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Stephen Arnell
President Donald Trump listens as Elon Musk speaks in the Oval Office at the White House, Feb. 11, 2025, in Washington
United States / 31 May 2025
31 May 2025

As Trump targets universities while Homeland Security chief Kristi Noem redefines habeas corpus as presidential deportation power, STEPHEN ARNELL traces how John Scopes’s optimism about academic freedom’s triumph now seems tragically premature

Prime Minister Keir Starmer welcomes President of Cyprus, Nikos Christodoulides, to Downing Street, London, ahead of a bilateral meeting, May 21, 2025
Features / 27 May 2025
27 May 2025

STEPHEN ARNELL examines whether Starmer is a canny strategist playing a longer game or heading for MacDonald’s Great Betrayal, tracing parallels between today’s rightward drift and the 1931 crisis

CS Lewis in 1947 [Pic: Scan of photograph by Arthur Strong]
Features / 28 April 2025
28 April 2025

After a ruinous run at Tolkien, the streaming platforms are moving on to Narnia — a naff mix of religious allegory, colonial attitudes, and thinly veiled prejudices that is beyond rescuing, writes STEPHEN ARNELL

Elon Musk listens as President Donald Trump meets with India
Features / 18 February 2025
18 February 2025
STEPHEN ARNELL sees parallels between the US tech billionaire and HG Wells’s literary creation
David Lynch pictured in 2007
Features / 7 February 2025
7 February 2025
David Lynch’s classic 1980 film The Elephant Man has some cruel parallels with Britain in 2025, argues STEPHEN ARNELL
 Photograph of Theodore Roosevelt, 1904
Features / 8 January 2025
8 January 2025
Between Musk’s bizarre British power grab and Trump’s overtly corporate agenda, modern robber barons face a growing backlash — and history shows how determined leaders can tame ultra-rich excess, writes STEPHEN ARNELL
Thomas Cromwell in 1532 painted by Hans Holbein the Younger
Features / 21 December 2024
21 December 2024
There is no denying Thomas Cromwell's positive and progressive impact on English politics, argues STEPHEN ARNELL
Oliver Twist asks for more
Features / 9 December 2024
9 December 2024
From Raab to Rees-Mogg, STEPHEN ARNELL observes how modern Conservatives yearn for the return of the brutal institutions where the poor were imprisoned and punished for their plight
SAS founder David Stirling, pictured in north Africa during
Features / 26 November 2024
26 November 2024
How the BBC’s SAS: Rogue Heroes is pure public schoolboy fantasy – STEPHEN ARNELL examines the real founder of the Special Air Service, aristocrat Archibald David Stirling
Michael Parkinson presented the controversial show
Features / 28 October 2024
28 October 2024
STEPHEN ARNELL remembers 32 years ago when a spooky hoax by Auntie Beeb went a step too far
EMBARRASSMENT: An 1824 cartoon of a gouty, obese George IV r
Features / 11 October 2024
11 October 2024
Boris Johnson’s poorly written memoir confirms his reputation as a prolific liar and deluded fantasist — bringing to mind striking parallels with George IV, from narcissism to womanising, observes STEPHEN ARNELL
BBC Broadcasting House in London, January 21, 2020
Features / 3 September 2024
3 September 2024
Auntie’s offices are still packed to the rafters with private school-educated appointees, says STEPHEN ARNELL