Highlights
Art
Art across the UK/China divide
As geopolitical tensions rise, a new generation of artists is quietly rewriting the script
Lee Miller beyond the bathtub
Everyone knows the famous image of the photographer in Hitler’s bath. But her lesser-known work is equally compelling
Colour against the cold in south Norway
In a former grain silo, two pioneering abstract artists’ visions of warmth and peace
The last remnants of Palestinian culture
While Donald Trump may have forged a ceasefire, an exhibition at Paris’s Institut du Monde Arabe outlines the cultural vandalism Palestinians have suffered
A tragic radical’s search for meaning
Ketty La Rocca’s early death brought a sudden halt to her witty, melancholy outsider art
Colditz goes hi-tech
The wartime PoW camp has gone interactive and now its high-tech memorials offer both a reminder and a warning to its visitors
Books
Anemone is a seriously accomplished debut
This film is a fine addition to Daniel Day-Lewis’s body of work, one of the greatest in cinema
When climate fiction stops being fiction
As Cop30 approaches, apocalyptic visions look more everyday than ever
Reading is the new resistance
In this age of rage, books restore to us what algorithms have removed – the ability to think as others think
Charlie Kirk and the end of my Sgt Pepper dead celeb montages
The far right activist’s assassination was the catalyst for an artist drawing a line under his annual memorial project
Is the universe conscious? Philip Pullman thinks so…
It’s fun to entertain the possibility of panpsychism – that all the physical things around you have some level of experience. But that doesn’t mean it’s how reality works
Lord of the Wrongs: What Musk gets wrong about Tolkien and Orwell
The far right tech guru is supposed to be a genius – so why does he misunderstand the books he loves?
Music
Riot Women is the most important show of the year
Sally Wainwright’s punk requiem for the invisible offers a loud argument that rage can bring change
An Iranian exile’s rebellion in sound
Nava Golchini dreams of the day she can go home and perform. Gabbeh, her debut album as NAVA, turns hyperpop into protest
Leonard Cohen, the poet laureate of gloom
His fans love his humour, his cheerful self-deprecation, his gritty gentleness, his ability to make sense of the brittleness of the world
When punk took on the National Front
Rock Against Racism’s joyous free concerts beat back the far right in 1970s Britain. That defiant blend of politics and music remains an inspiration – but its playbook may be obsolete
Lily Allen and the lie of Ethical Non-Monogamy
The singer’s remarkable new album West End Girl reveals a world in which women are gaslit into accepting their partners cheating
Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere is music to your ears
Scott Cooper’s superior biopic is a nuanced and absorbing account of a very particular cultural and personal moment in time
Film
Anemone is a seriously accomplished debut
This film is a fine addition to Daniel Day-Lewis’s body of work, one of the greatest in cinema
Are the movies finally getting mental illness right?
Starting with Jennifer Lawrence’s Die My Love, a new wave of women-led films is showing what it really means to come undone
Is it time Emma Stone and Yorgos Lanthimos got divorced?
Bugonia is their fifth film together, and for some, the magic is wearing thin
Are these the best horror films ever made?
From The Shining to Get Out, here’s our editor-at-large’s guide of what to watch this Halloween
Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere is music to your ears
Scott Cooper’s superior biopic is a nuanced and absorbing account of a very particular cultural and personal moment in time
Why nuclear war movies are blowing up
Kathryn Bigelow’s excellent thriller A House of Dynamite is part of a mushrooming trend
Theatre
This Othello is a tour de force
At the heart of Tom Morris’s brilliant production is Toby Jones’s astonishing performance of Iago. It is, by far, the best I’ve ever seen
The Line of Beauty is dazzling and devastating
There’s more humanity in this standout play about Thatcher’s Britain than in the decade itself
Mary Page Marlowe is a boring waste of Susan Sarandon
Despite the star power, it’s hard to feel engaged or uplifted by a self-indulgent snooze
Remember this name: Hiran Abeysekera is going to be a star
This Hamlet is an unignorable feat of acting genius
The Smashing Machine’s Dwayne Johnson is nothing short of a revelation
The former professional wrestler has proved himself a screen performer to be taken very seriously indeed
Joe Orton: Still entertaining, no longer dangerous
Once shocking, Mr Sloane now feels quaint – but still fun
Great Lives
Leonard Cohen, the poet laureate of gloom
His fans love his humour, his cheerful self-deprecation, his gritty gentleness, his ability to make sense of the brittleness of the world
Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha, the football club owner who made dreams come true
The Thai duty-free magnate bought Leicester City and brought it the most unlikely title in English football history
Junko Tabei, the first woman to conquer Everest
Discouraged by the sexism she’d suffered in mountain climbing circles, Tabei took matters into her own hands
Thomas Sankara, the hopeful leader whose country proved ungrateful
It was a dedication to nature and equality that led to Sankara’s bloody removal
Emilie Schindler, one half of a team of equals
It was Emilie who organised the move of their factory to Brünnlitz, Czechoslovakia, one which would lead to the saving of 1,200 lives
David McCallum, the enigmatic star who wouldn’t be pinned down
From The Man From UNCLE to NCIS, the Scottish actor defied typecasting to become a global star and a fixture of television history