Tag Archives: Reviews

THE GUARDIAN WEEKLY – FEBRUARY 13, 2026 PREVIEW

THE GUARDIAN WEEKLY: The latest issue features ‘The Men’s Club’ – Epstein’s world and the attendant role of women…

The latest tranche of the Jeffrey Epstein files have been in the public domain for less than two weeks, but already their contents have sent shock waves around the world.

Nowhere is this more true than in Britain, where the fallout has come to the door of Keir Starmer over his appointment of Peter Mandelson as UK ambassador to Washington, amid questions about how much the prime minister knew of his former envoy’s links to Epstein.

Starmer looks to have weathered the immediate pressure to resign this week, despite having lost his influential chief of staff, Morgan McSweeney, over the scandal. But the vultures are still circling and it seems a matter of when, rather than if, the prime minister will go. Kiran Stacey weighs up the possible challengers from within the Labour party, while Oliver Holmes and Chris Michael consider why the scandal hit home so hard in the UK.

Spotlight | The last post for press freedom in the US?
Jeff Bezos’s axing of more than 300 jobs at the Washington Post has renewed fears about the resilience of America’s democracy to withstand Donald Trump’s attacks. Ed Pilkington and Jeremy Barr report

Technology | The continuing risks and rewards of AI
As policymakers and tech executives prepare for the next global AI summit in India, an annual safety report highlights the issues that will be at stake, writes Dan Milmo

Interview | Can Zack Polanski pull off a green revolution in the UK?
With polls and membership at an all-time high, the UK Green party is having a moment – and it’s largely down to the party’s charismatic (if slightly cheesy) new leader. Simon Hattenstone went on the road with him

Opinion | What links UK politics and Epstein? A thick seam of contempt
We’re often told the British prime minister, Keir Starmer, is a ‘decent’ man. But in appointing Peter Mandelson he chose political convenience over doing right, argues Nesrine Malik

Culture | The sign language of Margaret Calvert
Airports, road signs, typefaces … the design legend revolutionised how Britain looked and her brilliantly clear designs are still used today. Catherine Slessor met her

THE NEW YORKER MAGAZINE – FEBRUARY 16 & 23, 2026

Eustace Tilley and his tall hat obscure the view of the screen in a movie theater.

THE NEW YORKER MAGAZINE: The latest issue features The Anniversary Issue: Dhruv Khullar on Ozempic, David Remnick on Joe Rogan, Ava Kofman on a surrogacy scandal, and more.

Is There a Remedy for Presidential Profiteering?

Until now, Trump always seemed unembarrassed to crow about his side hustles. But, if the Emirati payment was kept secret, what else might be? By David D. Kirkpatrick

Can Ozempic Cure Addiction?

GLP-1 drugs, which have helped some people curb drug and alcohol use, may unlock a pathway to moderation. By Dhruv Khullar

What Is Claude? Anthropic Doesn’t Know, Either

Researchers at the company are trying to understand their A.I. system’s mind—examining its neurons, running it through psychology experiments, and putting it on the therapy couch. By Gideon Lewis-Kraus

THE NEW YORK TIMES MAGAZINE- FEBRUARY 8, 2026

Current cover

THE NEW YORK TIMES MAGAZINE: The 2.8.26 Issue features Charles Homans on Minneapolis under siege; Dan Kaufman on Trump’s war on federal workers; Hugo Lindgren on the intersection of Wall Street strategies and golf; and more.

Watching America Unravel in Minneapolis

What I saw, as federal agents stormed the city and residents banded together to protect themselves, was a dark, dystopian future becoming reality. By Charles Homans and Philip Montgomery

‘The Biggest Act of Union-Busting in U.S. History’: Trump’s War on Federal Workers

With 300,000 employees gone and collective-bargaining rights eliminated, the administration has hobbled organized labor. Did it also start a movement? By Dan Kaufman

Rev. James Martin on Our Moral Duty in Turbulent Times

The author and Jesuit priest discusses human dignity, political divides and how he sees the role of the Catholic Church. By Lulu Garcia-Navarro

WASHINGTON EXAMINER MAGAZINE – FEB. 11-18, 2026

Washington Examiner – Conservative News, Politics & Policy

WASHINGTON EXAMINER MAGAZINE: ‘This Is National Security’ – A moment for American Power’….

