The first instalment of a two part look at Catherine de’ Medici’s storied life, running from her birth into one of the most powerful families in Europe, to a precarious position as an unpopular Dauphine of France, pleading her fate with her father-in-law Francis 1st.
A look at the rise of the far-right wing party Alternative for Germany (Alternative fr Deutschland) and what it means for democracy. The piece shares this insight on political upheavals – “They begin slowly, and then one morning you wake up and find yourself in another country”.
A look at a conference for flat earth conspiracy theorists. A speaker at one of the events kicks off with “I don’t accept logic and reason”, which is a pretty good summary, all in all.
A sobering, finely wrought and hugely powerful narrative of the Aids epidemic in the 1980s.
A story about political polarisation in Poland and the warning signs for liberal democracy everywhere. The author of the piece, Ann Applebaum, is in a unique position to write the story, with Polish and American nationality, a celebrated career writing about the former Soviet Union, and a husband who was formerly Poland’s Minister for Foreign Affairs.
This piece goes back to the beginning and unpacks in meticulous detail and with great clarity, Russia’s interference with the 2016 US Election.
It turns out termites are absolutely fascinating creatures, and this article explains why.
A look at the life and work of Agatha Christie, a woman who can lay good claim to being the most widely read novelist in history.
Seventeen years after 9/11, this fine piece of writing has lost none of its heartrending impact. The terrible context of the piece ties a knot in the reader’s stomach as they make their way through a love story, then war stories, to the narrative’s inevitable conclusion.
This story goes back in time to Sergei Skripal’s life in the Russian intelligence service, long before he was poisoned in Salisbury. It skilfully intersperses his story with that of the wider geopolitical climate, from the fall of the USSR to today.