Conquest’s Second Law tells us to treat any bureaucracy as if controlled by a cabal of its enemies. I know it’s supposed to be a joke, but if you were a hostile nation trying to inflame British streets, this is exactly what you’d dream of doing.

“So this is how a celestial series ends: not with a bang, but with a whimper.” The final part of Philip Pullman’s Book of Dust is out today. A real honour to write about it for @ftweekend.com: a real disappointment to the soul to come to this conclusion. www.ft.com/content/cb18...

You don’t actually have to both sides this. The Jewish community in the UK is not the Israeli government. You can just condemn the murder of two British Jews killed in their place of worship and you don’t have to say a single other thing.

Kneecap trades on the disapproval of its institutional elders, writes @katemaltby.bsky.social ➡️ Read more: inews.co.uk/opinion/knee...

Today's column in @theipaper.com. Catholicism teaches that you can't opt out of a vocation, so the papacy is for life. But questions will haunt the coming conclave about whether Popes can or should retire. What does that mean for Rome's wider attitudes to life & death? inews.co.uk/opinion/pope...

As many of you know, this weekend marked the last edition of the old Observer as a publication of the Scott Trust. It was a honour to have a column in the final edition, on Medea, Snow White, and the inevitable witchiness of wicked stepmothers. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

It is a truth universally acknowledged that the boiler and the electrics will blow on the Easter weekend.

The United States of America in 2025, everybody.

Latest column for The Stage: Broadway critics can be a vital counterpoint to West End groupthink. (Or why Jesse Green was right about Sarah Snook in The Picture of Dorian Gray.) www.thestage.co.uk/opinion/over...

This week’s column @theipaper.com (which I actually wrote last week.) A painful piece to write and not done lightly. inews.co.uk/opinion/isra...

Hungarian lawmakers are voting today on a constitutional amendment that would ban #Pride and legally recognise only two sexes, among other measures. We condemn this as a blatant violation of human rights in #Hungary: www.theguardian.com/world/2025/a...

New research shows the growing problem of censorship in school libraries, following my @indexoncensorship.org investigation. This problem isn’t going away. Currently, there’s no requirement for schools to even have libraries, let alone policies to support librarians.

In case you’re listening to the BBC Today Programme on Radio 4, I’ll be on at about 8.45 to talk about… Katy Perry going into space with Jeff Bezos’ fiancée. (And why it may not be exactly a feminist achievement.)

From a couple of weeks ago…

“The question of who controls the soundscape at any collective experience is a question about who has power; who feels untouchable.” (Chicken Jockey!) www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

On Sam Mendes’ Beatles, ‘participatory culture’, and the rash of premature fan responses. Late to post, but here’s yesterday’s column for The Observer. www.theguardian.com/music/2025/a...

"JD Vance's free speech hypocrisy is a threat to Starmer - and the UK" This week's column at the i inews.co.uk/opinion/jd-v...

"What we have in common with each other, and with every other human being who has set foot on these islands, is no more and no less than our experience of place." Latest column: on stamps, selkies, and a patriotism based on place, not race. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

I also have a column @thestage.co.uk on Trump's takeover of the Kennedy Center & the ethical questions it raises for UK producers. Cameron Mackintosh's Les Miserables is sticking with an upcoming run at the Kennedy Centre. But where will UK artists draw the line? www.thestage.co.uk/opinion/how-...

The arrest of the Mark Lowen, BBC's Turkey correspondent, reminds me that I probably should get around to posting here my column from a couple of days ago on Turkey's protest movement; what it has in common with unrest across the Balkans, and how Trump has undermined it. inews.co.uk/opinion/trum...

In light of Pete Hegseth's security breach, here again is the piece I wrote on US Election Day 2024. Right from the top, the most basic danger of any Trump Presidency for allies like Britain was always going be the threat MAGA's chaos poses to our own national security. inews.co.uk/opinion/amer...

This week in the Observer: an excellent excuse to write about Clueless: www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Very worrying news coming out of the #US where a French scientist was blocked from entering the country after authorities found messages criticising President #Trump on his phone: www.newsweek.com/french-scien... 1/3

Opinion | The most dangerous noises for Musk are coming from his new best mate 🖋️ @katemaltby.bsky.social 🔗 inews.co.uk/opinion/tesl...

Back in the Observer with a column on the latest twist in our culture of obsessive consumer reviewing: www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Opinion | Kemi Badenoch has a choice: embrace the worst instincts of Putin-influenced populism, or champion the very Western political traditions that both Putin and Trump seek to destroy 🖋️ @katemaltby.bsky.social inews.co.uk/opinion/oh-k...

Kemi Badenoch is right to defend the West’s liberal legacy. So why does she keep making nice with Donald Trump? My column this week for @theipaper.com looks at Badenoch’s ARC speech. Despite her attempts, Britain’s Tories can’t be the party of both J S Mill & MAGA. inews.co.uk/opinion/oh-k...

