Notebooks

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

A man searches for a book outside a shop in Cecil Court.

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The new bibliomaniacs

Rare book collecting is booming. Young people raised in the digital age are seeking tangible connections to the past.

Kristine Roome May 28, 2026

A woman walks in front of anti-American propaganda in Tehran.

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Has Iran won the war by not losing?

Iran's survival strategy has leveraged a form of warfare grounded in geo-economic calculation.

Ibrahim Al-Marashi and Tanya Goudsouzian May 27, 2026

A poster for the 2026 edition of the Cannes film festival.

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Cannes and the language of exile

The 2026 edition of the Cannes film festival suggests that Europe’s defining cultural figure may no longer be a rooted national artist but a divided intellectual speaking in severa..

Agnès Poirier May 23, 2026

Chinese President Xi Jinping holds a welcome ceremony for Russian President Vladimir Putin.

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Putin at the court of the Celestial Emperor

The two great land empires of Asia have long had a relationship based on asymmetric dependency and rivalry. Putin's homage to Xi Jinping's court is a reversion to an ancient type.

Owen Matthews May 22, 2026

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The politics of provocative opera

Discarding canonical operas because they might discomfort modern audiences does a disservice to the complexities of art.

Alexandra Wilson May 22, 2026

Pro-Russian mural in Donetsk, occupied Ukraine.

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Surviving Russia’s surveillance state

Russia's sophisticated system of repression in occupied Ukraine must force resistance to adapt.

Jade McGlynn May 21, 2026

A post-war advert for the Chelsea Flower Show in Punch Magazine.

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The peculiar magic of the English garden

The Chelsea Flower Show, with its blend of horticultural excellence and barely controlled chaos, captures something eccentric and loveable about the English garden.

Daisy Dunn May 19, 2026