Sophie Mcbain

Art Spiegelman reflects on his life, career and influence on comics, from underground publications and Topps parody cards to Raw and the Pulitzer-winning Maus. He describes how his parents’ Holocaust experiences, his mother’s suicide and the September 11 attacks shaped his work and political outlook. Spiegelman argues that post-9/11 security policies foreshadowed abuses under Donald Trump, whom he calls fascist and accuses of dismantling democratic ideals, suppressing dissent and enriching himself and his allies. He is pessimistic about the state of American democracy, criticizing Republicans for complicity and Democrats for timidity, and argues that the United States needs a counter-revolution. Despite concerns about aging and creative limitations, he remains committed to producing challenging art.

Eleanor Drage argues that AI should be understood as a human-built system shaped by labor, supply chains and corporate power, rather than as an autonomous or mystical force. She criticizes big tech’s utopian and apocalyptic narratives, calling for greater public control over data use, model training and regulation, while linking AI risks to inequality, climate change and geopolitical tensions. The review praises the book’s philosophical discussion of intelligence and its criticism of algorithmic bias, exploitative labor and weak corporate accountability, but faults Drage for rushed and insufficiently nuanced arguments. Its examples of ethical, community-based AI projects leave the reviewer unconvinced that AI offers advantages over conventional community support, and the book ultimately fails to explain how AI specifically could help create a better future.

Dave Eggers discusses his new novel Contrapposto, his commitment to arts education, and initiatives including McSweeney’s life-drawing sessions, Art + Water and 826 Valencia. He argues that using AI to generate ideas or writing undermines human originality and warns that widespread reliance on machines for thought and expression would be a disastrous outcome for humanity. Eggers criticizes policymakers promoting AI in schools, has joined lawsuits against Anthropic over the alleged unauthorized use of authors’ books, and describes a debate with OpenAI chief Sam Altman as open but firmly rejects the idea that machine-generated material can constitute art. He also explains his technology-averse writing habits, his career and politically engaged nonfiction, and the themes of talent, artistic value and success explored in his new novel.

Melinda French Gates discusses her distressing single encounter with Jeffrey Epstein, her former husband Bill Gates's continued contact with him, and the need for transparency and accountability for Epstein's associates. Five years after her divorce, she describes a calmer personal life centered on Pivotal, which has committed billions of dollars to women's empowerment and is announcing $215 million in new funding for reproductive, maternal and midlife health, including menopause research. She condemns the rollback of abortion rights, vaccine misinformation and cuts to international aid, while arguing that more women in positions of power and greater economic equity are essential. Despite her immense wealth and public scrutiny, she says philanthropy gives her purpose and that she is very happy.

Steve Stewart-Williams argues that men and women display real, partly innate differences in areas such as physical traits, interests, personality and aggression, while emphasizing that these differences are overlapping, flexible and do not establish the superiority of either sex. The review finds his evidence and counterintuitive findings engaging but questions whether evolutionary psychology is sufficient to explain domestic violence, gender inequality and women’s under-representation in STEM and leadership. It concludes that biological influences matter, but remain only one part of a larger story shaped by socialization, culture and historical institutions.

The Doomsday Clock has been moved to 85 seconds before midnight, its closest position ever, amid rising risks from nuclear conflict, climate change, artificial intelligence, biological threats and weakened pandemic preparedness. Set by the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, the clock began in 1947 as a warning about nuclear weapons and later expanded to encompass other human-made dangers. Its history shows that international cooperation and arms-control agreements have previously moved humanity away from catastrophe, but experts now warn that political inaction, escalating conflicts involving Iran and Ukraine, and the integration of AI into military decision-making are narrowing the margin for error. The clock is intended not as a scientific forecast but as a psychological call to public and political action; its custodians argue that collective pressure and informed engagement can still create more time.

Emmy van Deurzen describes existential therapy as a philosophical approach focused on helping people understand their lived circumstances, cultivate meaning and regain courage, rather than treating distress solely as an illness of the psyche. Her early work in the anti-psychiatric Arbours community led her to conclude that rejecting conventional psychiatry without offering structured support was inadequate. She went on to establish influential UK training institutions and helped develop existential therapy into an international movement. Drawing on thinkers from ancient philosophy, existentialism and spiritual traditions, her new book argues that people can exercise freedom through the attitudes they adopt and through critical reflection on the forces that oppress them, including self-imposed limitations. Van Deurzen sees depression partly as a response to exclusion and thwarted possibilities, supports individual choice regarding medication, and criticizes diagnostic and “therapy speak” cultures that encourage fear and simplistic judgments. A therapy session with Van Deurzen leaves the journalist feeling less fearful and more optimistic, illustrating the approach’s claimed potential to change how people relate to uncertainty, suffering and their lives.

Kathryn Paige Harden’s Original Sin examines how inherited tendencies and life circumstances interact in behaviors associated with addiction, risk-taking and crime. The review praises Harden’s integration of personal memoir, theology and scientific findings while emphasizing her argument that genetic influences should complicate, rather than eliminate, moral responsibility. Harden rejects degrading punishment and embryo selection for higher self-control, warning against eugenic thinking and arguing that a just society should recognize offenders’ humanity while reconsidering America’s harsh prison system.

Ecologist Suzanne Simard argues that forests are interconnected communities in which older “mother trees” support regeneration through underground mycorrhizal networks. She links Canada’s worsening wildfires and the shift of its forests from carbon sinks to net carbon emitters to climate change, clear-cutting, monoculture replanting and pine beetle damage. Simard advocates leaving mature trees standing and adopting more diverse, regenerative forestry practices, while drawing on Indigenous ecological knowledge. Her research has attracted wide public attention but also strong scientific criticism over the evidence for nutrient exchange, fungal networks and the balance between cooperation and competition. She discusses the personal impact of that backlash, her experiences with cancer and bereavement, and her hope that her new book will encourage people to feel capable of acting on the climate crisis.

