The heartland votes for conservative policies that allow urban life to flourish
The swings between Democratic and Republican presidents weren’t so wild in America’s heyday
If the woke movement is now fading, it wasn’t the sensible centre that beat it back
There is none of the bipartisan spirit that the cold war brought to Washington
A once-common type is vanishing from the west, and it is a problem of demand not supply
Two contrasting ways of running a country are now similarly unsuccessful
America has cultural and structural advantages that governments can’t close
Fear of a woke resurgence is the weakest argument against Kamala Harris
The case for mass entertainment and high art over the stuff that lies equidistant
The lesson of 2024 so far is that American populists have no replacement for the former president’s star power
Where a young westerner should go to understand their century
He managed the decline of American power much better than his recent predecessors
The chaos that was normal in the 1960s is rarer now
The US president’s high-spending protectionism is bad policy and worse politics
The perils of too much socialising with your peers
Polling precedent and economic data suggest the Democrats shouldn’t get ahead of themselves
There are some perverse outcomes amid all the fun
Much of the Republicans’ ‘weirdness’ stems from their new tech friends
The golden rule is to read as few contemporary books as possible
American populists oppose China but like pro-Beijing strongmen
Trump’s genius, which is to be rightwing but not pious, is lost on his election running mate
Democrats fear chaos and dissent but deference to established candidates has cost them more often
Of all Europe’s old powers, Spain alone has had a good century
Hatred of politicians deters good people from the job, which makes government worse, which makes voters hate politicians still more
How the west’s two most important institutions are withstanding the age of populism