American credibility: Why Trump must enforce his ‘red line’ in Iran

by Hugo Gurdon

✪ What the Trump national security strategy gets right

by Mackubin Owens

✪ Billy Bob’s boomtown: Taylor Sheridan’s ‘Landman’ and the triumph of traditional values

by Daniel Ross Goodman

✪ Politics without restraint: A generational shift toward violence and radicalism is taking place

by Samuel J. Abrams

THE ECONOMIST MAGAZINE – FEBRUARY 7, 2026 PREVIEW

THE ECONOMIST MAGAZINE: The latest issue features The dangerous dollar‘…

The age of a treacherous, falling dollar

Those holding American assets will have to get used to it

As global press freedom dwindles, corrupt politicians rejoice

Less scrutiny, more booty

How to think about new risks of nuclear proliferation

In a might-makes-right world, many countries may conclude that only nukes can keep them safe

The new Bangladesh is only half built

Whoever wins the coming election has a lot to do

THE NEW YORK REVIEW OF BOOKS – FEBRUARY 26, 2026

THE NEW YORK REVIEW OF BOOKS: The latest issue features Fintan O’Toole on the murders in Minneapolis, Trevor Jackson on the problem with central banks, Ingrid D. Rowland on Fra Angelico, Namwali Serpell on Toni Morrison’s sense of humor, Julian Gewirtz on the new microchip race, Vivian Gornick on Arundhati Roy, Joy Neumeyer on Poland’s far right, Ian Tattersall on all creatures great and small, Maurice Samuels on escaping the Nazis in Vichy France, Ben Rhodes on Robert McNamara’s sins, poems by Mary Jo Salter and James Arthur, and much more.

The Crime of Witness

Fintan O’Toole

Renee Good and Alex Pretti were murdered for daring to interfere with the Trump administration’s efforts to normalize abductions and state violence.


The Struggle for the Fed

Trevor Jackson

The Fed is under attack. Can it be both protected and held accountable?

Our Money: Monetary Policy As If Democracy Matters by Leah Downey

Private Finance, Public Power: A History of Bank Supervision in America by Peter Conti-Brown and Sean H. Vanatta

Our Dollar, Your Problem: An Insider’s View of Seven Turbulent Decades of Global Finance, and the Road Ahead by Kenneth Rogoff

When the Chips Are Down

President Trump’s reversal of a ban on sales of advanced semiconductors to China undercut the strategic logic behind years of American policy that was meant to keep the US ahead in the race to develop AI systems.

The Gilded Cage: Technology, Development, and State Capitalism in China by Ya-Wen Lei

The Thinking Machine: Jensen Huang, Nvidia, and the World’s Most Coveted Microchip by Stephen Witt

The Nvidia Way: Jensen Huang and the Making of a Tech Giant by Tae Kim

NATURE MAGAZINE – FEBRUARY 5, 2026

Volume 650 Issue 8100

NATURE MAGAZINE: The latest issue features ‘Clear Waters’ – Index offers transparent framework for assessing ocean equity…

Genetically engineered ‘stinkweed’ comes up roses for making seed oil

Field pennycress could become a valuable winter crop, with benefits for both carbon storage and farm profitability.

Light-powered bacteria become living chemical factories

Engineered Escherichia coli could open the door to more sustainable routes to new drugs and other chemicals.

Largest galaxy survey yet confirms that the Universe is not clumpy enough

The six-year results from the Dark Energy Survey highlight unresolved tensions in standard cosmological theory.

PHILOSOPHY NOW MAGAZINE FEBRUARY/MARCH 2026

PHILOSOPHY NOW MAGAZINE: The latest issue features ‘Roman Philosophy’….