Gosh, I love Jason Isaacs. But not in the way some of these fans love him. www.telegraph.co.uk/films/2025/0...

I’m really glad Guy Pearce has said this, which by rights would throughly embarrass Brian Cox and all those still making excuses for Spacey. www.theguardian.com/film/2025/fe...

Debate over trigger warnings has been polarised by conservatives sneering at “snowflakes” & leftists accusing their critics of cruelly dismissing trauma. In light of Annie Ernaux play The Years, my Obs. column examines the evidence to ask: do actually they work? www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Debate over trigger warnings has been polarised by conservatives sneering at “snowflakes” & leftists accusing their critics of cruelly dismissing trauma. In light of Annie Ernaux play The Years, my Obs. column examines the evidence to ask: do actually they work? www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

It is indefensible and infuriating that this is still happening www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...

Kim Leadbeater now insists on using the term “Judge Plus” for her weakened proposals to scrutinise assisted suicide. That’s akin to replacing hospital consultants with first aid volunteers, then calling it “Doctor Plus”. Today’s column in @inewsource.bsky.social inews.co.uk/opinion/slip...

"The current human rights situation in Russia is disastrous." An interview with Aleksandra Skochilenko, our 2024 arts award winner, who has been featured in @humanrightshouse.bsky.social's Portraits of Strength exhibition. humanrightshouse.org/interviews/p...

It's clear this case should never have come to court. What this otherwise shrewd write-up doesn't include is that Kerr and her girlfriend, Kristie Mewis, would have felt additionally vulnerable dealing with the Met as a female-female couple. www.theguardian.com/football/202...

The stories of Oedipus, Elektra and their ilk are oh-so-relevant today—provided that new productions do them justice, writes @katemaltby.bsky.social. www.prospectmagazine...

New review out! I very much enjoyed writing this response to Rami Malek's Oedipus and Brie Larson's Elektra, in the light of Mark Strong and Leslie Manville's more critically successful Oedipus last year. www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/culture/6923...

And this week’s column for the @inews.co.uk asks who on earth advised Bridget Phillipson to sit down with Michael Gove’s favourite headmistress liveapp.inews.co.uk/category/kat...

Once a month I write a short column for @thestage.bsky.social, briefly floating a thought about theatregoing. I cannot remember any piece I’ve written in this slot garnering such a response and clearly resonating with so many people. www.thestage.co.uk/opinion/kate...

“Singledom, it seems, is so unnatural that even a perch for one’s bum must be spared the ignominy of vendibility on its own.” My latest little column for The Stage takes aim at theatres, like Andrew Lloyd Webber’s who can’t cope with singles at the theatre. www.thestage.co.uk/opinion/kate...

I found myself thinking about the Cultural Revolution, and the moment when teenagers at one Beijing's most elite schools murdered one of their teachers in the name of Mao. I see someone with an interest in the reputation of Deng Xiaoping's daughter, Deng Rong, has trained Chat GPT well.

As someone who goes to the theatre on my own a lot, every word of this, from @katemaltby.bsky.social, is correct. Even cinemas have started adopting this ridiculous "oh you can't have an empty seat next to you" policy. www.thestage.co.uk/opinion/kate...

Meanwhile, my theatre column in the latest edition of @prospectmagazine.co.uk looks at the new West End launch of Oliver! Cameron Mackintosh has promised a 'Jewish-friendly' version of Fagin, Nancy and Oliver's famous story. Does he succeed? www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/culture/6912...

One of the great occasional pleasures of arts journalism: the chance to have a chat with a fearless, feminist theatremaker. Ahead of the West End transfer of The Years, I interviewed Eline Arbo for the Financial Times www.ft.com/content/e82c...

On Holocaust Memorial Day, I argue that Holocaust education has failed. inews.co.uk/opinion/jews...

This week's column at @inews.co.uk A British hostage has finally been freed, after enduring 15 months in captivity. Throughout that time, Britain failed to fight for her as one of our own. inews.co.uk/opinion/host...

The new Syrian government has terminated the lease contract of the Tartus port to the Russian state, effective immediately. Originally, it was scheduled to run until the year 2068. The Russian chapter in Syria is now formally over.

"Pete Hegseth’s former sister-in-law, in an affidavit given to senators on Tuesday, alleged that the Pentagon chief pick caused his second wife to fear for her safety... Hegseth also stated that women should not have the right to vote or work, according to the affidavit."

Reassuring to have one social media platform left on which to affirm that yes, obviously I believe Elon Musk is signalling his palliness with Nazis, AS HE HAS BEEN FOR SOME TIME.

Flu, flu, flu. If anyone has been trying to get hold of me, the answer is: the flu.