs Olga Hopkins, Second World War veteran, takes centre stage on this week’s Frontispiece.

The carver, the baker and fancy shoemaker

Jane Wheatley meets some of the craftspeople enhancing the Cotswolds’ standing as a hive of creativity.

‘I am the Marquis of marmite’

Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen is applying his trademark swagger to a new passion for painting, reveals James Fisher.

Nothing lasts forever

Laura Parker reveals in those ‘blink and you’ll miss it’ moments that only Nature can provide.

May 7 issue spreads

The Cotswolds never disappoints (above)

Penny Churchill showcases glorious country houses for sale in two ‘golden triangles’.

All set for the Chelsea chop?

This it the time to prune our late-flowering herbaceous perennials — join John Hoyland in wielding the secateurs.

Martina Froth’s favourite painting

The Yale Centre for British Art Director chooses a work tinged with a melancholy sadness.

An estate made public

John Goodall investigates the gradual architectural revolution of Bowood in Wiltshire, a house that boasts a remarkable history.

The legacy

Kate Green pay tribute to Alan Turing, the code cracker who curtailed the Second World War.

May 7 issue spreads

The Badminton A-Z (above)

From amateur riders to Zaragoza, Kate Green guides you through the world-class eventing action.

New series: Winging it

The elegant hobby is capable of snatching swallows in flight — Mark Cocker is rapt by raptors.

The good stuff

Hetty Lintell is wowed by watches.

Interiors

Restful bedroom furniture and accessories, with Amelia Thorpe.

May 7 issue spreads

London Life

Rosie Paterson reveals how bees are creating a buzz in the capital, our writers have all your need to know this month and Selina Cadell shares her on-stage experiences of the Theatre Royal Drury Lane.

A soft touch

Tiffany Daneff marvels at the flower-filled paradise of Hampnett House in Gloucestershire.

Travel (above)

Emma Love has an eye for adventure, Mark Hedges goes wild on safari in Botswana, Rosie Paterson hits the walking trail in Sri Lanka and Pamela Goodman hail’s Giubbilei’s gardens.

Art and antiques

Simon Finch tells Carla Passino he will not part with his £1 note signed by a Great Train Robber.

One king to rule them all

Mary Miers explores the artistic and cultural legacy of James I.

The Spectator World Magazine – June 2025

THE SPECTATOR WORLD (May 6, 2025): The latest issue features ‘The Reviving of the American Mind’…

The reviving of the American mind

For too long, academia has stifled intellectual originality

Keep AI ghouls out of the classroom

What if your first encounter with Shakespeare or Herman Melville was with an AI avatar in history class?

The Palisades, reimagined

You can see how wrecked the place is, and how temporarily low the de jure population – but the clean-up and rebuilding are well under way

The Trump administration is giving us excellence, not equity

We may not be in a golden age, but we can see one on the horizon

Wokeism is stifling thought in America’s universities

What if your first encounter with Shakespeare or Herman Melville was with an AI avatar in history class?

The New York Times Magazine – May 4, 2025

Current cover

THE NEW YORK TIMES MAGAZINE (May 2, 2025): The 5.4.25 Issue features ‘The Happiness Issue’…Susan Dominus on what we’ve learned from nearly a century of research into happiness; Molly Young’s depressing week in “the happiest country on Earth”; Kwame Anthony Appiah on how the idea of happiness got small; Jance Dunn on tips from experts on finding bliss; and more.

My Miserable Week in the ‘Happiest Country on Earth’

For eight years running, Finland has topped the World Happiness Report — but what exactly does it measure?

How Nearly a Century of Happiness Research Led to One Big Finding

Decades of wellness studies have identified a formula for happiness, but you won’t figure it out alone. By Susan Dominus

The Best Advice I’ve Ever Heard for How to Be Happy

Tips from experts, astronauts and Cher on finding bliss. By Jancee Dunn

Country Life Magazine – April 30, 2025 Preview

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COUNTRY LIFE MAGAZINE (April 29, 2025): The latest issue features ‘The renaissance of the country house’ (1975-2025)…

A vibrant era for our country houses

The seeds of a renaissance for the British country house were sown in the mid 20th century, argues John Martin Robinson

Spread from Country Life 30 April 2025

Bringing ‘beauty’ back

Lord Deben assesses his 1997 ‘Gummer’s Law’, conceived to aid the creation of new houses

Radbourne Hall

John Goodall hails the revival of the 1740s Derbyshire house

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A question of technique

Mary Miers meets the experts keeping country houses and their collections in working order

Spread from Country Life 30 April 2025

Chillingham Castle

The Northumberland landmark lives on, discovers John Goodall

1975 and now

What a difference 50 years make

Asleep no more

Tiffany Daneff celebrates the designers bringing our leading country gardens back to life

Knowsley Hall

John Goodall finds the Lancashire home restored to its former glory

And now for something different

Diversification has revived the fortunes of many an estate in the past 50 years, reveals Kate Green

Spread from Country Life 30 April 2025

What’s on at the big house

This year’s country-house events

Stowe

John Goodall charts the survival of this Buckinghamshire gem

Ready for anything

Arabella Youens examines how owners are equipping their houses to thrive for the next 100 years

