Arts & Books
The best classical and opera this November 2020
Psappha at Hallé St Peter’s Manchester plus LSO & Simon Rattle & Krystian Zimerman at Barbican Hall
The best art exhibitions in the UK this November 2020
Plus Kai Althoff goes with Bernard Leach at the Whitechapel Gallery
The intelligence delusion
In today's world, intellect has trumped all other measures of worth—with divisive consequences
Inclusive television advertisements aren't "PC propaganda"—they show Britain as it truly is
They've become the new site of the culture war—and the divisive reactions reveal much about post-Brexit Britain
Xiaolu Guo's half-familiar fictions
The British-Chinese novelist and filmmaker talks about writing about love in a time of division, why we need more balanced curriculums, and paying homage to an early European hero in her new novel, A Lover's Discourse
The struggles of Martin Amis
A tricksy autobiographical novel feels very familiar
Some of Graham Greene's writing thrills today but too much is second-rate
Some of his writing thrills today but too much is second-rate
A rich new history of Ravenna
Long overshadowed by Venice, Ravenna was the meeting point of Byzantium and the west
Is this really a post-imperial age?
The absence of formal empires is unprecedented argues a new book
How the west can thrive in the 21st century
Two authors make the case for conservative liberal democracy
The best podcasts in October 2020—the Michelle Obama Podcast and the Missing Cryptoqueen
Plus get a grip on American politics in Left, Right, and Centre
The Secret Barrister exposes how charlatans vandalise the rule of law
"Fake law" offers a powerful corrective to self-serving claims from cynical and incompetent politicians