Notebooks

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Fighting the good fight

Culture wars are as old as politics itself – and far from being inauthentic confections, they cut to the heart of real, living disagreements about history, identity, nationhood and..

Dominic Sandbrook April 13, 2021

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In praise of music’s uselessness

Let's do away with moralising about music and take pure pleasure in the work of composers of the past.

Mahan Esfahani April 6, 2021

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More than the sum of our parts

Our enduring fascination with celebrity body parts reminds us of the frailty of being human.

Fergus Butler-Gallie March 31, 2021

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Ernest Benn against the Census and the forces of Bumbledom

As Britons fulfil their Census obligations this week, they'll do well to take a note from Sir Ernest Benn's libertarian resistance to bureaucracy.

Alastair Benn March 26, 2021

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Rodin’s eternal peace

The brief re-opening of the Rodin Museum’s gardens gave Parisians a bewitching respite from their everyday cares.

Agnès Poirier March 25, 2021

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The original women in STEM

Women played a vital role in the early history of botany - let's not reduce their contribution to kitsch romance.

Francesca Peacock March 17, 2021

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In search of Proustian little moments that make life worthwhile

As Proust noted, our incremental memories of the world are the foundation of our lives – but where have they gone?

Alastair Benn March 12, 2021

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The lost art of listening

It is a commonplace saying that we must listen more. But in our noisy world it takes a lot of skill and energy.

Tobias Jones March 12, 2021

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Life in Venice

Online exhibitions have nothing on the living art of Venice. Seeing its Renaissance beauty again is pure joy.

Agnès Poirier March 5, 2021