Culture | Hearts of gold

Are humans innately good? Rutger Bregman thinks so

In “Humankind” he tries to refute the idea that people are naturally prone to wickedness

Rumours of war

Humankind. By Rutger Bregman. Translated by Elizabeth Manton and Erica Moore.Little, Brown; 480 pages; $30. Bloomsbury; £20.

This article appeared in the Culture section of the print edition under the headline “Hearts of gold”

The fire this time: Police violence, race and protest in America

From the June 6th 2020 edition

Discover stories from this section and more in the list of contents

Explore the edition
Meghan Markle with Daniel Martin in "With Love, Meghan"

Meghan Markle’s new Netflix show is out of touch with the times

In it she positions herself as an elite Martha Stewart

Mikey Madison poses with the Oscar for Best Actress in a Leading Role for "Anora"

This year’s Oscars were notably apolitical

Hollywood has ditched resistance in favour of toeing the line


A triptych of screenshots from Donald Trump's AI video on Trump Gaza.

AI unleashes a weird new genre of political communication

Donald Trump’s Gaza video offers a taste of what is to come


Why are live albums back in fashion?

Hitmakers including Niall Horan, Dua Lipa and Ed Sheeran have released them

Caviar is the internet’s favourite indulgence

Russian tsars loved it. Now TikTok does, too

Finding meaning in people’s first words—and their last

Why there is less significance than society would have you believe