Highlights
Art
The Bayeux Tapestry and the continuing allure of all that Norman wisdom
The great tapestry has returned to the land of its birth and can be seen in the British Museum. How could this not be a moment to savour?
The stolen Nazi artworks, the AfD and antisemitic stereotypes
Germany has made it easier for families to reclaim artworks stolen by the Nazis. But it looks as if the AfD has other plans
The strange beauty of London in flames
The extraordinary exhibition that shows how artists found the humanity and horror in a city under siege
The Bayeux Tapestry’s medieval message for our times
Back in Britain for the first time in nearly 1,000 years, it has much to say about faith, nationalism and the apparent magic of AI
What happened to Marisol, the celebrity artist who disappeared?
Silent as a child, she was feted by Warhol and the press before vanishing at the height of her fame
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
Books
The 1935 book which predicted Trump’s $5,000 dividend
Sinclair Lewis’s 1935 novel It Can’t Happen Here depicted a future US in which a fascist came to power promising a $5,000 yearly stipend
The strange rise of ‘Suicidal Empathy’
The latest far right theory turns compassion into weakness and cruelty into common sense
Apocalypse wow: The American right wingers rooting for doomsday
Naomi Klein and Astra Taylor’s End Times Fascism explores the religious fanatics and tech billionaires who see catastrophe as an opportunity
The fiery feminist book I can’t stop thinking about
Natasha Walter’s Feminism for a World on Fire has convinced me to leave my lane – it’s the most vital book of the year
Books are the key to understanding the world. That’s why Putin wants to burn them
Putin wants an all-out attack on Ukraine’s culture – and on the things that make life bearable in horrific times
Robert Harris’s new Roman epic is bloody good
Fact and fiction blend in a gripping and brutal tale of war and ambition
Music
Bill Evans and the trouble with the tortured genius myth
A new biopic of the great jazz pianist who died too soon neatly sidesteps music biopic cliches
Noor Inayat Khan, the pacifist turned wartime secret agent
She parachuted into occupied France as an SOE radio operator. The statue of her in London was the first monument to an Asian woman anywhere in Britain
The eternal life of Ian Curtis and Joy Division
How one photographer helped create the image of the band that we still believe
Boney of contention: disco legends at war over Reform conference show
The 1970s group are engaged in a war of words after one iteration performed at Reform’s conference in Birmingham at the weekend
Why does Hollywood keep getting the Beatles wrong?
The answer is that no one can possibly play the Fab Four as well as they played themselves
Goodbye Dolly Parton, my favourite feminist and ultimate ally
The epitome of acceptance and joy, she was a protector for anyone ever felt unseen, unloved or unsafe
Film
A new film about Elon Musk reveals him as so awful it’s almost tragic. Almost
Four hours is a long time to spend inside the mind of the world’s richest man – and that’s because his mind turns out to be a twisted, miserable nightmare
What we need to learn from the uncut, unforgettable Derek Jarman
Inspiring long-lost footage of the indie pioneer shows how film-making can be political, passionate and daringly creative
Slavoj Žižek is the perfect philosopher for the Trump, AI, climate catastrophe era – but he probably hates you
Controversial, dizzyingly erudite and defiantly European, is the world finally catching up with the Slovenian thinker?
Bill Evans and the trouble with the tortured genius myth
A new biopic of the great jazz pianist who died too soon neatly sidesteps music biopic cliches
Emily Maitlis’s diary: As I was saying to George Clooney just the other day…
EXCLUSIVE: The New World’s new diarist goes behind the scenes at a star-studded event in Venice
Why we will always cling on to Robin Hood
The legend has survived centuries, power ballads and Mel Brooks because it speaks deeply to our concept of Englishness
Theatre
Cate Blanchett’s role-swapping reunion with Nina Hoss is an audacious triumph
Electra/Persona merges Sophocles and Bergman with enthralling results
Sandra Oh kills it in a West End show of rare power
A modern update of Molière’s The Misanthrope sees the Killing Eve star battling conformity and cancellation
Gary Oldman’s Beckett masterclass
The Slow Horses star follows Gambon and Hurt in Krapp’s Last Tape – and outshines them both
Was Andy Kaufman the most creative comedian of all time?
The Taxi star revelled in creating chaos and confusion
What if Thatcher had been assassinated?
A stage adaptation of Hilary Mantel’s book about an killer and the Tory PM questions both violent rhetoric and violence itself
Has Jacob Rees-Mogg really been banned from ‘woke’ theatres?
The former cabinet minster moans theatres won’t stage his one-man show because they’re woke. Might it be because they’d struggle to sell tickets?
Great Lives
Hiroshi Yamauchi, the unlikely genius behind Nintendo
The fiercely ambitious businessman turned a family playing-card business into a global entertainment empire – by spotting talent and betting on the future
Noor Inayat Khan, the pacifist turned wartime secret agent
She parachuted into occupied France as an SOE radio operator. The statue of her in London was the first monument to an Asian woman anywhere in Britain
The kiss that turned Michael K Williams into Omar
The actor poured his vulnerability into The Wire’s most celebrated character – with devastating consequences
BKS Iyengar, the ferocious gentleman of yoga
He built a global philosophy of physical freedom – but demanded absolute commitment
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
Inside the wild film flop that unlocked Robin Williams
Robert Altman’s Popeye was a disaster – until it wasn’t