Cultural Capital

Reflections on books and the arts from the New Statesman culture desk

Goodbye to Shameless. What does it leave behind?

By David Herman - 28 May 16:50

As the long-running television comedy comes to a close, David Herman wonders what its legacy will be. Will David Threlfall best be remembered as the feckless, drunken Frank Gallagher?

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James Salter has published his sixth novel, aged 87.

Reviews round-up

By Critic - 28 May 15:50

The critics' verdicts on James Salter, George Monbiot and David Goodhart.

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The cover to Action Comics #1. Image: Joe Shuster/DC Comics

Penury, swindlers and the American way: the capitalist legacy of superheroes

By Laura Sneddon - 26 May 13:13

As a pay dispute threatens the superhero stranglehold on box office takings, it’s a timely reminder that these capitalist heroes have long trampled upon the artists who brought them to life, writes Laura Sneddon.

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In the Frame: Equal

By Tom Humberstone - 24 May 14:42

Tom Humberstone's weekly observational comic for the New Statesman.

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Alt-J, with Gus Unger-Hamilton centre. Photograph: Getty Images

Alt-J: I voted Lib Dem last time, but now I'll vote Labour, because Diane Abbott is a complete legend

By Rob Pollard - 22 May 16:28

The Mercury Music Prizewinners talk to Rob Pollard.

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Xbox One: conceived in an age of prosperity, it's the wrong console for our time

By Tom Watson - 22 May 11:54

Microsoft's vision of the future is a group of wildly gesticulating children and screeching voices aimed at a beautiful black box that can switch between CBeebies and CBBC in one barked order from a five year old.

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Ai Wei Wei: "I memorised every single detail".

Watch: "Dumbass" by Ai Wei Wei

By New Statesman - 22 May 10:25

The dissident artist and former NS guest editor has released a heavy metal single - check it out here.

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Marina Poplavskaya as Elisabette di Valois and Rolando Villazon as Don Carlo at

Reviewed: Wozzeck and Don Carlo

By Alexandra Coghlan - 21 May 15:54

Terror – eye-opening and mind-expanding – is the great equaliser, as these two productions by the ENO and Royal Opera House make clear.

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Incoming: Aleksander Hemon, James Salter and Emily Berry at the Southbank Centre

By Critic - 20 May 16:47

Preview: London Literature Festival.

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Taxonomy for the masses

By Philip Maughan - 20 May 12:22

The pornographic allure of looking at neatly organised things.

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Brits think Eurovision is all politics

By Rachel Oliver - 17 May 18:16

YouGov’s EuroTrack survey released today reveals that Brits are most cynical about the Eurovision Song Contest.

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Billie versus Bobby – how one tennis match changed history.

By Charlotte Simmonds - 17 May 16:41

Reviewed: Battle of the Sexes.

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Tom Humberstone's observational comic for the New Statesman.

In the Frame: The Head of Nigel

By Tom Humberstone - 17 May 13:19

Tom Humberstone's observational comic for the New Statesman.

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An image of the Maunsell Red Sands forts from William Raban’s "Thames Film".

On the Thames estuary

By Caroline Crampton - 15 May 10:42

"The estuary doesn’t yield all its secrets on first glance. An hour or so out from the Isle of Sheppey, we arrive at seven bizarre constructions that look as if they belong in War of the Worlds..."

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Picture Book of the Week: Punk – Chaos to Couture

By Charlotte Simmonds - 13 May 15:17

How D I Y went high fashion.

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Reviews round-up

By - 13 May 14:27

The critics' verdicts on Amos Oz, Charles Emmerson and Michael Burleigh.

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Mud is heartwarming, manly and gooey as molasses

By Philip Maughan - 13 May 12:16

Reviewed: Mud.

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On this week's New Statesman podcast

By - 10 May 15:46

The future of the Lib Dems, social mobility, techno with Pirate Party and Edmund Burke.

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Tash Aw: "It's a very complex form of bigotry"

By Philip Maughan - 10 May 15:01

The Malaysian novelist on fiction, immigration and the Shanghainese.

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Friday Arts Diary

By - 10 May 12:41

Our cultural picks for the week ahead.

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The Adventures of Captain Social Injustice.

In the Frame: The Adventures of Captain Social Justice

By Tom Humberstone - 10 May 10:41

Tom Humberstone's observational comic for the New Statesman.

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Anal fissures, man boobs and domestic violence - it's Men's Hour on Radio 5 Live

By Antonia Quirke - 09 May 13:34

Reviewed: Men's Hour.

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In the Critics this week

By - 09 May 9:43

Jesse Norman on Edmund Burke and Brian Eno interviewed.

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Jan Mikulka wins prize for self-portraiture

By Charlotte Simmonds - 08 May 13:28

New £20,000 SELF prize coincides with Society of Portrait Painters' annual exhibition.

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Urban novelties: How Bristol itself became a short story

By Sarah Ditum - 08 May 10:09

These Pages Fall Like Ash turned a city into a fantasy novel, making Sarah Ditum see her home with new eyes.

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Haruki Murakami: “Think of me like an endangered species”

By Philip Maughan - 07 May 11:38

The taciturn novelist has made his first appearance in Japan since 1995.

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Millie Mackintosh, Made in Chelsea star. Photograph: Getty Images

Made in Chelsea is totes postmodern

By Martha Gill - 07 May 11:22

What is the point of it all, it seems to ask. Why was this even made?

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A still from the film Peaches Does Herself.

Lez Miserable: the teaches of Peaches

By Eleanor Margolis - 07 May 11:04

Eleanor Margolis meets the high-priestess of sexually charged punk electronica and singer of Fuck the Pain Away, Diddle My Skittle and Tent in Your Pants.

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