July 2026

July 2026 issue

With the UK facing yet another change of prime minister, Ravi Gurumurthy outlines a bold plan for Labour to get our economy moving. Plus, as the World Cup begins, David Goldblatt writes on the power of the great global festival of our times

Past issues

Politics

A plan for Britain

Labour lacks a philosophy or a plan for government. A few simple changes could transform the country’s fortunes

Ravi Gurumurthy

Editor’s Picks

Illustration by Prospect. Source: Alamy

How the World Cup took over the planet

David Goldblatt

Illustration by Ben Jones

The hunt for the ‘Butcher of Hama’

Image: Hilary Swift / New York Times / Redux / eyevine

Robert Reich’s good fight

Illustration by Benny Douet

The state of cli-fi

Illustration by Karagh Byrne

Nil Venditti, the 21st-century conductor

Alan Rusbridger

Illustration by Clara Nicoll

Mindful life: I can’t stop singing my thoughts

Regulars

Illustration by David McAllister / Prospect. Source: Alamy

Editorial: Labour must leave its comfort zone

Letters: July 2026

Stephen Collins's cartoon strip: World Cup video diary

Stephen Collins

Illustration by Michael Rea

Jeremy Hunt: “AI can’t compete with raw, human originality and creativity”

Argument

Newspaper front pages after the Brexit referendum result, 25th June 2016. Image: AP Photo / Alamy

Just don’t mention the referendum

The shock of the old

Angine de Poitrine. Photo via YouTube

Angine de Poitrine: the alien rock band playing for Team Human

Ethan Zuckerman

Image: Alamy / Prospect

Embedded with Reform: Finding Farage, in Clacton of all places

Sophie Raworth’s diary: Running free

Features

A plan for Britain

Ravi Gurumurthy

Illustration by Prospect. Source: Alamy

How the World Cup took over the planet

David Goldblatt

Illustration by Ben Jones

The hunt for the ‘Butcher of Hama’

Illustration by David McAllister / Prospect

Anglofuturism and ‘decline porn’: the Brave New Worlds of the right

The thinking man’s experiment

People

Image: Hilary Swift / New York Times / Redux / eyevine

Robert Reich’s good fight

Image: Erik Tanner / New York Times / Redux / eyevine

Patrick Radden Keefe: Telling the truth doesn’t always make life better

Image: Francesca Jones / Guardian / eyevine

The comic artist detained by ICE

Image: Courtesy of Martin Brundle

Martin Brundle’s life on the grid

The Culture

Illustration by Benny Douet

The state of cli-fi

Illustration by David McAllister / Prospect. Sources: Sophia Granchinho, Blickwinkel, Keren Su / Alamy

The great schism in eco-activism

Richard Roberts

© Newscom / Alamy

Democracy’s terrible secret

Matthew d’Ancona

A Shakespearean’s grief

Books in Brief: what to read this June

Illustration by Karagh Byrne

Nil Venditti, the 21st-century conductor

Alan Rusbridger

Marilyn Monroe, in 1954, with another beneficiary of her negotiating skills, Ella Fitzgerald. Image: Alamy / Archivio GBB

When Marilyn Monroe took on Fox—and won

“Agnus Dei” (1635–40) by Francisco de Zurbarán. Image: Museo Nacional del Prado, Madrid / Photographic Archive Museo Nacional del Prado

The joy of Zurbarán

Fiammetta Rocco

Image: Sergey Nezhinkiy

Classical notes: Learning to sing

Lives

Illustration by Clara Nicoll

Sheila Hancock: From the London Lighthouse to the Museum of Brands, this Notting Hill building is a tribute to the best of humanity

Illustration by Clara Nicholl

Second life: Led by the nose

Vitali Vitaliev

Illustration by Clara Nicoll

Mindful life: I can’t stop singing my thoughts

Illustration by Clara Nicoll

Clerical life: To become a priest, I was forced to abandon my writer identity

Illustration of Tilly Lawless by Clara Nicoll

Sex life: I have changed my mind about motherhood

Rural life: All my neighbours believe in fairies

Illustration by Clara Nicoll

Young life: Mine is not the first generation to live with the threat of annihilation

Carlo Petrini. Image: Tom Pilston/Alamy

Obituary: Carlo Petrini, founder of the Slow Food movement