23 h. ago Ezra Klein on Trump, Vance and free speech: ‘It feels like we are in one of the darkest imaginable timelines’

The influential US commentator has written a book about how politics can change people’s lives for the better. But first, there are more pressing challenges to address ...Ezra Klein, the New York Times podcast host and progressive media’s undisputed nerd king, starts his new book with something of a palate cleanser for our troubled times. For a few paragraphs, he and his co-author, the Atlantic journalist Derek Thompson, whisk us out of the grim reality of contemporary politics to a world of Abundance (the word they picked as their title).“You open your eyes at dawn and turn in the cool bedsheets,” they purr, before conjuring a near-future utopia where the cost of living crisis is a distant memory. “You live in a cocoon of energy so clean it barely leaves a carbon trace and so cheap you can scarcely find it on your monthly bill.” The fridge is full of fresh fruit and vegetables from skyscraper farms that sit amid rewilded landscapes. This is what we can look forward to, they say, if...

Politics

5 d. ago Cynthia Ozick: ‘Alice in Wonderland seems calculatedly cruel’

The American author on the wonder of Little Women, re-evaluating Lolita and her belated discovery of ThoreauMy earliest reading memory Andrew Lang’s Fairy books – the blue, yellow and violet ones. And the unadulteratedly grim Brothers Grimm, evocative phrases like “avenue of trees”, the now and then alluring English archaisms, the always expected three sisters or sons, the youngest first despised and then victorious.The book that changed me as a teenager A late teenager, at 17, and it was two books nearly simultaneously, both histories. One was Edward Gibbon’s Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, in dazzling prose. The other was Heinrich Graetz’s 19th-century History of the Jews, translated from the German, far out of date but distinctly not dated. (It was revelatory to learn much later that Kafka was immersed in this multivolume work.) Together they gave me a sense of the long and intertwined corridors of the past, and a conviction that a mind shorn of history is vacuous. Continue...

Politics

6 d. ago Abundance by Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson review – make America build again

Over-regulation has rendered progressive change impossible, argue the authors of this clear and rigorous book. But what about the tradeoffs?Every political movement has an image of the past that motivates its view of the future. For conservatives, it might be the imaginary suburbia of a 1950s coffee commercial; for liberals, the solidarity of a New Deal-era Works Progress Administration poster. For Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson, it is the techno-optimism of the 1964 New York World’s Fair “Futurama” exhibit: a vision of commuter flights to the moon, desalinisation turning deserts into farmland, hotels on the ocean floor. In their book, Abundance, they argue for a new politics that unlocks the potential of the remarkable technologies that already exist, as well as those yet to be invented.But that future is behind schedule – and Abundance holds late 20th‑century liberalism responsible. (Klein and Thompson critique the right, too – they are themselves liberals – but this book spea...

Politics

7 d. ago Not one person shows up to man's book signing – then something amazing happens

The power of social media helped one man change his life after he was left sat alone at a book signing, despite "pouring everything" into the book. It's a story that's melted book lovers hearts

Culture

8 d. ago Outlander bosses reveal change they made to Fergus character from Diana Gabaldon books

Outlander fans have been revisiting the series as they eagerly await season eight, with many looking back at the introduction of Fergus Fraser in the hit show.

Politics

9 d. ago Driving test changes as learners warned over '10 day rule' or lose £62

Changes to booking your test come into force on April 8

Events

1 week ago Outlander bosses admit they made huge change to Fergus from the books

Outlander fans have been revisiting the series

Politics

1 week ago Changing My Mind by Julian Barnes review – a manifesto for open

The author’s suite of essays, originally conceived for broadcast, don’t always translate well for the pageJulian Barnes’s latest book comprises five micro-essays, originally commissioned for a radio series a decade ago and repackaged here. The publisher spies an opportunity, perhaps, for something like a manifesto on open-mindedness, with Barnes’s musings the vehicle. Not unreasonable: as the author of 14 novels, winner of the Booker, he knows a thing or two about the power of language: “I believe deeply in words, in their ability to represent thought, define truth, and create beauty. I’m equally aware that words are constantly used for the opposite purposes: to obfuscate truth, misrepresent thought, lie, slander, and provoke hatred.”It follows from this recognition that a clever person ought to be able to rethink old convictions in light of new evidence and life experience – to see one’s misperceptions for what they are and change one’s mind. Call it the virtue ...

Politics

2 w. ago Frontier Airlines makes major bag policy change in jab at Southwest

Frontier announced two deals for passengers booking travel this week in response to Southwest’s policy changes

Events

2 w. ago Major rule change for anyone booking a driving test in bid to cut backlog

The new rule aims to cut down the backlog of test slots as a result of coronavirus lockdowns and industrial action by examiners

Politics

2 w. ago Major DVSA change for learner drivers booking driving tests from next month

The Department for Transport has announced it is changing the notice period for people re-arranging practical driving tests to reduce backlog

Politics

2 w. ago Grand Palladium Kantenah review: 'Why a trip to Mexico changed my mind on booking a family resort holiday'

Our reviewer took a trip to the Grand Palladium Kantenah Resort and Spa, in the Riveria Maya, Mexico - and discovered a new love of a family resort.

