‘In 20 years most of the world could be racist dictatorships’: Ibram X Kendi on book bans and far-right fear-mongering

How have the rich and powerful convinced so many voters that the reason they are struggling is the poor and powerless? The American historian talks about the weaponising of divisiveness

We are living in a period of political anti-intellectualism. But in pop culture, clever is the new cool

At the very moment Trump’s rambling speeches and meme–fied inanity threaten to overwhelm us, fashion, music and film are moving in the opposite direction

The Guardian view on anonymity in art: the ‘unmasking’ of Banksy and Ferrante should stop

Editorial: Our fascination with the ‘real’ identities of artists and writers is revealing about attitudes to fame and authorship

Margareta Magnusson obituary

Artist and writer who found fame late in life when she popularised the concept of ‘death cleaning’

A Queer Inheritance by Michael Hall review – the National Trust’s LGBTQ history revealed

It’s recently been accused of turning ‘woke’ – but the institution has been gay since the beginning, argues this deeply researched book

Margareta Magnusson, Swedish ‘death cleaning’ author, dies age 92

Magnusson’s 2017 bestseller The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning turned the Scandinavian decluttering practice into a global phenomenon

Jürgen Habermas obituary

Philosopher and social theorist who advocated a new direction for German thought after the horrors of Nazi rule

‘The light will always outshine the dark’: trauma surgeon Shehan Hettiaratchy on his harrowing, heartening calling

After operating on victims of the Westminster attack in 2017 and visiting Ukraine and Gaza, Hettiaratchy has seen more horror than most can imagine – but he still believes in humanity, optimism and selflessness

Why are today’s children’s books and films often so much better than adult ones?

It’s not simply that kids’ culture has improved since I was young. Across stage, screen and cinema, grownup offerings pale in comparison to those aimed at my son, writes Catherine Shoard

Arts Council England faces legal threat over magazine’s withdrawal of poet’s work

Publicly funded journal pulled poem citing writer’s ‘social media presence’, with solicitors alleging discrimination over gender-critical views

The Unfragile Mind by Gavin Francis review – a GP’s guide to mental health

Powerful case studies can’t make up for this book’s superficiality when it comes to the broader issues

Only 10% of boys aged 14-16 read daily for pleasure, National Literacy Trust finds

Exclusive: Report says British teenagers’ time for books is being crowded out by schoolwork, screens and sports

Are we really overdiagnosing mental illness?

It’s tempting to dismiss the proliferation of labels as a fad, but there’s more to this phenomenon than a simple culture-war reading allows

Reform-run council says free library scheme for refugees ‘is not value for money’

Party withdraws all Lancashire libraries from City of Sanctuary UK programme that supports new arrivals to UK

Peter Ransley obituary

Screenwriter and novelist who co-founded a charity to support those affected by avoidable harm in healthcare