The American author on whale watching, Kehinde Wiley’s hypnotic paintings and an indispensable Canadian singer-songwriter

When inventor ​David Mayman took to the skies, it seemed he’d answered an age-old longing for flight. So why did no one seem to care?

How is America faring after four years of Donald Trump? Which way will voters turn? US authors including Richard Powers, Ocean Vuong and Kiley Reid share their hopes and fears

The president’s El Paso rally should have been a tricky affair, with the wall, the shutdown, a counter-rally by local Democrat star Beto O’Rourke. But it was a night of wild surprises

The right to live offline, to self-define, to choose, to a healthy planet ... as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights turns 70, leading authors reimagine it for today

From dazed election night revellers in Washington DC to a gay Trump voter in Detroit to kids in Kentucky ... The US writer gauges the mood of a divided nation

Is this the most dangerous campaign in history, or a surreal comedy act, playing to a crowd laughing too hard to listen? The US writer spends a day at a presidential rally

In this non-fiction essay, American writer Dave Eggers recalls a run-in with homeland security

On his emotionally devastating new album Carrie & Lowell, Sufjan Stevens explores the terrible loss he felt at the death of his mother. He talks to Dave Eggers about how difficult it was to make, his dysfunctional childhood and how playing the songs live will be a joyful relief