THOMAS GRAHAM

The Independent • 20th July 2020

The 2020 Rupert Cornwell prize

The third Rupert Cornwell Prize for Journalism has been won by Thomas Graham

Bodley Head • 23rd November 2019

The Sacrifice

When I arrive in Llallagua it is dark, freezing and silent, save the shuffling miners. I follow them up to the mouth of the mine as the sun rises.

The Economist • 21st September 2019

El Alto: High and Mighty

The surprising liberalism of Bolivia’s “Aymara capital”

The Guardian • 2nd July 2019

Fifty years of HIV: how close are we to a cure?

Nobody knew what killed Robert Rayford. The African American boy was just 15 years old when he presented at St Louis city hospital in late 1968, but the medical team drew a blank.

The Economist • 16th February 2019

Poetry slams in Basque Country

Before an audience of 500 people on the outskirts of Pamplona, Maialen Lujanbio, the reigning champion of bertsolaritza, the Basque oral tradition of improvised song, steps up to the microphone. She stands in silence, thinking.

WIRED UK • 3rd March 2019

Barcelona's smart city fightback

In 2015 Ada Colau, an activist with no experience in government, became mayor of Barcelona.

World Politics Review • 16th September 2019

Gold Fever Grips Bolivia

Gold mining has surged in Bolivia over the past 15 years, so much that gold is now the country’s third-largest export, trailing only zinc and natural gas. But as mining activities damage more of the environment, the Bolivian government’s ability to...

Sight & Sound • 3rd March 2019

Interview with Ciro Guerra

“In this moment, it is not possible for me to know, dear reader, if the infinite jungle has started on me the process that has taken many others that have ventured into these lands, to complete and irremediable insanity… all I know is that, like all...

BBC • 11th March 2019

A clear-eyed view of evil, pain and humanity

“Distilling is beautiful. First of all, because it is a slow, philosophic, and silent occupation, which keeps you busy but gives you time to think of other things, somewhat like riding a bike. Then, because it involves a metamorphosis from liquid to...

World Politics Review • 19th July 2019

The Dirty Business Behind Bolivia’s Clean Energy

La Paz, BOLIVIA—President Evo Morales wants Bolivia to become the “energy heart of Latin America,” producing many times more electricity than it consumes and exporting it all across the continent.

1843 • 16th August 2019

The soft-power struggle is now showing in Screen 2

No one could describe the Bolivian Cinemateca as glamorous. People loiter in the lobby for the warmth, the tickets are sometimes handwritten, and it’s better not to speak of the toilets. But as cinemas in La Paz go, it’s a treasure.

World Politics Review • 3rd March 2019

Barcelona’s Activist Politicians

BARCELONA—Four years ago, several of Spain’s biggest cities all rejected traditional political parties in their municipal elections.

BBC • 3rd March 2019

Raza: The strange story of Franco's 'lost' film

Most dictatorships end in revolution, or don’t really end at all. Spain was a rare exception.

BBC • 17th June 2019

The best comic novel ever written?

“Of all the several ways of beginning a book which are now in practice throughout the known world, I am confident my own way of doing it is the best – I'm sure it is the most religious – for I begin with writing the first sentence – and trusting to...

Sight & Sound • 3rd March 2019

Interview with Kleber Mendonça Filho

When Kleber Mendonça Filho’s Aquarius emerged on the festival circuit, its resonance with Brazil’s political turmoil was uncanny.

Apolitical • 4th January 2018

The Italian region where 30% of GDP comes from cooperatives

Emilia-Romagna is one of the most prosperous regions in Italy. It’s also home to perhaps the greatest density of cooperative businesses in the world.

BBC • 3rd March 2019

Art made by AI is selling for thousands – is it any good?

Earlier this year, a cryptic press release landed in the inboxes of journalists. Black and white, stylised like the ‘game over’ screen from an arcade game, it intoned: “CREATIVITY IS NOT ONLY FOR HUMANS”.

Apolitical • 9th November 2017

Sweden's job centres are the best in the world—and they're private

If you’re going to get fired, do it in Sweden.

Little White Lies • 3rd March 2019

How Graham Greene became one of cinema’s greatest writers

If childhood is “the bank balance of the writer,” then British novelist Graham Greene had plenty to draw on.

Little White Lies • 3rd March 2019

David Bowie’s festive oddity

If films were made by pulling the lever on a fruit machine to generate a random combination of actors, plot and setting, you would occasionally get a hilarious freak like Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence.