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Emma Brockes

Emma Brockes

The Guardian

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Never mind what Rachel Reeves did long ago at the Bank of England: what claims do you make on your CV?

There are lies, evasions and manipulations by politicians that, when they come to light, can make the politician in question seem even less relatable...

previous day 30

The Guardian

Emma Brockes

Musk’s new role in Trump’s government is today’s ‘ugh’ moment in US politics. There will be many more

So here we are, back to the era of waking up to headlines that trigger audible “ughs” and a desire to act out being violently sick. On Wednesday...

13.11.2024 40

The Guardian

Emma Brockes

Trump’s win is so much worse this time. Americans knew what they were voting for

“It’s bitter in the mouth, the racial and gender dimension of this.” This was Van Jones, the CNN political analyst and a Black American,...

07.11.2024 50

The Guardian

Emma Brockes

It’s my first Halloween in the UK for two decades – and my American children are not impressed

What are you going as, this Halloween? The discussion in our household starts in the spring, takes in many twists and reversals over the course of the...

30.10.2024 30

The Guardian

Emma Brockes

The word ‘fascist’ has lost all meaning. And Trump is using that to his advantage

I remember when “fascist” became a word we all used, right around the time we first learned what it meant in adolescence. It had the kerb appeal...

23.10.2024 30

The Guardian

Emma Brockes

‘Trump, the movie’ is a fun watch, but for the truly horrible origin story read the book

The singular piece of publicity most helpful to The Apprentice, a film about Donald Trump that opened in the US last week and opens in the UK this...

17.10.2024 6

The Guardian

Emma Brockes

Is Donald Trump the greatest grifter of them all? Melania is giving him a run for his money

There was something almost poignant about Donald Trump’s tweets in support of his wife, Melania, on the occasion of her memoir being published this...

10.10.2024 60

The Guardian

Emma Brockes

JD Vance is trying hard not to be weird – and it’s making him seem more menacing still

The overriding and at times darkly comic impression, watching JD Vance’s exchange with Tim Walz in the vice-presidential debate on Tuesday night,...

02.10.2024 10

The Guardian

Emma Brockes

God knows we need an antidote for all the lousy men in the news – and I think I’ve found one

For the past month, every woman I know has been having versions of the same conversation, roughly opening with: for the love of God, how rapey is the...

26.09.2024 30

The Guardian

Emma Brockes

Huw Edwards, and the ludicrous arguments bad men make in defence of the indefensible

Among the many unedifying aspects of the fall of Huw Edwards has been a possible glimpse into how the man sees himself. At the hearing on Monday, the...

19.09.2024 30

The Guardian

Emma Brockes

Harris clearly beat Trump – not that you’d know it from the rightwing media. Shame on them

Short of sticking two pencils up his nose and muttering the word “wibble”, Trump’s appearance on the debate stage on Tuesday night was never...

11.09.2024 20

The Guardian

Emma Brockes

Kamala Harris is steering clear of Hillary Clinton’s feminist messaging – and it’s working

There are lots of differences between the presidential candidacies of Kamala Harris and Hillary Clinton, but, rhetorically at least, there’s one...

04.09.2024 8

The Guardian

Emma Brockes

Joe cried, Kamala cried and so did I. Can this be the Democrats putting on a better show than Trump ever did?

“He looks perkier,” said my nine-year-old, passing the screen as I watched footage of Joe Biden speaking on the first day of the Democratic...

21.08.2024 20

The Guardian

Emma Brockes

I’m all for the concept of ‘forest school’ – just not the kind I pulled my kids out of

Earlier this week, I dropped my kids off at a day camp in a park in London and then congratulated myself all the way home. The summer holiday is long...

16.08.2024 50

The Guardian

Emma Brockes

Army vet, football coach, big dad energy: Tim Walz is ticking all the boxes

There were a lot of things in Tim Walz’s favour to propel him on to the Democratic ticket as the pick for VP. A former teacher, former football...

07.08.2024 5

The Guardian

Emma Brockes

Trump’s usual sexist sneers don’t work against Harris – and to top it off, she’s laughing at him

A funny thing happened in the hours after the exit of Joe Biden from the US presidential race and the entrance of Kamala Harris in his place: a huge...

01.08.2024 100

The Guardian

Emma Brockes

A gleeful Trump, delegates in tribute bandages: it’s hard to tear your eyes away from the Republican convention

Reports from the first two days of the Republican national convention in Milwaukee suggest that the mood of the room isn’t merely energised but...

18.07.2024 30

The Guardian

Emma Brockes

There’s a ‘trash revolution’ in New York – exciting for everyone but the rats

Last year, 200 composting bins were rolled out in New York City, with a unit on every other corner you could open and close via an app. This was...

11.07.2024 20

The Guardian

Emma Brockes

Who can we blame for Joe Biden’s gamble? Angry Democrats are starting to point the finger

In the wake of Joe Biden’s disastrous performance in the US presidential debate last week, the national tone shifted from shock and horror to fury....

04.07.2024 10

The Guardian

Emma Brockes

The only silver lining to Biden’s painful performance? US voters had already made up their minds

Who could have foreseen that the scariest thing about the presidential debate on Thursday night wouldn’t be the lies, the bombast or the threats to...

28.06.2024 7

The Guardian

Emma Brockes

The question isn’t whether Trump or Biden is declining faster: it’s why the US is faced with this choice

No election involving Donald Trump can be considered normal, but, in among all the breaches and oddities of this uniquely strange presidential race,...

19.06.2024 10

The Guardian

Emma Brockes

Trump was hoping for a slam dunk. But Hunter Biden’s trial has only highlighted his father Joe’s dignity

If you didn’t know better, you might think the jury that found Hunter Biden guilty this week knew precisely what they were doing. The evidence...

12.06.2024 10

The Guardian

Emma Brockes

Compared with the dark saga of Donald Trump, British politics looks like Beatrix Potter

Not to diminish the capacity of the British for public disorder, but there is something darkly comic about watching, split-screen style, the contrast...

06.06.2024 10

The Guardian

Emma Brockes

Bubble tea is expensive, sugary and, as my kids have discovered, causing tween warfare

Last Friday, I took four nine-year-old girls to their favourite after-school hang-out, Tea Magic, a place that is distinct from, and in their view...

23.05.2024 20

The Guardian

Emma Brockes

It’s not pivotal that if the Donald is convicted Michael Cohen can sell his ‘Trump in jail’ T-shirts – but it’s not nothing

There’s no justifying it, but I have a sneaky soft spot for Michael Cohen, the former lawyer, fixer and – as Fox News is keen to remind us –...

16.05.2024 50

The Guardian

Emma Brockes

Mockery, low tactics, sexist tropes: gloriously, Stormy Daniels is repaying Donald Trump in kind

The spectacle of Stormy Daniels on the witness stand in a Manhattan courtroom this week sent one back to the image of Trump’s last female...

09.05.2024 40

The Guardian

Emma Brockes

Does shooting her puppy rule out Kristi Noem as Trump’s running mate? Don’t bet on it

There is a familiar moment in Republican electoral politics when an obscure politician thrust into the limelight during election season comes under...

02.05.2024 60

The Guardian

Emma Brockes

Fair to say America isn’t gripped by Liz Trussmania. Here’s what she can learn from Mr Bean

‘I know the name,” texts a friend when I ask if she knows who Liz Truss is, but like most Americans can’t quite put her finger on why. “Like...

25.04.2024 30

The Guardian

Emma Brockes

The America depicted in Civil War is not half as alarming as the real one

As the supreme court heard arguments relating to the 6 January riot and Donald Trump sat in a criminal court in Manhattan, cinemas across America have...

18.04.2024 30

The Guardian

Emma Brockes

Joe Biden has gained an inch in the polls – and Democrats are jubilant

It is a mark of the bleakness of expectations among American Democrats that, this week, President Biden’s slight rise in the polls has been seized...

