UK The BBC and the battle for truth Can the corporation save itself and the nation from fake news and culture wars? By Harry Lambert
Media Why Facebook was right to block Australian news content The Australian government's demands on tech giants are unjustified and anti-competition. Now Facebook has called their bluff. By Sam Bowman
Poetry How Keats lives on His radical depictions of desire and oblivion changed the course of English poetry – and, 200 years after his death, they disarm us still. By Rowan Williams
Science & Tech Nasa’s Mars landing is a reminder that good science depends on good politics While the Perseverance rover may open our eyes to new truths about the universe, on Earth the war on fact continues. By Martin Rees and Mario Livio
Economy MMT economist Stephanie Kelton: “Donald Trump changed the terms of economic debate” The former Bernie Sanders adviser on why the pandemic has shown the US and UK governments can never run out of money. By George Eaton
North America US storms offer a warning to ill-prepared governments How mass power outages have left millions in Texas questioning state leadership. By Emily Tamkin
Europe Life without liberty: how Covid turned Paris into a city of fear A strict curfew, tough police measures and rising crime mean tensions are running high in the French capital. By Andrew Hussey
Books How Vanessa Springora’s Consent tries to transcend the #MeToo moment it created A French memoir of sexual abuse created a political storm – but is it, as its author suggests, “first and foremost a piece of literature”? By Lola Seaton
Observations While many learned to bake or sew in lockdown, I revelled in the beauty of isolation itself Enforced isolation has brought less familiar pleasures, such as finally getting my bookshelves in order. By Philip Collins
UK Voters across the world have rallied around their leaders – and Boris Johnson has benefited The Prime Minister is enjoying a vaccine bounce. But can he open up a decisive lead over Keir Starmer? By Stephen Bush
UK Leader: The future of the BBC The broadcaster is a force for the common good and a flawed but necessary institution. By New Statesman
UK Voters across the world have rallied around their leaders – and Boris Johnson has benefited The Prime Minister is enjoying a vaccine bounce. But can he open up a decisive lead over Keir Starmer? By Stephen Bush
Elections What will boundary changes mean for Labour and the Conservatives? The planned redrawing of parliamentary seats is likely to benefit the Tories, but not to the extent that some believe. By Ben Walker
The Staggers A return to normal won't necessarily mean a return to normal government spending For UK businesses dependent on trade from abroad, the economic effects of the pandemic will last for a very long time. By Stephen Bush
Education Gavin Williamson’s proposals on free speech and universities are a half-baked mess Instead of serious policy, the Education Secretary offers only clumsy phrases and misused statistics. By Stephen Bush
Economy Why condemning austerity won’t be enough to restore Labour to power Faced with a more interventionist Conservative Party, Keir Starmer needs to deliver a more fundamental critique of British capitalism. By James Meadway
UK Jess Phillips: “Keir Starmer has done a remarkable job” The shadow minister for domestic violence on Labour’s challenge, parenting in lockdown and meetings in pyjamas. By Rachel Cunliffe
8519, 8300, 8302, 8415, 8493, 8495, 8457, 8462 Why the EU's new tech legislation could become the most lobbied in history The Digital Services and Markets Act is the greatest regulatory threat that Big Tech has ever faced. But the industry is fighting back. Laurie Clarke and Katharine Swindells
8519, 8521 What we lose when local news disappears Residents of 23 local authorities in the UK have no local news provision, creating a democratic deficit with real-world consequences.
8519, 8520, 8300, 8362, 8302, 8415, 8493, 8495, 8496, 8457, 8459 As Parler returns, Twitter is still letting mainstream Republicans spread misinformation Influential accounts posting baseless voter fraud claims have largely been spared suspension in Twitter’s latest purge. Ben van der Merwe, Investment Monitor
8519, 8520, 8300, 8302, 8415, 8493, 8495, 8496, 8457, 8459, 8416 Revealed: The army of Big Tech lobbyists targeting Capitol Hill
8519, 8522 The meme-stock boom looks a lot like the online gambling boom The huge growth in retail investment over the past year has been foreshadowed by a longer and larger growth in online gambling. Are the two related?
8519 Four men own Britain’s news media. Is that a problem for democracy? The power of private owners has long been debated in British society, and – even after a decade of digital disruption – remains controversial.
Books Locking down with Kafka How the great writer, in his airless, claustrophobic fictions, provides a guide to living in the pandemic age. By Samuel Earle
Music & Theatre Katy Kirby's Cool Dry Place: soft but subversive folk-pop Kirby’s sharp lyrics, layered melodies and complex manipulation of rhythm mark her out as an exciting and sophisticated songwriter. By Emily Bootle
Books Patricia Lockwood’s No One is Talking About This is the first great internet novel The oddball American writer’s debut novel is a witty and true depiction of the experience of living online. By Johanna Thomas-Corr
Environment The rise of the climate dude Bill Gates’s faith in a technological fix for climate change is typical of privileged men who think they can swoop in and solve the problems others have spent decades trying to fix. By Philippa Nuttall Jones
Poetry How Keats lives on His radical depictions of desire and oblivion changed the course of English poetry – and, 200 years after his death, they disarm us still. By Rowan Williams
Books How Vanessa Springora’s Consent tries to transcend the #MeToo moment it created A French memoir of sexual abuse created a political storm – but is it, as its author suggests, “first and foremost a piece of literature”? By Lola Seaton
Social Media TikTok and self-loathing: why you probably don’t want to be a teenage girl in 2021 A new report highlights the negative impact social media has on adolescent girls. But how worried should we be? By Eleanor Peake
Social Media Why debates about banning online anonymity miss the point Most digital abuse could be mitigated before a message is even seen by its target, if platforms took responsibility for what is published. By Sarah Manavis
Media Why a $2.7bn defamation lawsuit has Fox News running scared The abrupt firing of Fox News presenter Lou Dobbs shows how much the Murdoch empire fears its latest legal battle. By James Ball
Coronavirus How the UK could vaccinate every adult by mid-May and end lockdown If vaccines continue to prevent hospitalisations and deaths there is no reason why significant restrictions should last. By Harry Lambert
Internet What the term “Big Tech” tells us about the future of Silicon Valley titans Like Big Pharma and Big Tobacco, the phrase suggests a growing awareness of the outsized influence of these companies – and a desire to do something about it. By Freddie Hayward
North America US storms offer a warning to ill-prepared governments How mass power outages have left millions in Texas questioning state leadership. By Emily Tamkin
Environment Philippe Sands on why “ecocide” should be a crime How a proposed amendment to international human rights law could prohibit the systematic destruction of nature. By India Bourke
Europe The renewed relevance of the Schleswig-Holstein question Europe has always had regions in which cultural and political spheres overlap, and finding lasting solutions for them has never been easy. By Brian Melican
Asia How will democracy be defined after Myanmar’s military coup? The democratic inclusivity of the country’s anti-coup protests mark a departure from its recent past. By Francis Wade
From the NS archive: Intellectuals in exile 18 February 1939: What the leaders of the Nazi movement cannot tolerate is intellectual independence. By Herbert Read
From the NS archive: Here's mud on your mink 7 April 1956: Was there ever a naughty, flighty lipstick? By Marghanita Laski
How the economic policies of a corrupt elite caused the Arab Spring 7 June 2011: Living standards in the region must rise if the political momentum is to be kept up. By Matthew Partridge
Letters from two islands 18 June 1949: I remember once arguing throughout a lunch with HG Wells about Mussolini. By JB Priestley
