In the long-term, what probably matters more is the continued decline of Five Star and the continued rise of another party Fratelli d'Italia (Brothers of Italy), led by Giorgia Meloni (pictured). Credit: Getty

01/27/2020 - 12:26pm

The real story from Italy’s election The 'Brothers of Italy' surged, and look like a potential new Salvini partner

Hungary is ahead of the curve on population policy Large parts of the world are facing a demographic crisis

Saturday, January 25

Going vegan will not save the planet The system of resource extraction remains environmentally destructive

Mary Harrington

Friday, January 24

I disagree with the Church about sex, but I’m not leaving Ambivalence about the church you are a member of is not disloyalty, it is maturity

The Joe Rogan endorsement is a big win for Bernie Critics of the YouTube star overlook his anti-establishment appeal

OK Lisa Nandy, I’ll give you my vote The Wigan MP is the least uninspiring of the Labour leadership candidates

Time to introduce virtue into AI ethics Could courage, or love, or patience, be part of ‘ethical data’?

Elizabeth Oldfield

Thursday, January 23

Audio: Giles Fraser meets geneticist Adam Rutherford The author and scientist tackles the difficult topic of race and science

France still sees itself as the Protector of Catholicism The Macron row shows that France takes religion more seriously than Britain

Tyler Cowen is pulling on a dangerous thread The economist's new ideological framework is missing a moral dimension

Wednesday, January 22

Two cheers for the Welsh smacking ban The ruling raises questions about where parental authority should give way to the state

Mary Harrington

China’s coronavirus will not be the next Black Death The swift response shows the world has learned from its past failures

When sensitive language stops helping There comes a point at which arguments over words become a substitute for deeds

Tuesday, January 21

Casting ethnic minority actors in period roles is political It wasn't the best example, but Laurence Fox has a point

Should we send the Lords up north? Moving the House of Lords, while leaving the House of Commons in London, doesn't make much sense

Tony Hall leaves the BBC with an uncertain future The Director-General achieved many things, but his record is not all positive

Monday, January 20

The new ‘Orthodox Conservatives’ are missing a trick A new youth pressure group has set out its core values, but there are some glaring omissions

Mary Harrington

Audio: how bad is Viktor Orban? Phillip Blond and Peter Franklin take opposing views on the virtues of the Hungarian regime

The sixteenth century roots of Gwyneth Paltrow’s candle A new book reveals how our attitude to smell was set relatively recently

Saturday, January 18

How Jesuit missionaries invented spin The cultural legacy of 16th and 17th century missionaries in Brazil and India is still with us today

Mary Harrington

Friday, January 17

In praise of hereditary politicians What if meritocracy is a bad idea and we're better off with hereditary politicians?

Anne Brontë, the forgotten sister who was ahead of her time Anne Brontë, who died 200 years ago today, was more radical than either of her sisters

No, Guy Verhofstadt, citizenship is not a Netflix subscription The latest idea from the EU is part of a wider loss of the importance place

Thursday, January 16

Leavers, not Remainers, deserted Labour in 2019 A spurious claim is being made by some in the party to deflect criticism over the second referendum pledge

The dark side of digital money The end of cash poses a potential threat to personal autonomy

There’s not going to be a Tsar Putin The Russian president's constitutional proposals have been widely misinterpreted

Wednesday, January 15

WATCH: Tributes to the Beast of Bolsover led by Conservatives Tory MP Mark Fletcher paid homage to Dennis Skinner in his maiden speech

Elites don’t preach what they practise Marriage has, paradoxically, become a status-signal and a luxury of the wealthy

WATCH: The most significant moment from last night’s Democrat Debate Billionaire Tom Steyer overtly chose to prioritise the climate over working people

Nudge off: Is the end in sight for behavioural economics? One of the most influential ideas of the 2010s is facing a backlash

Tuesday, January 14

Amazon’s predatory tactics spread to India The company's expansion threatens the livelihood of ordinary people

Mary Harrington

Maybe Lisa Nandy has a chance after all The Wigan MP has a plan to win, and it's not a bad one