Scotland
Letter from the U.K.
Nicola Sturgeon’s Calamitous Arrest
Just months ago, the First Minister of Scotland was a hero to progressives and independence seekers. Then she resigned—merely the start of her downfall.
By Sam Knight
The New Yorker Documentary
Practicing Tradition and Learning to Dance in the Scottish Highlands
For the young performers in “Blue Bonnets,” a cultural pastime loaded with history is simply dance.
Screening Room
Being a Human Lightning Rod Is Oddly Relatable
In the short film “Don vs Lightning,” inspired by a true story, an elderly Scottish grump can’t stop getting fried by the sky.
Comment
Running Out of Time at the U.N. Climate Conference
To really appreciate America’s fecklessness, you have to go back to the meeting that preceded all the bad COPs—the so-called Earth Summit, in 1992.
By Elizabeth Kolbert
Letter from Glasgow
Nicola Sturgeon’s Quest for Scottish Independence
The country’s leader asks voters which kind of society they prefer to live in: Brexit Britain or a social-democratic Scotland.
By Sam Knight
Books
In Sarah Moss’s Fiction, There’s No Holiday from History
Her latest novel, “Summerwater,” follows Britons on vacation, but snapshots of a family romance open onto a deeper story about a country’s long-simmering tensions.
By Leo Robson
Letter from the U.K.
The Ghost of Robert the Bruce and the Scottish Independence Movement
The Declaration of Arboath, in which Scotland asserted its independence from England, will make a rare public appearance to honor the seven hundredth anniversary of its signing.
By Anna Russell
This Week in Fiction
Douglas Stuart on Growing Up Queer Before the Internet
The author discusses “Found Wanting,” his story from this week’s issue of the magazine.
By Cressida Leyshon
Annals of Gastronomy
How Americans Acquired a Taste for Haggis, with Help from the Scottish Poet Robert Burns
Outside of its native country, the dish has often served as a punch line. Once a year, though, it finds a customer base beyond its homeland.
By Sadie Stein
Page-Turner
How Muriel Spark Came Home to Scotland
It’s the nature of centenaries that a writer may get a second chance, making friends with readers whom she didn’t attract the first time around.
By Kirsty Gunn
Personal History
Lessons from My Mother
I had a sense that she was a good teacher, but I had no idea that she was such an influential one, and in the very area I had chosen.
By James Wood
News Desk
Elizabeth II, the Brexit Queen
For the British monarch, the Brexit vote marks an almost Shakespearean turn.
By Robin Wright