Theresa May’s Impossible Choice
A look at Theresa May’s background and experience, and the perilous waters she now has to navigate.
Don’t Eat Before Reading This
The 1999 piece that helped launch Anthony Bourdain’s career as a writer and broadcaster. In it, he offered readers the inside track on the restaurant industry, warts and all. It was apparently sent in to the magazine as an unsolicited manuscript.
The Case of Hong Kong’s Missing Booksellers
This piece sheds light on the dangerous work of Hong Kong’s booksellers. They played a significant role for many decades as an outlet for the politics of mainland China, but they are now facing increasing pressure from its government.
Tonya Harding Would Like Her Apology Now
An eloquent profile of Tonya Harding, the former professional ice skater caught up in a scandal at the time of the 1994 Winter Olympics, and subject of the new Oscar contender I, Tonya. The piece encompasses poignant reflections on survival, life after infamy, and subjective views of the truth.
Fiercest of rivals, best of friends: cross-party pals in parliament
A piece looking at friendships in parliament that cross party lines. A piece with a positive slant that is perhaps unsurprisingly generating immediate online praise and opprobrium (in almost equal measure).
A Physicist Who Models ISIS and the Alt-Right
An interview with a scientist using adaptive modelling techniques to predict extremist activity.
In some possible branches of the future leaving will be an error
A prominent UK political blogger analyses a recent exchange of messages with Dominic Cummings, the chairman of the official Vote Leave EU referendum campaign, in which Cummings examines the current situation and possible future outcomes.
Why Amazon is eating the world
A look at the radical way in which Amazon is systematically turning each component of its business into an productised commercial venture with external clients – starting with their technology infrastructure, then their fulfillment service and so on. The objective goes beyond revenues and profit (though they come – Amazon Web Services has a $14bn annual run rate) to building a “moat” around their market position and ensuring that the pressure of servicing external clients keeps all units in Amazon lean and competitive.