A world history of morality is maddeningly optimistic
Peaceful co-operation is essential for human survival, and our present ‘feast of feverish discord and hatred’ is bound to be replaced by one of ‘calm and community’, says Hanno Saur
That Trump photo is magnificently real
A cloudless sky, an American flag and, to the left, something that looks like a music stand. A huddle of…
No one should trust the camera in the age of AI
Bryan Appleyard on photographic manipulation, past and present
As art it was terrible but the pre- and early-teen audience loved it: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem reviewed
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TMNT) began as a joke in 1984, a parody of the superhero culture of the time.…
A stunning work of art: Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One reviewed
Blockbuster action movies are designed to stun the audience into submissive acceptance. Complexity, humanity, emotion and beauty are reduced to…
Paper dragons: is Chinese science all it’s cracked up to be?
Is Chinese science all it’s cracked up to be?
A tribute to my friend James Lovelock
The scientist James Lovelock died this week at the age of 103. He was best known for his Gaia theory,…
A compelling, if flawed, example of the new American noir: Red Rocket reviewed
Mikey (Simon Rex) first appears striding down a road in utterly wrecked jeans and shirt. He is carrying nothing and…
Reality check: could our universe be a simulation?
The philosopher David Chalmers on whether the universe is a simulation
Lumpily scripted and poorly plotted: Cry Macho reviewed
Clint Eastwood is 91; Cry Macho may well be his last film. Or maybe not. He has, after all, been…
The bleak brilliance of Hud
Hud is a film that has haunted me for decades. I was never sure why. It seemed to be something…
Comparing Peanuts to existentialism is an insult – to Peanuts
For the hundredth, possibly the thousandth, time, Lucy van Pelt offers to hold the football for Charlie Brown so he…
The sheer stupidity of artificial intelligence
Believers in omnipotent machine intelligence are reshaping the world to fit their fantasies
