Ezra Klein on Trump, Vance and free speech: ‘It feels like we are in one of the darkest imaginable timelines’

The influential US commentator has written a book about how politics can change people’s lives for the better. But first, there are more pressing challenges to address ...

Michael Ratcliffe obituary

Literary editor and chief book reviewer of the Times who later joined the Observer as its theatre critic

Mutiny brews in French bookshops over Hachette owner’s media grip

Booksellers take stand against influence of conservative billionaire by limiting orders of his company’s books and placing them on lower shelves

Murder the Truth by David Enrich review – disturbing read on effort to undo free speech in US

Book delves in to network of Trump, government members and ultra-rich to overturn Times v Sullivan

Richard Fortey obituary

Palaeontologist at the Natural History Museum who was also a bestselling science writer and accomplished TV presenter

Daniel Craig in line for role in Greta Gerwig’s Narnia film for Netflix

Gerwig is expected to begin filming The Magician’s Nephew, the origin story of CS Lewis’s classic fantasy novels, with the actor reported to have a major role

Joe Haines obituary

Press secretary to Harold Wilson in the late 60s and 70s who went on to work for the Daily Mirror

Patrick Barclay obituary

Acclaimed football writer who worked for the Guardian and the Observer, and proved a hit on Sky TV

The Witcher: Sirens of the Deep review – gore flows in bloody animated mer-western

Lovejoyish dude with magical powers wanders into a seaside kingdom where merpeople and regular humans are at loggerheads

‘It’s how we make sense of the world’: why are we all obsessed with gossip?

In her new book, Normal Gossip podcaster Kelsey McKinney explores our unending interest in talking about other people behind their backs

I Who Have Never Known Men: the lost dystopia finding new readers after buzz on TikTok

First published in 1995 then virtually forgotten, a bleak tale of women caged by men has been embraced as a gen Z Handmaid’s Tale

David Arscott obituary

Other lives: Producer and presenter at BBC Radio Sussex and author of more than 40 books about his county

Jules Feiffer, award-winning political cartoonist and writer, dies at 95

The provocative Pulitzer prize-winner was known for his edgy comic strip and his screenplay for Carnal Knowledge

On my radar: Naomi Alderman’s cultural highlights

The author of the bestselling The Power on her favourite video game, the courses she takes with the Open University, and why she is addicted to George Saunders’s substack

Merrily Harpur obituary

Cartoonist whose work appeared in newspapers and magazines, including the Guardian and Punch