Podcast Episode · The New Society | culture from the New Statesman · 26 September · 51min

Imagine the UK with a 20-year investment plan, with green homes and fast transport. We already have the tools to make it happen, says Green party politician Jamie Driscoll

“There may come a time where we are one of the only, if not the only, option for the nation.”

Writers and Guardian readers discuss the titles they have read over the last month. Join the conversation in the comments

An interview with Louise Erdrich about her new collection, "Python's Kiss."

This tale of a 60s college dropout driving across the US to avoid being sent to Vietnam is committed to both readerly pleasure and literary artifice

Patrick Radden Keefe’s ‘London Falling’ and Anand Gopal’s ‘Days of Love and Rage’ are joined by four works of biography, from Alexander the Great to James Baldwin

Six writers are in contention for the £10,000 books prize, which celebrates fiction that ‘breaks the mould or extends the possibilities of the novel form’

A journalist charts a quarter century of geopolitical hubris and economic overreach

This tale of broken hearts and broken people moves from the Troubles of 70s Northern Ireland to an unforgiving London of squats and payphones

From the Beatles and the World Cup to racism and homophobia, the latest instalment in Kynaston’s series captures a society in the throes of change

Her Troubles-set debut became a hit TV series starring Gillian Anderson. Now the novelist has returned to her teen years for a follow-up. She talks about her journey from chef to author, and how her c...

Is the price of stability necessarily the loss of freedom? Two possible future worlds are linked in the new novel from the author of Station Eleven

El Niño poses critical threat to nations’ defences, says Ed Miliband in presentation to global foreign ministers

This revelatory history shows just how deeply embedded slavery is in the foundations of modern Britain

This recklessly ambitious doorstopper follows the 16 days of England’s medieval uprising from a vast array of viewpoints, and in startlingly rich prose

China Miéville’s first solo novel in over a decade is part Lovecraft, part le Carré—and quintessentially weird.

Ineos founder Sir Jim Ratcliffe tells the BBC he thinks the country is "on the slide" and calls for more investment in the North Sea.

Looking for a new reading recommendation? Here are some great new paperbacks, from an epic multigenerational saga by a Booker winner to a biography of an iconic Victorian poet

I have spent weeks shadowing lifeboat crews. Here's what they do and what it's like.

The Palestinian Columbia student snatched by ICE writes about his Kafkaesque ordeal with a quiet fury

Part spoken-word poem, part journalistic meditation, this is an inventive, tender novel of a songwriter’s journey through love and loss in London

The Emmy award-winning actor joined WNK to speak about her advocacy for Palestine, why AI in Hollywood is “idiotic,” and explains why Canada actually isn’t that much better than the U.S.

Eugene Brennan reflects on Elaine Mokhtefi’s memoir of her years with the Black Panthers in Algeria.

One of the biggest upheavals in a millennium is on its way, strengthened by the climate crisis. We need leaders who make things better not worse, says climate professor Bill McGuire

Twenty years in the writing, this paranormal epic of cold war espionage and family tragedy is a quantum leap in terms of ambition and moral seriousness

The whole damn system is wrong

The Felicity Complex, August Clarke (Erewhon 978-1-64566-117-7, $28.00, 320pp, hc) July 2026. Specimen 679-b lives in a vat. It swims in a serum of unknown composition and purpose. It has tubes going into its arms and throat. To alleviate boredom, it plays a game in which it stares at a lightbulb until its retinas burn (they get better) or smashes its head against the glass to bring the doctors running. …Read More

A sharp analysis of the damage wrought by the reckless super-rich, and progressive toolkit for repairing it

Her hit novel Station Eleven seemed to predict the pandemic, now the novelist is tackling the future of the US. She talks about chance, world-building and experiencing a ‘tiny bit’ of clairvoyance

It turned out that my music had never left me. It had been stolen, yes, but not stolen away. I had simply never been free to play it . . . When Arthur…

She’s tackled neoliberalism and the digital world, now the writer and activist is taking on tech billionaires. She explains how the super-rich are capitalising on climate and financial chaos in pursui...

Massif by Garth Nix; Revolution in the Heart: Stories Inspired By Ursula K Le Guin edited by Jonathan Strahan; An Immaculate Deception by Isabela Livino; Serenity Falls by CJ Tudor

With a character inspired by Wittgenstein, this exploration of the mysteries of the universe draws on multiple philosophical traditions

My days of spending most of my wages on books are over. I have enough books on my eReader to last two lifetimes. So I won't be reading The Rouse until I can get the ebook on a good deal. However I abs...

Time for a brand-new adventure from the Gideon the Ninth author.