Articles
Seven best anti-work movies
Tom Hodgkinson | Letter from the Editor
Celebrating the silver screen’s finest skivers with Tom Hodgkinson… Read more
Charles Handy: What’s the meaning of success?
Charles Handy | Comment
Parable of the snowdrops… Read more
Book of the Week: ‘You’ll get over it’: The Rage of Bereavement
Virginia Ironside | Books
Virginia Ironside on the complicated and sensitive issue of grieving… Read more
Freedom and release: ah, is this not happiness?
Jin Shengtan | Idle Thoughts
Another happy moment from our 17th-century Chinese scholar… Read more
Facebook Australia ban is good news
Tom Hodgkinson | Letter from the Editor
And we reckon Adam Curtis would agree… Read more
Charles Handy: Let’s do away with dichotomies
Charles Handy | Comment
There are always more than two alternatives when deciding a matter… Read more
Book of the Week: The Anatomy of Melancholy
Robert Burton | Books
Extracts from the 17th-century classic… Read more
Observing an artist at work: ah, is this not happiness?
Jin Shengtan | Idle Thoughts
Another happy moment from our 17th-century Chinese scholar… Read more
Au revoir le déjeuner
Tom Hodgkinson | Letter from the Editor
Has Macron killed the long French lunch?… Read more
Charles Handy: The joy of teaching
Charles Handy | Comment
How schooling others brings its own rewards… Read more
Bittersweet symphony
Charles Hazlewood | Classical music
Conductor Charles Hazlewood’s new documentary ‘Beethoven And Me’… Read more
In the footsteps of Wilkie Collins
Henry Eliot | Books
The inspiration behind Collins’s Woman in White… Read more
Book of the Week: The French Art of not Trying too Hard
Ollivier Pourriol | Books
A Gallic guide to getting what you want without the struggle… Read more
Getting it off your chest: ah, is this not happiness?
Jin Shengtan | Idle Thoughts
Another happy moment from our 17th-century Chinese scholar and playwright… Read more
A few of our favourite magazines
Tom Hodgkinson | Letter from the Editor
A selection of joyful journalism… Read more
King Rocker: Portrait of a true idler
Stewart Lee | Television
Stewart Lee has made a film about Robert Lloyd of The Nightingales… Read more
Adam Curtis: Social media is a scam
Adam Curtis | Idler Magazine
Tom Hodgkinson meets the documentary film maker… Read more
Book of the Week: Mrs Death Misses Death
Salena Godden | Books
An extract from Salena Godden’s highly praised first novel… Read more
Not letting bad breaks get you down: ah, is this not happiness?
Jin Shengtan | Idle Thoughts
The 25th of 33 happy moments from a 17th-century Chinese scholar… Read more
Is this dystopia?
Tom Hodgkinson | Letter from the Editor
Be afraid and carry on – is that our future now?… Read more
Charles Handy: The deadly dangers of hubris
Charles Handy | Comment
Trump’s tragic pantomime was an act of colossal arrogance… Read more
When Bacon met Giacometti
Michael Peppiatt | Books
Down the Colony club with Francis and Alberto… Read more
Book of the Week: Time Smart
Ashley Whillans | Books
Take back the time you lose to mindless tasks and unfulfilling chores… Read more
Returning home: ah, is this not happiness?
Jin Shengtan | Idle Thoughts
The 24th of 33 happy moments from a 17th-century Chinese scholar… Read more