Laurie Penny's article on why men hate Sex & The City was one of this year's online highlights

In no particular order, here are our finest web-only articles of the past 12 months:

1. George Orwell: patron saint of hacks: Alastair Harper explains why Orwell has become the authority of first resort for people who don’t know what they’re talking about

2. A shot in the dark:  Nic Dunlop talks to Prospect about photographing Aung San Suu Kyi

3. Why Iraq war films fail: Tom Streithorst has worked extensively as a cameraman in Iraq. In this piece he casts a critical eye over the likes of Green Zone and The Hurt Locker

4. In defence of dead white men: Hip-hop intellectual Lindsay Johns makes the case for the universal appeal and importance of the western literary canon

5. China’s rough injustice: China’s execution of a