On the social internet, our fascination with analyzing the hidden messages in our culture has been flattened into one word. By Dan Brooks
We Don’t Really Know How A.I. Works. That’s a Problem.
For us to trust it on certain subjects, researchers in the growing field of interpretability might need to learn how to open the black box of its brain.
At the end of 2025, Patrick Wintour wrote a compelling essay for Guardian Weekly in which he described an interregnum in global history, where the rules-based order had been eroded and great powers once again jostled for control and influence.
This week’s edition sees Patrick return to a key aspect of that theme, the deteriorating global standing of the United States after a period of high-stakes brinkmanship with Iran. Donald Trump’s aborted threat that Iranian civilisation would “die … never to be brought back” unless it ceded to his demands exposed the limits of his apocalyptic foreign policy. It also pointed to the wider decline of American influence in a world where the US appears untrustworthy and strategically isolated.
Spotlight | Hungary’s new dawn After 16 years, Viktor Orbán’s populist grip on the country’s politics is over. But will his successor Péter Magyar be much different? Ashifa Kassam and Flora Garamvolgyi report amid jubilant scenes in Budapest
Science | The man who was bitten by snakes 200 times – on purpose Tim Friede put his “ass on the line” to help stop snakebite deaths – whose numbers appear to be rising amid the climate crisis. Oliver Milman met him
Feature | The brutal reality of life as a foreign student in the UK Universities in Britain rely on overseas applicants paying full fees, which has given rise to some unscrupulous recruiters and left many hopefuls and their families deep in debt. Samira Shackle investigates
Opinion | Netanyahu-ism has achieved nothing for Israelis It is the voting public in Israel that will settle their PM’s fate later this year. But, argues Jonathan Freedland, all they have heard are promises of “total victory” that prove to be hollow
Culture | Jim Jarmusch, the darling of indie cinema The 73-year-old has been at the cutting edge of US independent movies since the 1980s. As Father Mother Sister Brother opens in the UK, he tells Amy Raphael about grief, greed and “doing crazy shit” with Steve Coogan
High-speed accidents, crooked lawyers, and poor people desperate for cash—it was the kind of scheme that could have been cooked up only in the Big Easy. By Patrick Radden Keefe
New scholarship reconsiders the apostle who turned a Jewish sect into a world religion—and whose legacy remains contested two millennia later. By Adam Gopnik
THE NEW YORK TIMES MAGAZINE:The 4.12.26 Issue features Katie Engelhart on people considered in vegetative states; C.J. Chivers on how Russian weaponized the cold in the war with Ukraine; Willy Staley on meme culture; and Coralie Kraft on MAHA teens; and more.
From our jokes and slang to the White House’s policy messaging, internet “brain rot” has escaped our phones to take over … well, everything. By Willy Staley
An irony of Viktor Orbán’s 16-year grip on power in Hungary is that his Fidesz movement was originally founded by pro-democracy, change-seeking young voters, even initially requiring members to be below the age of 35.
Now, in a crossroads election on 12 April, a new generation of Hungarians may be on the cusp of removing the rightwing populist prime minister, much to the dismay of his admirers in Moscow, Washington and Europe’s populist movements.
Orbán may have once described Hungary as “a petri dish for illiberalism” – as reflected by Harry Haysom’s cover art for us this week – but polls suggest his opponent Péter Magyar, a former top member of Fidesz who favours a closer relationship with the EU, could be the new change agent.
Spotlight | Was Trump conned by Netanyahu’s promise of an easy war? Senior US officials now consider the Israel PM’s pitch to have been overblown, creating potentially far-reaching consequences for both countries, writes Peter Beaumont
Science | The 21st-century moon prospectors Helium-3 is so rare that a palm-sized amount could be worth millions. As Artemis II flies by the moon and businesses look to the skies, is mining Earth’s satellite ethical? Oliver Holmes investigates
Feature | Can the UK’s cargo theft crisis be stopped? It costs the UK economy £700m ($920m) a year, and criminal gangs are operating with near impunity. Every time a lorry gets robbed, raided or hijacked, it’s Mike Dawber who investigates. ByStuart McGurk
Opinion | Ten years after Brexit, Trump is pushing Britain back towards the EU It’s the silver lining from this terrible age of Donald Trump, argues Gaby Hinsliff: his disdain and insults are fuelling the belief that the UK should renew ties with Europe
Culture | James McAvoy, froma Glasgow council estate to Hollywood stardom In his directorial debut, the X-Men actor is challenging stereotypes about his Scottish homeland via the remarkable tale of a real-life hip-hop hoax. Libby Brooks met him
As US troops flock to danger, Donald Trump seeks ways to disentangle himself from the war on Iran. “We are on track to complete all of America’s military objectives shortly, very shortly,” he said in a 19-minute address at the start of the month. “It’s very important that we keep this conflict in perspective.”
The West’s technology brains and universities are arming China. A few of them are potentially breaking the law to do it, but most of them don’t need to. The front door has been open for years, and nobody in London or Washington has thought to close it.
It was, on the surface, a fairly routine proposal. Officials from the BRICS nations, made up of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, have decided to discuss, at a summit in New Delhi later this year, how to deepen trade and collaboration. No one was paying very much attention when the decision was made. And yet, according to a report in the well-informed newspaper Berliner Zeitung, a resolution was quietly suggested that might turn the global monetary system upside down. It was the start of what might be termed the “plot against the dollar.” America’s currency is likely to face its most serious challenge of the post-World War Two era.
Donald Trump and Pete Hegseth’s Warped Vision of the Iran War
The two men might wish that they lived in a world where whoever dropped the most bombs got whatever he wanted. But the war has shown that this isn’t true. By Benjamin Wallace-Wells
Why Are People Injecting Themselves with Peptides?
Health and wellness influencers are hawking unapproved treatments on the gray market. The future of the F.D.A.—and the health of consumers—is at stake. By Dhruv Khullar
Sam Altman May Control Our Future—Can He Be Trusted?
New interviews and closely guarded documents shed light on the persistent doubts about the head of OpenAI.
Without exploitation, “Love on the Spectrum” captures the triumphs and travails of dating. It has become one of Netflix’s most popular shows. By Anna Peele
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