Notebooks

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

The great British pub has finally re-opened in England

In an era of social distancing, the city is stripped of its landscape of adventure and danger, its quality of ‘sheer life’.

What is odd is how many politicians are seemingly unable to grasp the meanings of the songs they choose in their campaigns.

The American spirit of optimism has largely disappeared. But could it be making a comeback in the shape of a new space race?

Grand Neolithic shafts uncovered near Stonehenge remind us of the fleeting nature of even the most impressive human projects.

The mantra ‘following the science’ has become a commonplace of the coronavirus vocabulary.