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Honoré de Balzac’s La Comédie Humaine is a Hindu mandala

The 19th-century novelist Honoré de Balzac was Catholic, French to the core and obsessed with the material details of French society. Yet there is something profoundly Hindu in the way he sought to understand the world.

The Conversation

What was Jane Austen’s best novel? These experts think they know

To mark the 250th anniversary of her birth, we’re pitting Jane Austen’s much-loved novels against each other in a battle of wit, charm and romance. Six leading Austen experts have made their case for her ultimate novel, but the winner is down to you. Cast your vote in the poll…

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Why I had to become a murder detective for my book about an 18th-century Jewish pedlar

This article contains details of antisemitism and violence that some readers may find upsetting.

The Conversation

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William Blake’s painting The Ghost of a Flea speaks to processing childhood trauma

In William Blake’s painting The Ghost of a Flea (1820) a huge muscled figure fills the frame. He steps forward, the left side of his body towards the viewer. In one outstretched hand he holds a bleeding bowl (used to catch the blood released during bloodletting) made from an acorn.…

The Conversation

In Jane Austen’s Persuasion, respite is a key ingredient for romance

It’s that time of year again. Flight costs are up, schools are out, and anyone lucky enough to afford a break is heading – literally or metaphorically – for the hills. Some might harbour visions of a beautiful stranger alone in a beach or bar, someone who takes a keen…

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How scientists can contribute to social movements and climate action

Despite decades of scientists’ warnings about climate and ecological breakdown, record-breaking heat and escalating environmental disasters have become commonplace. Science has been attacked, dismissed and politicised, and the world is accelerating in a terrifying direction.

The Conversation

Animal Farm at 80: why the animals really matter in Orwell’s parable about communism

George Orwell’s Animal Farm (1945) turns 80 on August 17 2025. If there’s one thing every student of history or politics knows, it’s that the novella is not really about animals. Sure, the principal characters are pigs and horses. But really, so we are told, it is about the Soviet…

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Politics has always been a game – but why does it now feel like we’re being cheated?

Donald Trump – who has spent at least 45 days of his presidency so far on the golf course – has once again been accused of cheating, and this time there is video evidence. Trump’s long history of golfing malpractice is well documented, not least in Rick Reilly’s Commander in…

The Conversation

Jane Austen fight club: experts go head-to-head arguing for her best leading man

To mark the 250th anniversary of her birth, we’re pitting Jane Austen’s much-loved novels against each other in a battle of wit, charm and romance. Seven leading Austen experts have made their case for her ultimate leading man, but the winner is down to you. Cast your vote in the…

The Conversation

How the art of Chinese calligraphy can bring creative freedom in the age of AI

Many of us would struggle to recall the last time we wrote anything substantial by hand. Digital devices often feel more convenient and efficient. But research shows that the intricate motor skills and visual processing required for handwriting encourages more extensive brain activity than typing.

The Conversation

Troy’s fall was partly due to environmental strain – and it holds lessons for today

Sometimes the seeds of collapse are sown in the very soil of prosperity. Beneath the ancient city of Troy’s shining walls, the earth quietly cracked under the weight of its ambition.

The Conversation

Why Jane Austen’s leading men are such enduringly popular heartthrobs

In Ang Lee’s adaptation of Sense and Sensibility (1995), the handsome cad Willoughby (played by Greg Wise) rescues Marianne (Kate Winslet) on horseback in the middle of a raging storm. Pathetic fallacy has rarely looked so good.

The Conversation

How Israel’s self-image changed from self-reliance to aggressive militarism

When the Zionist movement began to gather pace a century ago, many Jewish supporters wanted not just to create a political state for themselves, but to initiate a cultural revolution that would forge a new kind of Jewishness. Proud, self-reliant and resilient, the “new Jew” was a reaction to centuries…

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Animal Farm at 80: George Orwell’s enduring commitment to socialist revolution

During the early years of the second world war, George Orwell believed that England’s revolutionary moment had arrived. The defeat at Dunkirk had discredited the country’s ruling elite. Their bungling had left England on the verge of invasion and defeat.

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I write James Bond novels – here’s why Peaky Blinders creator Steven Knight will bring a crackling new intensity to 007

Our hero is on his way to confront danger, feign love and give away a little of his soul. As he takes a long plane journey over Europe into enemy territory, he reflects on what his younger self would make of him now: “Would he recognise himself beneath the surface…

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Jane Austen was a satirist – why isn’t she treated like one?

From the pompous vanity of Sir Walter Elliot in Persuasion (1817), to the shallow reading habits of Isabella in Northanger Abbey (1817), few characters in the works of Jane Austen are spared the gentle satire of her famously ironic narrative voice. Similarly, some of her best remembered characters, like Elizabeth…

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Love in the age of WhatsApp – a philosopher explains how technology reduces the power of a relationship

A sense of distance has always been part of romantic love. The experience of wanting to be with another person often requires separation, if only in the form of days apart for work and travel. Matters become more complicated, however, when that distance is mediated by technology – by dating…

The Conversation

Enjoyed together, Red Dwarf and Jane Austen offer a lesson in immersive world building

This year marks the 250th anniversary of Jane Austen’s birth. An Austen enthusiast might attend the birthday ball at the Alton Assembly Rooms in Hampshire or take an Austen-themed walking tour. They might dance at the Pump Rooms in Bath, a city with strong Austen connections, or in Utah, which…

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Who is Odysseus, hero of Christopher Nolan’s new epic?

Somewhere between hero and hustler, family man and philanderer, king and con artist, Odysseus is one of ancient literature’s most complex figures. In the Iliad, he is the mastermind behind the Trojan horse.

The Conversation

Psychedelic drug DMT and near death experiences have long been linked – my study is the first to explore the connection in depth

Have you ever wondered why people who nearly die often describe speeding toward supernatural light, or seeing their life flash before their eyes? You may have also heard about the powerful psychedelic dimethyltryptamine (DMT), a class A illegal drug in the UK, and how it might generate the so-called near-death…

The Conversation

My new history of romanticism shows how enslavement shaped European culture

According to one strand of history, slavery was abolished when Europeans found their conscience. According to another, it was abolished when it stopped being profitable. Both approaches tend to underplay the significance of Black resistance.

The Conversation

A big night for women’s football – what you should watch, see and read this week

The feelings that surged through the pub that I watched the women’s Euro 2022 cup final in were electric. England had won. My friends were in tears. Strangers were shaking hands, patting each other on the back, smiling goofily at anyone who would catch their eye. It was wonderful. I’m…

The Conversation

The 19th-century maritime superstitions that were believed to protect men at sea

Maritime folklore has long been shuffled to the margins of nautical history, presented as the quaint, colourful oddities of a former age. Yet this body of beliefs, practices and stories can offer important insights into how seafarers of the 19th century viewed and understood their working environment.

The Conversation

Hosepipe ban survival guide: which garden plants to save and which to sacrifice

With hosepipe bans in force across several English regions and more restrictions likely to follow, gardeners face some tough choices. When every drop counts, which plants deserve your precious water from the water butt, and which should you leave to fend for themselves?

The Conversation

A Philosopher Looks at Clothes by Kate Moran is engaging and unpretentious – we need more philosophy books like this

With a few exceptions, philosophers have had little to say about clothes. Maybe this is because the topic seems frivolous, or feminine, unworthy of the attention of a predominantly male collection of thinkers.

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