The end of Putin is at last on the table – but we must be sceptical
An oligarch’s way out of war would give Russia and its dictator an easy ride, and may yet prove to be a con
Highlights
What the hell has happened to John Cleese?
The genius comedian backs Rupert Lowe and shares racist memes – he’s turning into Basil Fawlty
What have they done with all of Clacton’s young people?
A day trip to Farageland turned into a hunt for the voters Reform has forgotten
Good god, man. Are you trying to get me shot?
James Ellroy is back to thrill and torment us with Red Sheet. Just don’t ask him about Trump ... and mind how you dress
In this edition
Everyday philosophy: The philosopher who couldn’t save Boris Johnson
Anthony Kenny saw the future PM’s flaws close-up at Oxford University
Letter of the week: We should fear a world without reading
Write to letters@thenewworld.co.uk to have your views voiced in the magazine
Modern Toss’s Tossary: Chirpalert
Alastair Campbell’s diary: My Muskpuppet moment with ruddy idiot Rupert Lowe
The thin-skinned MP made a fool of himself on radio by refusing to recognise King Charles as white British
Are you over 45 and female? Sorry, you’re not getting a job
New recruiting processes are sidelining accomplished women at what should be the very peak of their careers
Applying for a job with Steven Bartlett – very odd and very revealing
The podcaster and digital marketing man has an unusual hiring style, during which a candidate will learn just as much about him as he does about them
Why Trump could order Microsoft to kill Office 365
He’s done it before – will the president tell another US tech firm to shut down one of its biggest platforms?
Nic Aubury’s poem: How Did We Get Here?
The woman who’s too dangerous for her own supporters
A Moroccan activist named Betty has ended up in jail. Male activists get public outcry and petitions of support – but not her. She gets silence
Germansplaining: The latest weapon against drone attack – bus drivers
He got out from behind the wheel, went over the hovering drone and kicked it to the ground. Do not try this at home
The media calls the Thetford mob ‘protesters’. That’s letting rioters off the hook
Language matters in reporting. From ‘legitimate concerns’ to ‘angry, frustrated locals’, our press is downplaying racism and violence
This is the real reason supermarkets force you to use their loyalty cards
You think you’re getting a great deal on that meal – but it’s the shop that gets the bargain
Tim Bradford’s cartoon: Infantino – The Opera
The end of Putin is at last on the table – but we must be sceptical
An oligarch’s way out of war would give Russia and its dictator an easy ride, and may yet prove to be a con
The Mail and the right will hate it – but this is the way Burnham can end our prisons crisis
Sending far fewer women to jail and treating addicts and the mentally ill with dignity is the kind of fresh thinking the new PM has promised
What the hell has happened to John Cleese?
The genius comedian backs Rupert Lowe and shares racist memes – he’s turning into Basil Fawlty
Burnham looks abroad for answers to Britain’s toughest challenges
The new No 10 shows more interest than the last in copying good ideas from around the world
The rise of the digital pimp
It used to be that online sex work was safer than the in-person kind. But not any more
How outsiders built the American city
A generation of immigrants and their descendants chronicled an urban revolution
What have they done with all of Clacton’s young people?
A day trip to Farageland turned into a hunt for the voters Reform has forgotten
Translating obituary euphemisms: a helpful guide
When a newspaper describes a recently dead person as ‘forthright’ or ‘eccentric’, here’s what they really mean
Good god, man. Are you trying to get me shot?
James Ellroy is back to thrill and torment us with Red Sheet. Just don’t ask him about Trump ... and mind how you dress
Welcome to Hollywood’s new age of feminine nostalgia
Sequels for The Devil Wears Prada, Practical Magic, The Princess Diaries and Romy & Michele show the industry waking up to the idea that women go to films too
The murderer who painted Shakespeare
Artist Richard Dadd stabbed to death the father he loved – then spent 42 years producing remarkable work inside the hospital known as Bedlam
Linger on: the strange afterlife of the Velvet Underground
A definitive new history settles decades of myths about the ultimate cult band – but are some mysteries better left unresolved?
The very British cult of M&S food
As traditional markers of middle-class stability crumble, the food hall provides a fantasy of a happier, richer country
Ricky Gervais’s Alley Cats is even worse than you thought
The Netflix cartoon is profoundly reactionary, bombastic and mawkish
Can films fight fascism? Mark Cousins thinks so
The director and critic returns with more episodes of his new epic The Story of Documentary Film
The dishes that made Anthony Bourdain
Tony, a new biopic of the celebrity chef’s early years, cuts through the sanctimony and myth
The grotesque show trial of Anthony Fauci
The White House’s chief medical adviser was not perfect during Covid, but science must resist his persecution by conspiracy-deranged Republicans
Why did Babe Ruth’s rivals think he was black?
Baseball’s biggest star was the subject of racist insults at a time when black players were banned from the game
Reform’s hypocrisy over former neo-Nazi Tory candidate
Reform decried Kemi Badenoch’s support for Joshua Bonehill-Paine – despite contacting him this year to see if he would stand for them
Scandal-hit professor Jason Arday’s autobiography is about to come out – and it has a highly embarrassing title
The book is supposed to be published in just three weeks, with review copies already out
Express headlines paused for breaking news: the press watchdog says they’re inaccurate
The paper has been rapped for its absurd headlines claiming BBC programming had been halted for some important news
Jeremy Clarkson reaps what he sows (literally)
The TV farmer worries that his harvest is ‘fucked’. Has he met the Sunday Times columnist who has rubbished all efforts to combat climate change?
The Telegraph turns on Rupert Lowe’s race rhetoric – but who triggered it?
The paper has attacked the Restore leader’s ‘despicable extremism’, but neglected to mention where his oddly specific claims about the UK’s demographics came from
Why do musicians still call violins and cellos ‘fiddles’?
The strange journey of a word that dates back at least eight centuries
Burnham’s How To Fail episode teaches us all a lesson
The new PM says his biggest lessons have been learned in defeat. He’s right, and we have become too quick to dismiss politicians the moment they stumble