The Critic

The Critic is Britain’s new monthly magazine for politics, ideas, art, literature and much more. Co-edited by Michael Mosbacher and Christopher Montgomery, The Critic exists to push back against a self-regarding and dangerous consensus that finds critical voices troubling, triggering, insensitive and disrespectful. The point is not provocation or trolling. The point of honest criticism is to better approach truth, not deny its possibility.

Ossified thought and a lack of intellectual rigour are depressing features of all sides of today’s political and cultural debate. Our writers will subscribe to no editorial line nor serve the interests of any party, faction or cause. We ask them to write because we expect them to be honest, and lucidly so. Look to our contributors and fault us if they are not. 

Contributors to the magazine include Jonathan Meades, Douglas Murray, Nick Cohen, Joshua Rozenberg, Anne McElvoy, Norman Lebrecht, Daniel Johnson, Lisa Hilton, Hannah Betts and Artists in Residence Adam Dant and Miriam Elia.

In the October issue of The Critic, Jude Russo spots something about Donald Trump that both his conservative supporters and liberal opponents overlook — his surprisingly progressive social attitudes. Have we only half understood him?

Also, David Elstein examines how Ofcom allowed ITV and Channel 4 to minimise their public service broadcasting commitments, Henry Hill sets out how the NHS could be reformed but argues Lord Darzi’s report is not the answer, Alexandra Wilson leaves academia with love and regrets and Jon Moynihan asks why western European economies have stopped growing. 

William Cook interviews the artist Sean Scully, Sarah Ditum admires the professionalism of Oasis, Toby Young explains why he still supports QPR and Patrick Kidd salutes Joe Root. 

All this and the customary range of arts and books reviews, tastes, sights and sounds from The Critic’s survey of contemporary culture and society.