Notebooks

Notebooks are snapshots from our writers, reflecting on current affairs and underappreciated aspects of culture and history.

Image of Ahmad Shah Massoud on a wall in Kabul

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A contested Afghanistan could be even worse

Imagine if Jihad in Afghanistan became again a rallying call for Mujahideen the world over to come and defend the Taliban’s victory.

Suzanne Raine August 24, 2021

Gareth Southgate after missing his penalty during the European Championship Finals semi final between England and Germany at Wembley, on June 26, 1996. Germany won the match on penalties.

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Football’s rhetoric of suffering

Today’s players and managers frame football as a process of pious struggle, vacillating between anguish and redemption. In the wake of Covid-19, can football maintain its self-pity..

Josh Mcloughlin August 20, 2021

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Drunk and disorderly: Michelangelo’s Bacchus

Whether an inspiring portrayal of inebriation’s ‘divine madness,’ a study of alcoholic dissipation, or a controversial depiction of same-sex desire, the sculptor’s statue has divid..

Alexander Lee August 11, 2021

A Lebanese protester chants wearing a mask from Spanish crime show 'The Heist'.

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Goodbye, Bella Ciao

Bella Ciao has been co-opted by activists and corporations the world over. Does Italy's most famous protest song deserve a beautiful goodbye?

Tobias Jones August 3, 2021

Detail of Woman with Collar from A Lady and Gentleman in Black by Rembrandt Harmensz van Rijn. Credit: Burstein Collection/Corbis/VCG via Getty Images

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In praise of Rembrandt’s ruffs

In Rembrandt's ruffs, past and present are woven into linen and lace.

John Phipps July 23, 2021

Poster produced by London & North Eastern Railway (LNER) to promote rail travel to Scarborough.

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More than a bandstand

Derelict bandstands are a symbol of a lost age of Victorian optimism. It's time to recapture their zeal in improving civic life.

James Hardie July 22, 2021

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Cubans are losing their fear

The digital revolution has given pressed Cuban protesters confidence to shake off complacency. That ought to make the regime afraid for its survival.

Anthony DePalma July 15, 2021

Billboard of Netflix show Jane the Virgin.

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Jane the Virgin: Metafictional telenovela par excellence

Netflix show Jane the Virgin's deep engagement with Latin American and Spanish literature and the telenovela form makes it one of the most intellectually interesting TV series in r..

Josh Mcloughlin July 15, 2021

Couple resting by the sea of ice near Chamonix in the Alps

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Chamonix’s Sea of Ice — warning to a warming world

Chamonix's Sea of Ice, deep in the Alpes profondes, once a magnificent spectacle, has become a mere torrent of greyish stones and detritus.

Agnès Poirier July 13, 2021