Alec Ash

Is the Internet dividing our attention? Are we so buried in technology that we ignore one another? The technology writer discusses the history and implications of the information age, from the mechanical clock to the iPhone

Modern society depends on trust more than we realise, and the basis for that trust is security. The trick, says the security guru, is preserving the forces that allow us to trust one another, while also knowing who not to trust.

Managing immigration has become a key political question of our times. The author of The British Dream tells us about the British experience, and what helps multiculturalism succeed or fail.

Bibliotherapist Ella Berthoud prescribes some reading for love. Rekindle your relationship, remember first passions and beware obsessive love with help from these suggestions.

The author of But Beautiful and Zona tells us about different ways of writing history, and gives us five examples where innovative or experimental approaches have paid off.

Discussions about Tibet are often reduced to arguments about China’s right to run it. Tibetologist Robbie Barnett says this obscures a much more subtle debate about what it means to be Tibetan in modern Tibetan society.

Dissent is not just about anger, but about having a rival articulation of the world, argues American historian Timothy Snyder. He recommends five books by European writers of the 20th century who lived in regimes that “not only monopolised violence but threatened it in an everyday sense” and tells us what today’s dissidents can learn from their experience.

What is the difference between fairness and equality? In contemporary capitalist societies, some inequality is inevitable and desirable. But the rewards for the few at the top have soared while the rest have been squeezed. Is this fair? We need a new social contract, says the author and columnist

Our culture tells us to follow our hearts, but self-deception can wreck lives. The therapist advocates a new model of prudence when it comes to major life choices, and recommends reading that illustrates his advice

The journalist and author praises tabloid hacks, lambasts Johann Hari, picks a bone with Christopher Hitchens, and selects five books that exemplify good reporting – or satirise it mercilessly