Columnists

Is the AI bubble history repeating itself? Ask a chatbot

The AI industry is run on hype and inflated expectations. But the numbers won’t always go up

What lethal weapon can you own at 17? A car

My daughter’s friends are passing their driving tests. Are they ready for road? I know I wasn’t

Dear Keir: Mr President, you are a golden god

Grown-up advice from everyone’s favourite centrist

My son’s stories remind me of my own early literary works

His creative writing leads me to retell the time I invented an entire fish festival

Art isn’t too complex for the working class – that’s elitism

The myth that culture has not been for the masses is debunked in a new book

Queen Dolly ‘ain’t ready to die yet’. Phew, we need her in the world

The latest celebrity death hoax concerns our living antidote to the Trump era

How Labour can unpick the triple lock

The British Pension Plan would guarantee every child born from today a decent pension as a right. It is not too good to be true

The Conservatives must stop imitating Reform

Years of blunders have wrecked the Tory brand. Mimicking Nigel Farage won’t rebuild it – owning their failures might

The wheels have come off Musk’s monstertruck

It was touted as the future of motoring, but has proved to be a turkey in a stainless steel jacket

Welcome to dumb Britain

From performative males to Taylor Swift analysis, pretentious intelligence is increasingly a turn-off

‘My daughter gets homesick when she goes to nursery’

More surprising still are the random objects she clings to for emotional support

In our national parks sewage flows

Underfunded, over-farmed and politically sidelined, Britain’s most treasured landscapes need more than protection

Dear Keir: Citizens should apply to me for free speech credits

Grown-up advice from everyone’s favourite centrist

Get off your phone, grandad

Maybe our fears about the ill effects of social media, screen time and doomscrolling are wasted on the young

Beyond the bonkbuster: the best of Jilly Cooper

In her many interviews in The Observer over the years, the late queen of the bonkbuster was charming and candid. Here are some of the best extracts

My week as a honey badger

Each week, Simon Barnes hears what the past seven days have been like for a member of the animal kingdom

It’s my disability and I’ll laugh if I want to

A young generation of disabled comedians is reclaiming our stories

Seeking safety, children find hostility on Britain’s shores

The number of unaccompanied children seeking asylum in Britain has soared, and many are being put at risk having got here