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The Latest Breaking News from Charlotte Higgins

Reading opens up the world – with all its pleasures and pains

Letters: Readers respond to Charlotte Higgins’s article on the National Year of Reading

The Guardian - UK

The National Year of Reading celebrates the ‘joy’ of books. But let’s not forget they can also be deeply troubling, too

Encounters with great art can be absorbing, unsettling and even painful. How has this been tamed into ‘reading for pleasure’, asks Charlotte Higgins, the Guardian’s chief culture writer

The Guardian - UK

The Trump-Kennedy Center is another front in the battle for the soul of America

Under Trump, the world-class centre for performing arts is one of many US cultural institutions changing beyond recognition. Will others buckle, asks the Guardian’s chief culture writer, Charlotte Higgins

The Guardian - UK

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The Independent UK

Trump’s takeover of the Kennedy Center should serve as a warning to UK arts institutions

Art is not immune from the advances of the hard right – but it isn’t too late for resistance, says the Guardian’s chief culture writer, Charlotte Higgins

The Guardian - UK

Literature offers insights into the rise of extremism

Letters: Readers respond to an article by Charlotte Higgins in which she reflects on Sally Carson’s Crooked Cross and its lessons about fascism

The Guardian - UK

A prophetic 1934 novel has found a surprising second life – it holds lessons for us all

Sally Carson’s Crooked Cross was written and set during the rise of nazism. It shows both how extremism takes hold, and the moral certainty needed to resist it, says the Guardian’s chief culture writer, Charlotte Higgins

The Guardian - UK

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Mary Beard: ‘I’m having the time of my life’

Classicist Mary Beard discusses co-hosting a new podcast on ancient Greece and Rome, ageing, and how you sustain a 40-year marriage.

The Independent UK

As Trump rewrites even America’s history, institutions have two choices – submit or find ways to resist

The Smithsonian’s museums have been ordered to root out ‘divisive narratives’. It’s part of a pattern: the battle lines are now clear, says the Guardian’s chief culture writer Charlotte Higgins

The Guardian - UK

Trump’s weird obsession with the arts is part of the authoritarian playbook

His focus on the Kennedy Center fits a pattern. From Augustus to Stalin, strongmen have sought cultural control for their own ends, says the Guardian’s chief culture writer Charlotte Higgins

The Guardian - UK

Friday briefing: Will Labour’s £270m package make a difference to an ailing arts industry?

More importantly, how can we afford to pay for this initiative as well as the increased money Kier Starmer has pledged for defence?

The Guardian - UK

Trump chairing a major arts institution would be laughable if it weren’t so deeply troubling

Jokes about the president’s power grab at the Kennedy Center in Washington soon pale. This is a nakedly authoritarian move, says the Guardian’s chief culture writer Charlotte Higgins

The Guardian - UK

Time to commit to culture and the arts

Letters: Antony Barlow recalls an earlier Labour government’s policy and Linda Karlsen says education is the key, while Sue Jackson is concerned by humanities cuts at universities

The Guardian - UK

‘Worse than the 1980s’ – that’s the arts sector now. It’s not a good look for a Labour government

So many pre-election promises: but still a cultural malaise spreads from our schools to museums, galleries and theatres, says the Guardian’s chief culture writer Charlotte Higgins

The Guardian - UK

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The Guardian - UK

Why is Sophocles storming the West End? Because in our extreme times, his plays say the unsayable

The Greek tragedies ask unpalatable questions. That is why they’re enjoying a revival in 2025, says Charlotte Higgins, the Guardian’s chief culture writer

The Guardian - UK

Great movies can play fast and loose with history. But not Gladiator II with its rhinos and cafe culture

It’s hard to know where to begin when presented with the full, lavish spread of historical inaccuracy offered by this sequel, says Charlotte Higgins, the Guardian’s chief culture writer

The Guardian - UK

How do Ukrainians survive the traumatic guilt of war? For many, the answer is art

Whether the issue is shattered relationships or the ugly deaths of those who are fighting, these works give voice to often unspoken horrors, says Guardian chief culture writer Charlotte Higgins

The Guardian - UK

Nandy wasn’t supposed to head up culture, but could her level-headed approach be just the ticket?

After the Tory years of underfunding, BBC-baiting and culture wars, nothing less than the soul of the nation is in the surprise new minister’s hands, says Charlotte Higgins

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The Guardian - UK

Levelling up has failed in my home town of Stoke-on-Trent. For hope there, look to the arts

Projects across the Potteries are bringing energy and optimism to a city still reeling from decades of decline, says Guardian culture writer Charlotte Higgins

The Guardian - UK

The BBC, Ofcom and now the British Museum – why do the Tories keep interfering in cultural appointments?

No 10’s meddling is corrupting the integrity of public postings, and turning institutions into political pawns, says the Guardian’s chief culture writer, Charlotte Higgins

The Guardian - UK

Arts funding must be at the centre of government plans

Letters: In response to Charlotte Higgins’s article on a collapse in arts funding Neil Mendoza says Arts Council England boosts cultural projects across the country; plus letters from Dr Alexis Bennett and Andrew Dailey

The Guardian - UK

Rejuvenating and protecting the arts requires creative thinking

Letters: The UK’s creative skills have never been in higher demand, writes James Purnell, while Gush Mundae says we can’t wait for Labour to fix things, and Dan Thompson takes inspiration from the New Deal

The Guardian - UK

Arts funding has collapsed under 14 years of Tory rule. Here are three ways Labour can fix it

When access to culture is downgraded, the arts are sidelined in schools and civic spaces are neglected, we all lose out, says the Guardian’s chief culture writer Charlotte Higgins

The Guardian - UK

I’ve never heard a Labour leader speak about the arts like Keir Starmer – now I hope words become action

He has signalled a return to old Labour values: that everyone, no matter their background, should have access to temples of high culture, says the Guardian’s chief culture writer, Charlotte Higgins

The Guardian - UK

Don’t touch that dial: we like Radio 3 just the way it is

Letters: Readers air their concerns about proposed changes at the BBC station that were revealed by its controller, Sam Jackson

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