George Saunders discusses his new novel, Vigil, a ghost story about an oil tycoon forced to confront his role in concealing climate-change evidence. He explains his fascination with ghosts and mortality, drawing on Tibetan Buddhist ideas and a near-fatal plane incident that intensified his awareness of life’s fragility. The interview also traces his literary development, marriage to Paula Redick, teaching career and belief that fiction can cultivate empathy. Saunders reflects uneasily on Trump-era authoritarianism, ICE raids and partisan division, arguing that fiction can help people imagine opposing perspectives without excusing harmful actions. He remains committed to writing as a compassionate, spiritually serious practice, while acknowledging the limits of individual empathy amid large-scale political conflict.

Naomi Alderman frames the digital era as humanity’s third major information crisis, following the inventions of writing and the printing press. The review explains how these technological shifts transformed thought, institutions and social relationships, while the internet has accelerated information exchange, weakened traditional gatekeepers and enabled both collective connection and online dehumanization. Alderman argues that new institutions will eventually emerge to manage the information overload, but that broadcasters such as the BBC and public libraries should be strengthened in the meantime. Despite the disruption and uncertainty—including the unaddressed impact of AI—the book’s historical perspective is presented as intellectually ambitious and ultimately hopeful.

Matthew Cobb’s biography presents Francis Crick as a charismatic, ambitious and often arrogant scientist whose collaborations with James Watson helped establish the structure of DNA and whose later work influenced neuroscience and the study of consciousness. The review praises Cobb’s research and his effort to reassess Rosalind Franklin’s role, while acknowledging that Crick and Watson failed to treat her with sufficient courtesy or credit. It also criticizes the biography’s dense scientific exposition and notes that Crick’s personal conduct and the sexism surrounding his era complicate his legacy.

Generative AI and digital convenience may be undermining memory, attention, critical thinking and independent learning, the piece argues. Research by Nataliya Kosmyna found reduced brain activity and recall among students using ChatGPT for essays, while other studies link frequent AI and classroom technology use with weaker critical-thinking and educational outcomes, though causation remains uncertain. The article acknowledges that cognitive offloading and AI can enhance human capabilities when used deliberately, but warns that attention-driven platforms, poorly tested ed-tech systems and AI-generated misinformation encourage passive consumption and shallow, standardized thinking.

Chris Kraus discusses the unexpected success and television adaptation of I Love Dick, her discomfort with revisiting the book, and her commitment to writing candidly about middle age. Her new nonfiction novel, The Four Spent the Day Together, examines her second husband’s addiction and abusive behavior, her eventual divorce, and a murder investigation in a Minnesota community affected by poverty and methamphetamine. Kraus also reflects on her childhood in Connecticut and New Zealand, her literary method of transforming diaries and research into nonfiction novels, and her views on Trump, the #MeToo movement, landlordism, and declining opportunities for artists and humanities students.

Kiran Desai discusses the nearly two decades she spent writing The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny, a wide-ranging novel about Indian writers in the United States, relationships, art, class, race and cultural identity. She reflects on the solitude and personal sacrifice involved in her work, her mother Anita Desai’s influence, and the challenge of representing India for Western readers without simplifying or exoticising it. Desai also describes growing fear among religious minorities in India and the impact of immigration raids on her diverse Queens neighbourhood. The novel’s longlisting for the Booker Prize has brought her relief and recognition, although she says she is unlikely to undertake another project of comparable scale.

Doctors are pushing the limits of science and human biology to save increasingly premature babies, but the low survival rates and potential for severe suffering raise difficult ethical questions about whether such interventions are justified.

Stephen Grosz’s Love’s Labour presents psychoanalytic case studies exploring intimacy, desire, self-deception, childhood loss and the difficult realities of love. The review praises the book’s dark, allegorical stories and Grosz’s emphasis on helping patients understand themselves rather than directing their choices. It argues that meaningful emotional change requires confronting pain, loss and mortality, while highlighting the long, unpredictable process through which insight can emerge.

Boredom is unpleasant but can signal that a person needs something more engaging or meaningful. Smartphones provide instant stimulation and help people avoid unwanted thoughts, yet research suggests that checking them to relieve boredom can actually intensify it. Chronic boredom is associated with depression, anxiety, low life satisfaction, poor academic achievement, substance abuse and risk-taking, and appears to have become more common alongside smartphone adoption. Pausing instead of reaching immediately for a device may help people identify unmet needs and make more purposeful, creative and socially meaningful choices.

Yiyun Li discusses the deaths by suicide of her sons Vincent, who died in 2017 at 16, and James, who died in 2024 at 19, and the memoir Things in Nature Merely Grow that emerged from those losses. She rejects the idea that grief is a process with an endpoint, describing lasting sorrow as an abyss that has become her habitat and advocating radical acceptance, routine, work and careful attention to daily life. Writing provides clarity rather than catharsis, while fiction allows her to revisit tragedy at a distance. Li also reflects on her own past suicide attempts, her responsibility as a mother, the limits of explanations for suicide, and her refusal to become a representative for other bereaved families.

Katie Kitamura discusses her unsettling new novel Audition, which explores maternal separation, shifting identities, intimacy, power and the difficulty of knowing other people. She explains how her marriage to novelist Hari Kunzru works creatively and domestically, and reflects on balancing writing, teaching and parenthood. Following Donald Trump’s return to office, Kitamura argues that fiction, art and education matter more than ever because writing opens people to other minds and offers alternatives to authoritarian attempts to impose a single way of life. She also describes her path from aspiring ballerina to novelist and her belief that creativity must emerge from the demands and disorder of everyday life.