Culture
A sound grasp
These are The Economist’s favourite podcasts of 2023
They covered subjects including empire, medical scandals and war
The sports page
The Pacific Games: come for the rugby, stay for the geopolitics
In the shadow medals table, China will take top spot
Johnson
Euphemism and exaggeration are both dangers to language
But verbal extremism is now the bigger threat
One for the Monet
Claude Monet is celebrated in a colourful new biography
Jackie Wullschläger reveals the tempestuous man behind the canvasses
There’s no place like home
The likelihood of living on Mars soon is as remote as Pluto
Even if tech geeks do not want to hear that
An imperfect union
American partisanship is as old as the republic itself
A new book documents the ructions between the framers of the constitution
Red light, green light
What “Squid Game: The Challenge” reveals about the state of TV
Reality television is more important than you might think
Poll position
Why non-white voters are abandoning the Democratic Party
America’s demographic changes are not playing out as anticipated
The antebellum South in fiction
Jesmyn Ward returns with an evocative tale of slavery
“Let Us Descend” takes its name from Dante’s vision of hell
Watch the box
The Economist’s pick of the best television shows of 2023
Exceptional comedies, crime dramas, and psychological thrillers have come to the small screen this year
The sports page
Kane, Bellingham and the roads to European stardom
English footballers are becoming worldly at a younger age
The scales of injustice
Can trials heal the wounds of war?
A new book looks at the legacy of Japan’s war-crimes tribunal