When the ravages of Alzheimer’s leave an elderly woman marooned in painful memories of October 1950, her grandchild comes up with a creative strategy.

New releases from Simone White, Brass Funkeys, and Souad Massi 

Is this the way to rehearse industrial relations? SCOTT ALSWORTH immerses himself in a roleplay game that is being offered as an education tool to unions

In this comparison of Britain pre- and post Thatcher, WILL POMORE applauds the analysis, but distrusts the solutions offered

SUE TURNER is compelled by a history that shows how far a country can turn in on itself to collude with abuses of power

RON JACOBS is persuaded by the parallel drawn between Charles Manson and Donald Trump

ANDREW MURRAY welcomes a fascinating account of the struggle in Puerto Rico for democracy and independence

MARIA DUARTE, SCOTT ALSWORTH, ANDY HEDGECOCK and ANGUS REID review The Fall of Sir Douglas Weatherford, Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway, Time and Water, and Strictly Ballroom

MARIA DUARTE defends a solid, late-career Spielberg conspiracy flick that calls for empathy in a hostile world

Chris Searle speaks to former bandmate CHRIS BISCOE about the committed socialist jazzman, Mike Westbrook

STEVE JOHNSON recommends a beautiful album of songs that celebrate summer, from May Day onwards

by Monica Manolachi

New releases from Joe Wilkes, Honey and the Bear, and Hannah James and Toby Kuhn

While people keep pigeons around the world today, new evidence suggests this tradition is millennia old, says WILL SMITH

Reviews of T.P. Orchestre Poly-Rythmo, Tamikrest, and Dub Colossus  

BOB NEWLAND recommends a radio play about the covert action against the apartheid regime

Given the power of the live experience, MIK SABIERS recommends Jon Spencer’s new album

BOB NEWLAND appreciates an important contribution to the debate about how slavery helped to build the wealth of Western companies and states

WILL PODMORE admires an account of the liberation of Berlin that overthrows the conventional US army-inspired account

MARJORIE MAYO recommends a highly useful guide to the benefits and hazards of different approaches to immigration

PAUL DONOVAN recommends a thorough explanation of why Starmer’s Labour travels light on policy, and bending to knee to neoliberalism

KENNY MONROSE recommends a new exhibition that highlights the significance of Black British music

CAYENNA PONCHIONE-BAILEY celebrates a new recording of all the surviving works of a great female composer and equal of Mozart

This right-wing conspiracy theory is used to justify the coercive measures against gender, race and labour rights that best serve capitalism, attests GAVIN O’TOOLE