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Sunday Essay

The weekend's flagship essays.

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A theatre stage with empty red seats. — Live Presence: What recordings cannot fully replicate. | Source: Erik Mclean

Opinion

Sunday Essay: What Live Performance Still Does That Recordings Cannot

The categories of performance that depend on live presence have specific qualities that recorded forms cannot fully replicate.

A craftsperson working at a wooden bench with hand tools.

Opinion

Sunday Essay: The Quiet Persistence of Things Made by Hand

By Jamal Whitfield Apr 30, 2026

An audio recording studio.

Opinion

Sunday Essay: How the Opinion Section Has Adapted Across Formats

By Imogen Hart Apr 27, 2026

A solitary figure walking on a path through woodland in early morning fog.

Opinion

Sunday Essay: How We Lost the Long Arc of Public Attention

By Imogen Hart Apr 27, 2026

A neighbourhood street at dusk with city lights.

Opinion

Sunday Essay: The Slow Renewal of Civic Practice in Mid-Sized Cities

By Jamal Whitfield Apr 26, 2026

A quiet morning kitchen with sunlight through a window.

Opinion

Sunday Essay: In Praise of the Quiet Things That Hold Lives Together

By Imogen Hart Apr 21, 2026

A stack of older books with worn spines on a wooden table.

Arts

Sunday Essay: What the Bestseller List Has Always Been For

By Imogen Hart Apr 20, 2026

A book open on a wooden table beside a window with afternoon light.

Arts

Sunday Essay: What Sustained Reading Does to a Mind

By Imogen Hart Apr 13, 2026

An old stone civic building seen across a square at dawn.

Opinion

Sunday Essay: The Quiet Work of Rebuilding Institutional Trust

By Jamal Whitfield Apr 13, 2026

An old typewriter on a wooden desk with worn pages of writing.

Opinion

Sunday Essay: What We Lose When Public Language Loses Its Specificity

By Imogen Hart Apr 6, 2026

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