What Have the Romans Ever Done For Us?

by Rick Lewis

News: February/March 2026

Texas Prof Banned from Teaching Plato • Chatbots Have Favourite Philosophers • Singer Fears AI Doesn’t ‘Get’ Animal Rights — News reports by Anja Steinbauer

ROMAN PHILOSOPHY

Machiavelli’s Roman Empire

Sam Spound explains why the author of The Prince thought about Rome so much.

Cicero & the Ideal of Virtue

Abdullah Shaikh explores Cicero’s ideas about the core Roman principle of virtus.

The Educational Philosophy of Quintilian

Philip Vassallo learns from a classic of Classical education.

Ancient Synergy

Yolanda De Iuliis looks at how Roman Mithraism incorporated Stoic philosophy.

The Post Paralysis Peace Paradox

Cassandra Brandt offers the reflections of a sedentary Stoic.

THE GUARDIAN WEEKLY – FEBRUARY 6, 2026 PREVIEW

THE GUARDIAN WEEKLY: The latest issue features ‘USA-IRAN’ – Collision Course….

Have Donald Trump’s hard talk and the arrival of a strike-ready flotilla finally made Tehran blink? It certainly seemed so by Monday evening, when Iran said it was willing to talk. A week of trading threats turned to strong indications that Steve Witkoff, Trump’s envoy, and Abbas Araghchi, Iran’s minister for foreign affairs, were readying to meet in Istanbul on Friday. In this week’s big story, Ashifa Kassam and Andrew Roth chart how momentum to war slowed and fears of a wider regional conflict eased, albeit marginally.

The background to Trump’s war of words against Tehran was the huge protests that rocked Iran last month, until they were brutally repressed by the regime. Analysts suggest a fragile domestic security situation prompted the Iranian government’s softening towards US demands. Our diplomatic editor and longtime Iran watcher, Patrick Wintour, explains that while the streets are now quiet, a shift in the balance of power between the people and the government has emboldened domestic demands for a full investigation of the killing and imprisonment of protesters.

Spotlight | The Epstein files, part two
Daniel Boffey details the biggest bombshell among the 3m newly released documents: disgraced former minister Peter Mandelson’s deep and compromising relationship with the convicted paedophile

Environment | Nature runs wild in Fukushima
Free of human habitation after the 2011 earthquake, tsunami and nuclear meltdown, Fukushima is now teeming with wildlife. But this haven could vanish if people come back, finds Justin McCurry

Features | From hope to despair
The postwar new town of Newton Aycliffe with its boarded up shops is a symbol of the Britain’s economic gloom – and a warning for Labour as it battles the rise of Reform UK, reports Josh Halliday

Opinion | Art, groceries, Greenland – thieves are everywhere
Jonathan Liew reflects on how we all seem to live in a world defined by petty theft and no one, whether it’s the pickpocket or the big AI company, seems to get punished

Culture | Small acts of magic
Mackenzie Crook tells Zoe Williams how his approach to comedy has mellowed with age. Gone is the nervous, awkward energy of Gareth from The Office, to be replaced by the gentle curiosity that animates his new series Small Prophets

LITERARY REVIEW —- FEBRUARY 2026

LITERARY REVIEW : The latest issue features Norma Clarke on Charlie Chaplin’s London; Richard Bourke on revolution; Lucasta Miller on George Sand; Peter Davidson on Constable; Philippe Marlière on far-right France; Munro Price on the Marquis de Morès; Piers Brendon on Trotsky’s demise; Mark Glancy on Hitchcock’s scores

High-Builded Clouds – Constable’s Year: An Artist in Changing Seasons By Susan Owens

Where Fry Met Laurie – The Cambridge Footlights: A Very British Comedy Institution By Robert Sellers

Partners in Suspense – Hitchcock and Herrmann: The Friendship and Film Scores That Changed Cinema By Steven C Smith