The arts

In praise of ‘rip-off’ degrees

Kemi Badenoch’s attack on the arts and humanities isn’t just culturally short-sighted, it’s economically illiterate

Lost Atoms has spectacular staging but the drama is underdeveloped

Frantic Assembly’s 30th anniversary co-production, with Curve, shows the touring company’s weaknesses as well as its strengths

Theme and Variations is a perfect embellishment of pure ballet

English National Ballet are at their committed best in works by Balanchine, Martha Graham, William Forsythe and David Dawson

London’s new directions

Nima Taleghani’s bold yet diffuse take on Euripides launches Indhu Rubasingham’s first season at the National. At the Young Vic, Nadia Fall’s opening production is less entertaining than it should be

Pupils starved of art lose their creative spark

You can’t buy a crayon with the amount spent on arts materials in some schools

Evaristo’s new prize for older female writers

The award for women writers over 60 will help redress disparities in grants

Brits don’t just knock the rich – we have a go at everything

Downton Abbey’s creator should realise that ‘having a pop’ is a socioemotional safety valve that operates far beyond envy

Criticism is under threat – and we must defend it

Recent shakeups in the publishing industry suggest that commercial interests are slowly killing off criticism

Ron Arad: ‘I’m the oldest person in the studio, but the most juvenile’

The designer talks about enduring art, ping-pong and very expensive sofas

How Sarah Kane ‘ripped down the veil on the abyss’

The playwright took her own life at 28 in 1999. Now those closest to her talk about a restaging of her final play

SXSW London: ‘A love letter to the capital I know’

The trend-setting festival comes to England this week, and the cutting-edge music isn’t the half of it