Generally speaking, its champions are individuals who are intimidated by the prospect of placing themselves in others’ historical and cultural shoes, or of engaging with a radically different world view seriously. The lessons of Simone Weil and Montaigne on freedom and relativism 

The essayist and psychologist Ian Leslie explores the cultural significance—even more so than the musical significance—of the friendship between John Lennon and Paul McCartney. The meeting of two young men who had both lost their mothers gave rise to the most prolific creative partnership in the history of pop music

Relationships are not mere accessories to social life: they are emerging realities that shape us, educate us and require our care. To ignore them is to misunderstand ourselves and our children. The quality of life depends on the awareness with which we live them

Symbols, uniforms, battle cries. It is difficult to talk to one another; to convince is impossible. All that remains is to stick together. As crucial elections draw near, politics is turning its back on relativism and heeding the call of the wild

Ideas, society, the environment. An essay by Pierre Charbonnier that will be of use to both experts and enthusiasts. In a summer like the one we’ve just been cursing, you’ll feel like flicking through it, browsing here and there and arriving, more or less quickly, at the conclusions.

He has lifted the lid on Jason Arday’s cauldron, and petitions are circulating online calling for him to be sacked. Equality of opportunity and equality of outcome are based on opposing logics. After forty years of pretending to have forgotten it, he has reminded us of it.

Engulfed by the jungle and literature. The book by the Colombian author, who was honoured in Rome, charts a new course in South American fiction, far removed from the magical realism of Gabriel García Márquez and his successors

Classics reduced to labels, fantasy and young adult fiction: statistics on reading amongst teenagers have been telling the same story for years, and many students arrive at university without a sense of direction. After the library card, a guide to important books