The recent heatwaves revealed how ill-prepared Britain remains for a hotter future – and how unequal the ability to cope with it has become, write ROX MIDDLETON, LIAM SHAW and MIRIAM GAUNTLETT
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‘If my work was visual it would be in the vein of Hogarth’
David Bryant talks to Luke Wright about his recent, critically acclaimed, theatrical poetry show What I Learned From Johnny Bevan, the accompanying book of verse and hears him agitate passionately for greater political engagement and activism
Extreme heat is now one of the defining public health challenges of a warming world, explains Prof IAN WILLIAMS
The US-Israeli conflict with Iran has had far-reaching consequences, including a boost to Pakistan’s regional standing, argues ROGER McKENZIE
19.01.1930-23.04.2026
Kate Clark pays tribute to Ricardo, whose life spanned the hopes of Allende’s Chile, the horrors of military dictatorship and decades of campaigning for justice in exile
Keir Starmer's early political life suggests a very different future from the one he ultimately embraced, says KEITH FLETT
After the dismissal of union representatives and years of precarious working conditions, Kimpton Clocktower workers are drawing a line, writes THOMAS BELL
Luke Wright has long been an important figure on the British live poetry circuit. Arguably responsible for inventing “themed” theatrical poetry shows with the help of his cohorts in Aisle 16 — a show that presented the artform as an ironic series of motivational business talks — he’s also been broadcast on Channel 4 and is in the rare position of being able to earn a living purely from his popular live work alone.
What I Learned From Johnny Bevan is his current award-winning poetry show and book. Using the expensive and offensive fictional festival Urbania on abandoned sink estate the Grooms as the springboard for its narrative, it’s an energetic yet heartrending piece of work.
Flashing back to a 1990s student friendship between the comfortable, middle-class Colchester boy Nick and the Grooms estate dwelling Bevan, it reveals what happens to their lives in the aftermath of Blair’s victory.
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