It’s the Christmas edition of our magazine this week, and of course, it is full of great reading, interest and fun at the end of a year best described as testing.
I like to think this edition is a good example of what we’ve been trying to do all year: bring you challenging, provocative, entertaining and witty journalism that actually sets out to achieve something positive – not just bleating on about nonsense values, but delivering concrete thoughts about some of the hardest questions we face.
And doing it with a sense of wit and verve.
The cover by Martin Rowson is a case in point; your TV listings guide for Christmas Day, shorn of any left-wing bias.
Then there’s Alastair Campbell’s diary – calling out the total hypocrisy of Trump’s so-called love of free speech.
I don’t think anybody has tracked Trump’s 12 months in office with as much insight and erudition as Matthew d’Ancona, here in the pages of the magazine of which he is editor-at-large. This year’s sign-off piece – Citizen Trump – is a delight.
Idiosyncrasy is part of our recipe; and there’s no more idiosyncratic column in British journalism than our wonderful Tanit Koch’s Germansplaining. How Germans are getting along with plant-based meat alternatives is a classic of the genre.
There’s a reason we begin every magazine with a piece from one of the greatest popularisers of philosophy in the country: Nigel Warburton. It’s because we believe journalism by journalists is best augmented by journalism by experts. To be honest, every week I read Nigel, I feel my understanding of us as a species is a little bit deeper. I hope you do too.
Patience Wheatcroft dismantles that dangerous fraud Tommy Robinson and his claims to a religious awakening, while Andrew Brown – one of the country’s foremost writers on religion – delves into the complicated relationship between MAGA and the American Pope Leo.
We also enjoy a touch of savage humour. For our end-of-year round-up, Henry Morris spares nobody. And in every case, the savagery is well-deserved.
In our culture section, Sophia Deboick remembers Fanny Cradock, Simon Barnes explains angels, Jamie Klingler appreciates Aimee Lou Wood and John Bleasdale makes the case for the ultimate Christmas movie … no, not Die Hard – The Shining.
Rashmee Roshan Lall visits Bethlehem and Katherine Cooper explains the Icelandic tradition of jólabókaflóðið. It’s not as painful as it looks.
We have science from Philip Ball, etymology from Peter Trudgill and our very own dilettante, Marie Le Conte, on Bonnie Blue’s conversion to Reform. She’s a good fit; as one joker observed, what she did to 1,000 men, Farage intends to do to an entire country.
It’s been a privilege to keep you supplied with great journalism all year. My small team and I thank you for your support, and we look forward to picking up where we left off on December 30.
