Notebooks

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Hans Aarsleff and the uses of error

The intellectual legacy of the Danish-born scholar shows that 'error' is a good word in the historian's lexicon.

Samuel Rubinstein July 6, 2026

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The Democrats’ narrow path back to power

The president's party almost always loses the midterms. The interesting question is what comes next. Can the Democrats resist the leftward lurch that cost them in 1972?

Luke A. Nichter July 6, 2026

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Ivy Compton-Burnett’s forgotten genius

Ivy Compton-Burnett's unique novels have slipped out of the canon, but this true one-off deserves a place alongside contemporaries such as Evelyn Waugh.

Nigel Andrew July 3, 2026

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Australia needs a tragic statesman

Throughout Australian history, few leaders have understood geopolitical tragedy. The optimism-bias of the 'lucky country' leaves it ill-equipped to deal with an increasingly volati..

Iain MacGillivray July 2, 2026

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A World Cup in Rinus Michels’ image

The Dutch master's revolution has conquered football so completely that almost every major footballing nation aspires to play in his style.

Paul Lay July 1, 2026

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Drone warfare with a moral code

Recent innovations in artificial intelligence may make it possible to train autonomous weapons systems to act with a moral compass on the battlefield, but human oversight must be m..

David Omand June 30, 2026

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Hubertus Czernin put Austria on trial

Through his rigorous archival work and sense of moral duty, the Austrian investigative journalist Hubertus Czernin was able to confront his country's complicity in the horrors of t..

Katherine Simms June 29, 2026

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Britain’s other age of instability

The late-18th-century British political system was shaken by a series of domestic and imperial crises, unleashing a period of turbulence only settled by a prime minister who combin..

Max Skjönsberg June 29, 2026

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On the craze for eating God’s way

The new craze for biblical eating has roots in two centuries of American Christian food culture.

Zoe Strimpel June 26, 2026