Politics

2 w. ago Jess Kidd: ‘My older sister taught me to read with Mills & Boon’

The author on growing up with tales of swooning heroines, the thrill of Dylan Thomas and the genius of George SaundersMy earliest reading memory One of my older sisters taught me to read using Mills & Boon romance novels. I grew up autistic and queer and feel a nostalgic bewilderment about this genre, which at that time was populated by strong heroines who would – predictably but unfathomably – go weak at the knees for their male love interests. Otherwise, we had few books in the house. There are talented storytellers in my family, particularly my mother. I preferred to hide under the stairs and deliver my stories by writing them down.The book that changed me as a teenager Under Milk Wood by Dylan Thomas. I had known it in childhood in the vinyl format, my late father had the Richard Burton recording. Even though it is a play for voices, I found reading the text myself thrilling. I loved the opulence of the language and the narrative range of it. Continue reading...

Events

2 w. ago Baroness Sue Campbell on changing the game – Women’s Football Weekly podcast

Baroness Sue Campbell joins Suzy Wrack and Sophie Downey to discuss her journey and her recent book, The Game ChangerOn today’s podcast, Suzy Wrack and Sophie Downey sit down with Baroness Sue Campbell to talk about her new book, The Game Changer, and her remarkable career in sport. From kicking a ball around in the school playground to leading the transformation of women’s football as the FA’s Director of Women’s Football, Campbell shares the challenges and triumphs of her journey. She discusses her role in the London 2012 Olympics, the importance of grassroots development, and the impact of England’s historic Euro 2022 victory. Plus, Baroness Sue Campbell shares her thoughts on the future of the game and what still needs to be done to ensure lasting progress. Join the Fantasy League this season on FantasyWSL.net. Code GUARDIANWFW.Sign up for our weekly women’s football newsletter – all you need to do is search ‘Moving the Goalposts sign up’ or follow this link. Continue reading...

Sport

3 w. ago Outlander writers explain major Jamie Fraser change away from books

Outlander has made many changes over the years

Politics

3 w. ago Crumble, cookies and madeleines – recipes of hope for Iran’s jailed women

Sepideh Gholian’s diary of prison life came out four years ago. Next month, she will publish a cookbook to honour her fellow inmatesMaziar Bahari used to feel sceptical when people talked of the way that books can change lives. Such statements always seemed like so much hyperbole to him.But when Sepideh Gholian, one of Iran’s most famous political prisoners, came into his life, everything changed. “If anyone wants to know why writing matters, her book is the best example,” says Bahari, a London-based journalist, documentary maker and the founder of the news website IranWire. Continue reading...

Society

3 w. ago ‘I have a pathological need to be right’: Ash Sarkar on culture wars, controversy and Corbyn’s lost legacy

She’s been described as divisive by the left and ‘the Queen of woke’ by the right, but does the journalist’s new book really signal a change in her entire belief system?“You’re not going to believe me when I say this: I’m a conflict-averse person,” says Ash Sarkar. She’s laughing as she says it. Even if I did believe her, a lot of people wouldn’t. Over the past decade, Sarkar has built a reputation for bringing the fight, robustly defending her positions, and generally putting herself in the line of fire – on television panel discussions, on social media and in her journalism (for this paper and as a contributing editor at Novara Media, among others). Even her detractors would admit she’s very good at it, cutting through the politicians’ earnest bluster and articulating what’s on ordinary people’s minds – none of which has endeared her to the rightwing.Now Sarkar has annoyed the leftwing as well. In her new book Minority Rule, she contends that embracing identity politics and cultur...

Events

4 w. ago How new £59 bin fee will work as more than 90,000 Greater Manchester households face new charge

The town hall has made changes to green and blue bins to balance the books.

Economics

4 w. ago The Knowledge | It’s all kicking off! Footballers shown yellow and red cards before games

Plus: more tables as works of art, record numbers of away wins in league matches and 1-11 shirt numbersMail us with your questions and answers“The recent Merseyside derby showed that it’s no longer unusual for a referee to book and send off players and managers after they’ve blown the final whistle,” notes Jason Janduy. “Are there any instances where they’ve shown their cards before the match?”Mykola Kozlenko has this one covered. “The most famous case is probably Patrice Evra, playing for Marseille against Vitória de Guimarães in the Europa League in 2017-18, when he kicked a Marseille fan before the game.”After the final whistle the referee went into both teams’ changing-rooms and retrospectively booked every player who hadn’t already been booked, for dissent. One player was in hospital at that stage, having sustained a nasty cut to his head, but he got booked as well. Another player couldn’t go to the game at all, so found someone else to play instead of him using his name. He wa...

Sport