‘There are badlands of the Earth, but also badlands of memory – whited-out areas that the mind fills in as best it can.’ By Thomas Meaney
‘Brody was rich in fresh flowers and fresh grief.’ By William T. Vollmann
Do the Democrats really want reform? by Andrew Cockburn
The puzzle of AI facial recognition by Michael W. Clune
Has the Treasury market started to crack? by Mary Childs
How accountable are US intelligence agencies to the president and Congress? By Richard Norton-Taylor
Henry James’s return to the United States By Alicia Rix
New light on ‘Captain’ Warner’s weapon of mass destruction By Trevor Pateman
A poet for yesterday and today By Emma Greensmith
Give us, this day, our sustainable daily bread
From eating better-quality meat to buying seasonal and local produce, Jane Wheatley suggests how we can shop smart to aid the environment
Solar, so good
Banks of solar panels covering farmland have sparked much opposition, but, with local input, could they be a force for good, wonders William Kendall
No job too big
Kate Green trumpets the native breeds best suited to grazing Britain’s green and pleasant land, as our farmers walk a fine line balancing food production and biodiversity recovery
‘It’s terrifying, but also an absolute dream’
Henrietta Bredin talks to Errollyn Wallen, Master of the King’s Music, about composing in a lighthouse and going on stage
Liz Fenwick’s favourite painting
The novelist picks a trailblazing nude by the first female RA
A passion for plasterwork
John Goodall discovers a neo-Classical delight when he takes a peek behind the unassuming frontage of a Swansea terrace
The legacy
Kate Green admires Rachel Carson’s seminal Silent Spring
A wing and a prayer
Hannah Bourne-Taylor extols the importance of feeding over the ‘hungry gap’ to help our beleaguered farmland birds
Country Life’s Little Green Book
We all want to shop well, but how to decipher the marketing? Madeleine Silver picks a handful of brands that do what they say
The good stuff
Let those bangles jangle, urges Hetty Lintell, with her bracelet pick
Interiors
Arabella Youens admires the rich refurbishment of a Scottish fishing lodge and laments the scarcity of trusty English oak
True grit
Gravel gardens are becoming ever more popular, but what are the secrets to making them a success, wonders Non Morris
Winging it
The ‘flying barn door’ that is the magnificent white-tailed eagle is returning to our shores. Mark Cocker, for one, is very glad
Arts & antiques
A lost technique is being revived by a Swiss sculptor, as pioneer-ing women of science are celebrated, reveals Carla Passino
War and peace
Tom Young’s intricate, powerful paintings capture the beauty and the heartbreak of Lebanon. Octavia Pollock meets him
All the world on one stage
Michael Billington finds Ralph Fiennes at his brooding best as Sir David Hare’s engrossing new play premieres in Bath
As the death toll climbs in Texas, the Trump Administration is actively undermining the nation’s ability to predict—and to deal with—climate-related disasters. By Elizabeth Kolbert
With global conflicts increasingly shaped by drones and A.I., the American military risks losing its dominance. By Dexter Filkins
The discomfort of loneliness shapes us in ways we don’t recognize—and we may not like what we become without it. By Paul Bloom
THE NEW YORK TIMES MAGAZINE: The 7.13.25 Issue features Emily Bazelon and Mattathias Schwartz on Amir Ali’s first months as a federal judge under the Trump administration; Ted Conover on the truth of the gang problem in Aurora, Colorado; M.H. Miller on 20 years of “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia”; Lulu Garcia-Navarro interviews Mark Rutte, the secretary general of NATO; and more.
Secret meetings, altered records, ignored intelligence: the inside story of the prime minister’s political calculations since Oct. 7.
How the new health secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., is dismantling the agency. By Jeneen Interlandi
The regulatory agency confronts a future determined by a health secretary hostile to its mission. By Jeneen Interlandi
The challenges of the first half aren’t over, our 11 panelists say. Where they see opportunities for the second half of the year.
Congress ended up raising the retirement age and payroll taxes to make the program solvent.
U.S. VC firms have invested $2 billion in gambling businesses since 2018. At least six of the firms are simultaneously betting on problem gambling treatments.
Eating habits can provide subtle clues to how consumers are feeling about the economy and their own financial health.
THE ECONOMIST MAGAZINE: The latest issue features ‘Scrap the asylum system‘ – And build something better…
Rich countries need to separate asylum from labour migration
Their economic impact has been delayed but not averted
The kingdom is stagnating while its elites squabble
If they can be liberated from ignorance and hucksterism
TIMES LITERARY SUPPLEMENT: The latest issue features ‘American Dreamer’ – On the enduring greatness of Gatsby; Tear down the museums?; Big tech is watching you; A new Locke manuscript; The ultimate declutter and An epic bromance for our times…
What makes a novel of ideas? By Benjamin Markovits
The centre left has joined the populist right in despairing of good government By Sam Freedman
COUNTRY LIFE MAGAZINE: The latest issue features ‘The Expert’s Experts’…
Meet the coastal superheroes
John Lewis-Stempel celebrates the depth and breadth of sea-birds spotted over British waters, from the dive-bombing gannet to the pick-pocket herring gull
Heavy petal
Catriona Gray meets artist Rachel Dein, whose botanical bas-reliefs really stand out from the crowd
I’ve got chills, they’re multiplying
Tom Parker Bowles savours the ultimate thirst quencher — a fruity and refreshing sorbet
Arts & antiques
Kenilworth Castle is reliving its central role in the 19-day wooing of Elizabeth I exactly 450 years on, as Carla Passino discovers
Back to Brideshead
Britain’s historic country houses are the much-loved stars of a host of films and television dramas, often leaving big-name actors in the shade, finds Ben Lerwill
The Experts’ Experts
Designers and architects from Country Life’s Top 100 throw open their contacts books to reveal the specialists they turn to when seeking inspiration for a country-house project
Peter Jones’s favourite painting
The chair of the British-Italian Society chooses a compelling and mysterious portrait of Christ
SAVE at 50
Founding trustee Simon Jenkins reflects on 50 years of SAVE Britain’s Heritage and the charity’s battles to safeguard a string of historic buildings
The legacy
Dedication’s what you need and Ross and Norris McWhirter, the twins behind the Guinness World Records, had it in abundance, as Amie Elizabeth White learns
Suits you!
When did the sodden knitwear cossie give way to the glamorous bikini? Deborah Nicholls-Lee dives into the history of swimwear
The good stuff
Hetty Lintell is beach ready with a collection of coastal favourites
Sheer bliss
Caroline Donald hails the blend of love and laissez-faire that has created a spectacular garden on an escarpment overlooking the sea at Ash Park in Devon
A smell by any other name
Ian Morton profiles the flora and fauna causing a stink in the natural world, some to attract a meal or mate, others to repel a predator
Tyger, tyger burning bright
Tipu Sultan threw a spanner in the works of Britain’s Imperial ambition, but the Tiger of Mysore was an inspiration to Blake and Keats, reveals Lucien de Guise
Winging it
Mark Cocker pays tribute to the beauty, elegance and laser-like predatory precision of the kestrel
Boomers Daily 