July 2023

July 2023 issue

David Aaronovitch attends a National Conservatism gathering and finds it is more silly than dangerous. Sarah Manavis profiles Russell Brand and Sukhdev Sandhu asks if Alfred Hitchcock was second-rate, plus more

Past issues

Illustrations by Michael Rea, photography by Sara Morris

Politics

Flag, faith and failure: three days with the National Conservatives

The movement’s London conference exposed a dark undercurrent to the modern right. Are these so-called patriots the future—or an embarrassing sideshow?

David Aaronovitch

Editor’s Picks

Tarnished Brand

One of the Standedge Tunnels deep under the Pennines. Image: Beardedreality

Northern Powerhouse Fail

Image: John Watson

Sophia Kianni: Countries must put their money where their mouth is

Who are we? Derek Parfit in 2015. Credit: Roger Askew/Shutterstock

Mr Morality: the astonishing mind of Derek Parfit

Illustration by Michael Rea

ChatGPT: I have no regrets

Image: Courtesy of The Hilma af Klint Foundation / Kunstmuseum Den Haag

Mondrian and af Klint, the odd couple

David McAllister

People

Image: John Watson

Sophia Kianni: Countries must put their money where their mouth is

Image: Claire Mccormick Hogan

Meet David McCloskey, America’s answer to John le Carré

Image: John Watson

The architect fighting for sustainability without the greenwash

Image courtesy of Olivia Hinge

The midwife teaching people to breastfeed on Instagram

Jessica Bradley

Image: John Watson

Rhiannon Neads: You can have depression and still make jokes

Columns

Starmer visits a housing development, Southampton. PA Images / Alamy Stock Photo

Labour—homing in on a plan

Illustration by Vincent Kilbride

The internet can be different. Try Reddit

Ethan Zuckerman

Outside the High Court in the wake of a 2021 extradition ruling. Image: Tommy London / Alamy Stock Photo

Stella Assange: America has sunk to Soviet standards

During the 2022 Edinburgh Fringe. Rich Dyson / Alamy Stock Photo

Iain Dale’s diary: Mick Lynch is right

Manners are moral—and so is the subversion of them. Baggini would refuse to bow before the king. Photo: Associated Press / Alamy Stock Photo

Manners matter—philosophy tells us why

Is ‘fascist’ still the right word?

Regulars

The Prospect Grid: July 2023

Letters: July 2023 edition

Stephen Collins’s cartoon: After dinner speakers

Stephen Collins

Illustration by Michael Rea

ChatGPT: I have no regrets

Essays

Illustrations by Michael Rea, photography by Sara Morris

Flag, faith and failure: three days with the National Conservatives

David Aaronovitch

Tarnished Brand

Twists and turns: German chancellor Angela Merkel and Russian president Dmitry Medvedev, centre right,
in Lubmin opening the Nord Stream 1 pipeline in 2011 © Stefan Sauer / EPA Shutterstock

Germany’s great escape

A poster in protest at the use of the Russian language in the seaport city of Odesa. Image: courtesy Jen Stout

Ukraine’s war of the words

One of the Standedge Tunnels deep under the Pennines. Image: Beardedreality

Northern Powerhouse Fail

Culture

Image: Yuzhen Cai

The end of the first wave

Who are we? Derek Parfit in 2015. Credit: Roger Askew/Shutterstock

Mr Morality: the astonishing mind of Derek Parfit

Cold warrior: Milan Kundera in 1984. Credit: François Lochon/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images

Milan Kundera and Ukraine’s place in Europe

Jim and Helen Ede in Tangier in 1937 © Paul Allitt

For art’s sake: Jim Ede’s ways of life

Bright on cue. Credit: Sarah Lee

Behind the sounds

Image: Courtesy of The Hilma af Klint Foundation / Kunstmuseum Den Haag

Mondrian and af Klint, the odd couple

David McAllister

The world at his fingertips: Alfred Hitchcock at the height of his career. Credit: Pictorial Press Ltd/Alamy Stock Photo

Alfred the great...

And I liked it

Imogen West-Knights

20 properties, one alarming story

Small gods are big history

‘This Ragged Grace’: a memoir that shakes off its generic constraints

‘A readable disappointment’: Lorrie Moore’s latest novel reviewed

George Cochrane

A few nights away from the post-apocalypse

Lives

Illustration by Clara Nicoll

Long life: We must challenge the supremacy of capitalism

Illustration of Tilly Lawless by Clara Nicoll

Sex life: The power of roleplay

Illustration by Clara Nicoll

Mindful life: Why my premenstrual critic is my nemesis

Illustration by Clara Nicoll

Farming life: I’ll be free for a beer next time it rains

Illustration by Clara Nicoll

Young life: I don’t have to be resilient

Illustration by Clara Nicoll

Clerical life: The priest at a funeral has no margin for error

Illustration by Clara Nicoll

Sporting life: We don’t understand the female body

Illustration by Clara Nicoll

Displaced life: Am I illegal?

Jason Thomas-Fournillier