11.04.2024 9

The Guardian

Emma Brockes

Ah, spring cleaning: when I’m forced to confront all my past fashion selves

I’m spring cleaning and last week filled eight huge boxes with clothes during a once-in-a-decade pass through my wardrobe. We put these things off...

04.04.2024 10

The Guardian

Emma Brockes

To my horror, gen X is turning to voice notes – I don’t want to hear your mini-podcast

There is a joke in the first season of the HBO show Hacks, pitched by Hannah Einbinder’s gen Z character, Ava, to her boomer employer, Deborah...

29.02.2024 50

The Guardian

Emma Brockes

I’m in awful pain, on a morphine drip – and still I’m thinking about the cost. This is US healthcare after all

I have lived for long enough in the US to be acclimated to most of the cultural differences, starting with 20% tipping and ending with the customary...

22.02.2024 30

The Guardian

Emma Brockes

A place of tension, lies and the dark side of the human soul. I can’t resist the theatre of Facebook Marketplace

There was a snowstorm in New York this week, triggering the shutdown of schools, the excitement of children and, in my case, a flurry of activity on...

16.02.2024 10

The Guardian

Emma Brockes

Think Apple’s Vision Pro headset makes you look like Neo in The Matrix? Sorry, you so don’t

The first thought I had, as I put on the Apple Vision Pro headset, was that I was somehow going to fail at virtual reality. For 20 minutes I’d...

08.02.2024 20

The Guardian

Emma Brockes

Don’t underestimate Nikki Haley – for starters, just look at how she gets under Trump’s skin

It is a mark of just how low are the expectations one brings to the Republican primary race that Nikki Haley, the last woman standing against Donald...

01.02.2024 40

The Guardian

Emma Brockes

Of course we should let the children play, but should we let them swear as well?

A big topic of conversation in our house is how much stricter English schools are than their American equivalents. What if, one of my children will...

25.01.2024 8

The Guardian

Emma Brockes

New York’s 701-day drought broke with an inch of grey ice – is this the end of proper snow in the city?

It hadn’t snowed in New York City for 701 days – a record – so when it started to come down on Tuesday, children’s jaws dropped like kids...

18.01.2024 40

The Guardian

Emma Brockes

The Guardian view on Ecuador’s gang violence: a domestic crisis with transnational roots

“All I know is that it’s time to leave this country, and go very far away.” Those words, from a staff member at the TV station attacked by...

11.01.2024 20

The Guardian

Emma Brockes

I thought 2024 would be grim and predictable, then I saw the words ‘secret illegal tunnel under Brooklyn’

With storms battering the US and Donald Trump back in court claiming immunity this week, light relief comes in the form of a news story we didn’t...

10.01.2024 5

The Guardian

Emma Brockes

A ‘workout for your relationships’ – what fresh hell is this?

The vogue in self-improvement this new year is for leaning out, that is, for giving yourself permission to relax on the understanding that some...

04.01.2024 8

The Guardian

Emma Brockes

The Guardian view on the politics of migration: when centrists dabble in extremism

Western European politics is suddenly sprouting some very odd couples. Last weekend, Rishi Sunak flew to Rome and posed for pally photos with...

21.12.2023 50

The Guardian

Emma Brockes

The Guardian view on a UN treaty: stop rich nations acting like the tax havens they condemn

It has long been a paradox that the rich countries whose professional services firms are responsible for most of the world’s cross-border tax abuse...

21.12.2023 30

The Guardian

Emma Brockes

Banned in Colorado? Bring it on – in the twisted logic of Donald Trump, disqualification is no bad thing at all

Ten days out from the end of the year, and who could have foreseen the latest Trump plot twist? On Wednesday morning, Americans woke to absorb the...

20.12.2023 6

The Guardian

Emma Brockes

Why Squid Game the gameshow has trapped me with its tentacles – I can’t tear myself away

My first instinct was to avoid the TV show Squid Game: The Challenge, for highly pleasing reasons of self-righteous disdain. The original Squid Game,...

07.12.2023 10

The Guardian

Emma Brockes

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