Issue 1407

Time of his life
Nathaniel Hall’s play First Time not only won him awards but helped him deal with a breakdown after he was diagnosed with HIV. He tells Christian Lisseman that he hopes it will carry home the message that living with the virus is very different from when it emerged in the 1980s.

Cover to cover girl
Sheila Rowbotham has been at the forefront of feminism and radical politics for decades but isn’t as well known as some of her high-profile contemporaries. She tells Antonia Charlesworth about the importance of linking women’s rights to wider political struggles and how – despite the odd wobble – she finds hope in younger generations of activists. Illustration by Una.

Plus
News, arts and entertainment, columnist Roger Ratcliffe on government cronyism, Naga Munchetty’s letter to her younger self and more.