Wimborne St Giles

John Goodall lauds this award-winning restoration in Dorset

You saw it here first

It’s not all about the gardens — John Hoyland profiles some of the plants that made their name at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show

Spread from Country Life 30 April 2025

In cloud cuckoo land

The evocative, echoing cuckoo’s call reverberating across the meadows heralds the arrival of spring for John Lewis-Stempel

Today’s pollen account

Hayfever sufferers may not agree, but Ian Morton argues that pollen’s contribution to life on earth is not to be sneezed at

A rainbow of ribbons

The maypole has been the source of merriment and mayhem for centuries, as Deborah Nicholls-Lee reveals

Stuart Procter’s favourite painting

The Beaumont Mayfair hotel CEO chooses an intriguing work with an air of mystery

The legacy

Amie Elizabeth White reveals how Constance Spry revolutionised flower-arranging a century ago

Interiors

Digital printing and panoramic wallpapers offer endless possibilities, learns Arabella Youens

Foraging

Poetry inspires John Wright, as he seeks out the saccharine, aniseed smack of sweet cicely

Arts & antiques

Carla Passino is captivated by the calming 19th-century landscapes of Utagawa Hiroshige, an artist who continues to inspire today

The New Yorker Magazine – May 5, 2025 Preview

The Statue of Liberty sitting in a prison cell with a hundred tallies behind her to count the days.

THE NEW YORKER MAGAZINE (April 28, 2025): The latest issue features Barry Blitt’s “The First Hundred Days” – A beacon extinguished.

A Hundred Days of Ineptitude

Now we know that Donald Trump’s first term, his initial attempt at authoritarian primacy, was amateur hour, a fitful rehearsal. By David Remnick

A Hundred Classics to Get Me Through a Hundred Days of Trump

Each morning, before the day’s decree, I turned to a slim book, hoping for sense, or solace. By Jill Lepore

Is the U.S. Becoming an Autocracy?

Other countries have watched their democracies slip away gradually, without tanks in the streets. That may be where we’re headed—or where we already are. By Andrew Marantz

The New York Times Magazine – April 28, 2025

Current cover

THE NEW YORK TIMES MAGAZINE: The 4.27.25 Issue features Jason Zengerle on a college volleyball player catapulted to the heart of the debate over trans athletes in women’s sports; Amanda Hess on how the internet comforted and tormented her after her son was diagnosed with a rare illness; and Mitch Moxley on a particularly strange quarter-of-a-billion dollar crypto heist; and more.

They Stole a Quarter-Billion in Crypto and Got Caught Within a Month

How luxury cars, $500,000 bar tabs and a mysterious kidnapping attempt helped investigators unravel the heist of a lifetime.

What the Pope Told Me About Politics

My brief tour with Pope Francis, the diplomat of our times. By John Jeremiah Sullivan

How the War Over Trans Athletes Tore a Volleyball Team Apart

Blaire Fleming was a little-known college player. Then she suddenly became a symbol of injustice — to both sides of the controversy. By Jason Zengerle

The New Republic ———- May 2025 Preview

THE NEW REPUBLIC MAGAZINE (April 23, 2025): The latest issue features ‘How the Radical Right Captured The Culture’…

Who Were Those Gullible People Who Believed Donald Trump’s Bullsh*t?

His campaign promises, from peace in Ukraine to “beautiful” tariffs, were truly unbelievable. And yet, somehow, many people believed him.

Will Trump Finally Kill the Bretton Woods System?

For better and often for worse, the U.S.-led IMF and World Bank have dominated the post–World War II international economy. Project 2025 and the Trump administration could change that.

The New York Times Magazine – April 20, 2025

Current cover

THE NEW YORK TIMES MAGAZINE (April 18, 2025): The 4.20.25 Issue features Paul Tough on rethinking A.D.H.D.; Rowan Moore Gerety on going to civil court without a lawyer; Jonathan Mahler on the G.O.P.’s recent affinity for Russia; Mark Yarm on the techno-utopians colonizing the sea; and more.


Have We Been Thinking About A.D.H.D. All Wrong?

With diagnoses at a record high, some experts have begun to question our assumptions about the condition — and how to treat it.

Lawyer Up? Increasingly, Americans Won’t, or Can’t.

It’s dangerous to go to court without legal representation — but more Americans are going it alone.

The Techno-Utopians Who Want to Colonize the Sea

Libertarians have long looked at ocean living as the next frontier. Some wealthy men are testing the waters. By Mark Yarm

Read this issue

The New Criterion ——– May 2025 Preview

About | The New Criterion

THE NEW CRITERION (April 16, 2025): The latest issue features…

The crime of noticing

On the writings of Renaud Camus. by Douglas Murray

There at “The New Yorker”

On A Century of Fiction in “The New Yorker”: 1925–2025, edited by Deborah Treisman. by Bruce Bawer

By measure he lived

On the great English architect Sir Edwin Lutyens. by Harry Adams

The whispers of Joseph Joubert

On Paul Auster’s translation of the French aphorist. by Mark LaFlaur