Empire of the tongue

Don’t take democracy for granted

A frail old lady walks into a church hall, marks a

If I ruled the world

What would I do if I were King of the world? I would

Letters & opinions

Oliver Kamm (“The Casey Review is shallow and confused”

How Hillary got robbed

Suppressing Democratic turnout has become a Republican specialty

Turkey’s fearful descent

Terror shocks. But the authorities are truly chilling

The refugee crisis solved in 24 pages

A 1939 leaflet gave displaced Jews unflinching advice. It contained lessons for today

Theresa May, or she may not

Her reputation for dithering is sexist. She knows what she wants—but she ain’t telling

You lot need a good occupation

England plainly need to change. So hear me out on a gloriously revolutionary suggestion

How to subvert a strongman

Activists in Hungary are coming up with creative ways to challenge Viktor Orbán

Should we give up dieting?

YES We both agree that there is a crisis around food

Private members

Jeremy Corbyn has doubled Labour’s membership—a striking achievement. But it might not do much good because the new joiners don’t seem too keen on campaigning

Voting out

The ballot box is under pressure in many parts of the world, as two new books attest. After the electoral shocks of 2016, stand by for a new intellectual assault

Click for regime change

Vladimir Putin has exposed democracy’s technical frailty—all the way to the White House

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The point of no return

Zero interest rates have slowly become the new normal. But in 5,000 years of data they stand out as an aberration—and now the saving classes are out for revenge

Why did women vote for him?

Despite his boorish chauvinism, Trump won with the backing of the majority of white female voters. An unthinkable outcome? Not if you’ve followed the Tea Party

Experiments with truth

The science of human behaviour teaches us that being irrational might not be so irrational after all

We’ll all go together

Nuclear disarmament agreements haven’t worked. Would it be better simply to ban the bomb?

Brief Encounter

The Falklands War. I must have been about eight. I

Voices of hope

One day, the war in Syria will end and its society will have to rebuild. The stories of its ordinary citizens show that there is a way forward

Close encounters of the gooey kind

Two new films probe the existential angst of space travel and the alien other. They take their place in a well-established sci-fi school of philosophy, says Adam Mars-Jones

Rage against the elites

A breathless attempt to root the political anger engulfing the world in the 18th century is too sweeping, says Stefan Collini

Getting pills into bodies

A new account of the early days of Aids shows how cleverly activists influenced the powerful, says Elizabeth Pisani

The joy of looking

Whatever style he pursues, David Hockney creates abundant and inquisitive art, argues Emma Crichton-Miller

Books in brief

The year 1991 was a turning point for global politics:

Recommends Art

When Lenin first took power, significant figures of

Recommends Theatre

Philip Ridley is an underrated playwright so director

Recommends Classical

The world’s “greatest living tenor,” below, is usually

Recommends Film

The growing popularity of theatre-to-cinema relays

Recommends Opera

English National Opera, London Coliseum, 2nd to 28th

Recommends Science

In the 16th century, King Phillip II of Spain promised

Events

The Prospect Book Club meets every third Monday of

Leith on language

The Christmas break has given me the chance to settle

Life of the mind

Psychotherapy works. There are studies that show this

Matters of taste

Back end of Bermondsey, industrial shed. I buzzed and

Wine

When does the enjoyment of a glass of wine begin? When

DIY investor

Last summer, Paul Lewis of the BBC’s Moneybox programme

The generalist by Didymus

1 Mythical Irish Land of Promise, the home of Manannan

Enigmas & puzzles

Professor Neuron has been networking and has decided

The way we were

On the wagon