The Prawn War
A look at the battle over a precious 18 mile stretch of fishing grounds between Sri Lanka and India, a battle that has started to claim an increasing number of lives.
The Macedonian Teens Who Mastered Fake News
Bored teenagers looking to make some extra cash have played a major part in spreading the fake news that has influenced major global events – this piece looks at how they do it.
Urban Dreams
A look at the plan to build an Indian state capital from scratch, the fifth such project and perhaps the most ambitious yet.
Dispatches from the Rap Wars
A sociologist spent 18 months living with gangs in Chicago fighting bitterly violent local turf wars, and simultaneously trying to make it big with rap tracks and on social media.
The Neo-Nazi Murder Trial Revealing Germany’s Darkest Secrets
A spate of linked murders has revealed worryingly active far right movements in Germany. Even more alarming is the strange role in the affair played by the German intelligence services.
After the Fall
John Lanchester analyses the impact of the financial crisis a decade on. A potent mix of fine writing, economic analysis, and a concern to place the narrative in a political and social context that helps the reader to make sense of what happened.
He Had His Reasons
A piece looking at how murder and domestic violence is reported in the press, recounting a terrible recent case in County Cavan, Ireland.
The Age of Outrage
Private Eye editor Ian Hislop is the author of this essay on ‘the death of debate’ and what it is doing to our society.
A Kingdom for a Horse
A look at the history, culture and future of Kazakhstan anchored in an account of one of its national sports – kokpar – where teams of mounted riders compete to score goals with a goat carcass.
The Future of Online Dating Is Unsexy and Brutally Effective
An engineer and data scientist (formerly at OK Cupid) goes deep in this engaging piece covering how AI, machine learning and ever greater troves of data from social platforms will impact dating.