The Joy of Six 1595

Ian Lucas argues that Andy Burnham has the opportunity to lead the fight against Russian interference: "The threatening alliances now emerging worldwide between the tech platforms, politicians not committed to democratic principles and donors committed to hard right views demand that those countries and individuals who are committed to democratic principles must act together now."

Hannah Jane Parkinson reports from Teesside, where maritime livelihoods are under threat and, as a new documentary reveals, crews are sure the local freeport is to blame. 

"What makes school or college debating, and political debates on TV, exciting is the theatre. As such, debate is not an entirely separate creature from professional wrestling, even if wrestlers have better costumes." Jonathan Beecher Field doubts the value of formal debating in education.

"The Social Network hardly portrayed the Facebook founder and his company in a hagiographical light (Zuckerberg later described the film as 'hurtful'), but there was at least an element of the plucky upstart to the rise of Zuckerberg as he takes Facebook to 500 million users and a valuation of $25bn ... The Social Reckoning picks up from there, with a clear perspective that both the founder and his company – as well as the industry they represent – are corporate villains now." Dan Mimo says tech execs have become the film villains of our age.

Snigdha Poonam takes us inside the lucrative world of literary scams: "This was undoubtedly a scam. Genuine book clubs don’t ask for money from authors. But who was behind it?" 

"The ancient City of London is protected by dragons that guard the main roads into the city from perfidious invaders. They look ancient, yet the dragons around London are fairly new, albeit based on something that can trace its origins back to the Great Fire of London." Ian Mansfield on the dragons that guard London.