6 d. ago ‘There’s this whole other story’: inside the fight to end slavery in the Americas

The Great Resistance, an expansive new book by author and historian Carrie Gibson, brings together often unheard narratives to tell the bigger picture of a difficult timeThe Great Resistance is Carrie Gibson’s third book, and her third about the history of the Americas, plural. It follows Empire’s Crossroads: A History of the Caribbean from Columbus to the Present Day, from 2014, and El Norte: The Epic and Forgotten Story of Hispanic North America, published five years later. The subtitle to the new book indicates its roots in the first two: The 400-Year Fight to End Slavery in the Americas.“I was led by both my own curiosity and also a frustration,” Gibson said, of how she came to retell that four-century fight over 500 absorbing pages. Continue reading...

Politics

9 d. ago What support is Labour promising on the cost of living in 2026?

The prime minister says the UK will begin to feel a ‘sense of hope’ in 2026 – here’s what to expect

Politics

1 week ago PM vows to ‘defeat decline and division’ by ‘staying the course’ in new year

Sir Keir Starmer conceded life is still ‘harder than it should be’ for many but said more people will begin to feel ‘a sense of hope’ in 2026.

Politics

1 week ago Staying in with the old: the best films to watch on New Year’s Eve

For those not going out to celebrate, you can still party with Harry and Sally, play cards with Jack Lemmon and make merry hell at the Overlook HotelAt the end of any especially troublesome year it’s always good to revisit The Apartment, Billy Wilder’s brilliantly bleak comedy of office politics and festive bad cheer. It memorably ends on the stroke of midnight as heartsick Fran Kubelik (Shirley MacLaine) abandons a drunken new year’s party to be with hapless, jobless CC Baxter (Jack Lemmon) instead. Is The Apartment suggesting that Kubelik and Baxter then live happily ever after? Probably not, because I’ve never been convinced that these two lovers are going to stay the course. They’re too mismatched and desperate; their wounds are still too fresh. What the ending gives us is the next best thing: a sudden sense of hope and freedom, with everything packed in boxes except for a bottle, two glasses and a deck of cards. Nothing to lose and nowhere to go. “Shut up and deal.” A clean bre...

Politics

3 w. ago 'The town that taught the world a lesson in humanity': Lockerbie marks the 37th anniversary of bombing

Lockerbie looks to the past on the 37th anniversary of the atrocity that killed 270 people - but also the future, in a sense of hope and honour.

Events

3 w. ago From Dr Seuss to All Quiet on the Western Front: 19 books to help you find hope, sense and resistance in difficult times

Writers, activists and politicians on the books they turn to for wisdom and perspective – and to restore their faith in human natureAustralia is mired in grief, anger and division over the horrific act of antisemitic terrorism in Sydney. The attack in Bondi has reverberated internationally, tragically bookending a year that already challenged humanity, hope and the future of the planet.Indeed as 2025 ends it is defined by yet more abject and ignoble political, economic, technological and environmental derelictions of dire proportions. Continue reading...

Politics