The relaunched littleatoms.com will soon mark its first year of publication. We’ve had laughter, we’ve had tears, we’ve probably had a few too many articles about the meaning of Jeremy Corbyn, but we’ve done our best to stick to what we see as the spirit of Little Atoms: open, inquiring, and serious but not afraid of fun. Here’s a few of my favourite articles and podcasts from the past 11 months to tide you over the Christmas break. Bookmark this page and save your sanity.
Padraig Reidy
The publishing sensation of 2015: Cristina Marconi’s essay on the mysterious author behind the Neopolitan Quartet explained the world in which the books originated and the deeply misogynistic reception they received from the Italian literary establishment: a must-read for Ferrante fans.
In a prescient article ahead of the election of Jeremy Corbyn as Labour leader, Little Atoms’ publisher Mike Harris examined what it would mean for the uneasy coalition that is Britain’s left.
One young London socialist describes his journey to join the new Kurdish society in Rojava. Think somewhere between Homage To Catalonia and a Ken Loach film.
British Humanist Association chief Andrew Copson’s heartfelt obituary of fantasy author Terry Pratchett.
Max Porter’s Grief Is The Thing With Feathers, loosely based on Ted Hughes’ Crow, was an astonishing success. Max joined Neil Denny in the Little Atoms studio to talk love, poetry, publishing and crows. One of my favourite podcasts (and my favourite book of the year).
This photo essay went HUGE, covered by every outlet we could think of. And deservedly so. A brilliant, funny compassionate action from Space, Not Spikes. You saw it on Little Atoms first.
A fascinating look at a controversy that raged in the poetry world throughout 2015: where is the line between pastiche, homage and theft?
We all suspect that Putin and his cronies have a cavalier attitude to reality. Natalia Antonova looks at the reasons why.
Sarah Churchwell on the world of the Great Gatsby.
Little Atoms assistant editor Caroline Christie meets art terrorist AK47.
Jamie Bartlett challenges the left's ambiguous attitude to censorship.
Jon Savage is the author of England's Dreaming: Sex pistols and Punk Rock and Teenage: The Creation of Youth, 1875-1945. He is the writer of the award winning film documentaries The Brian Epstein Story (1998) and Joy Division (2007) as well as the feature film of Teenage (2014). His latest book is 1966: The Year the Decade Exploded.
