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Simon Kuper

Life & Arts Columnist

Simon Kuper joined the Financial Times in 1994. He wrote the daily currencies column, before leaving the FT in 1998. He returned in 2002 as a sports columnist and has been there ever since. Nowadays he writes a general column for the Weekend FT on all manner of topics from politics to books, and on cities including London, Paris, Johannesburg and Miami.

Email Simon Kuper @KuperSimon  on Twitter (link opens in a new browser window)

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  • Thursday, 21 December, 2023
    FT MagazineLife & Arts
    What if Russia wins?

    A counterfactual view of the conflict in Ukraine

  • Thursday, 14 December, 2023
    FT MagazineLife & Arts
    Can India’s Silicon Valley make it as a megacity?

    Dizzying dynamic, Bengaluru has reached a fork in the road that will determine its future

  • Thursday, 7 December, 2023
    FT MagazineParis
    Paris, city of the future

    There’s a decidedly optimistic air in the French capital

  • Monday, 27 November, 2023
    Flexible working
    Desks by the hour: why flexible offices are a hit with business

    New form of co-working offers companies ability to expand or shrink space when needed

    Nancy Hey
  • Thursday, 23 November, 2023
    FT MagazineLife & Arts
    How to tackle your inner climate denier

    Like many others, my instinctive response is to change the subject, but collectively that has to change

  • Friday, 17 November, 2023
    FT SeriesBest books of the year 2023
    Best books of 2023 — Sport

    Simon Kuper selects his must-read titles

    Montage of book covers
  • Thursday, 16 November, 2023
    FT MagazineLife & Arts
    The Dutch are piloting a saner European right

    Post-Thatcherite, post-Trumpian, next week’s elections are tapping into a mood for dry moderation

  • Thursday, 16 November, 2023
    Special ReportDiversity Leaders
    Lise Klaveness fights the lonely fight to change world football

    European standard bearer contests male officialdom view that ‘patience’ is the way forward

    Lise Klaveness, president of the Norwegian Football Association (NFF), poses for a portrait
  • Thursday, 9 November, 2023
    FT MagazineIsrael-Hamas war
    What George Orwell could teach us about Israel and Palestine

    Orwell and Nelson Mandela are reliable models for truth-seeking in a time of tragedy

  • Thursday, 2 November, 2023
    FT MagazineLithuania
    How Lithuanians are preparing to stop Putin

    Peaceful prosperity is an anomaly in Lithuanian history. Russian invasions are the norm

    Illustration showing a silhouetted side profile of a bear’s head, with a red star as its eye and the colors of the flag of Lithuania in its mouth
  • Saturday, 28 October, 2023
    The Weekend Essay
    From Putin to Musk: the making of a modern-day oligarch

    Today’s super-rich govern countries, set agendas — and thrive in times of turmoil. Simon Kuper on how oligarchs diversified

    A Reservoir Dogs-style illustration of seven men in black suits with red ties, their faces including those of Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin, Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg
  • Thursday, 26 October, 2023
    FT MagazineLife & Arts
    The west appeased Putin once. They’ll do it again

    Each country had its own incentive to misread the Russian president. Where do they stand now?

  • Tuesday, 24 October, 2023
    FT Globetrotter
    Parlez-vous Parisian? How to speak like a local in the French capital

    A crash course in an ever-shifting dialect that expresses the city’s cosmopolitan cool. Wesh!

    Cartoon of people speaking French words
  • Thursday, 19 October, 2023
    FT MagazineLife & Arts
    Skimming, scanning, scrolling — the age of deep reading is over

    Reading longer texts fostered our empathy for others. How will we cope without it?

  • Thursday, 12 October, 2023
    FT MagazineLife & Arts
    The Disneyfication of the national brand

    From Ikea’s Sweden to Swiss watchmakers, today’s companies are remaking the images of entire populations

  • Thursday, 5 October, 2023
    FT MagazineLife & Arts
    The case against HS2

    Even in countries bigger than England, high-speed rail is often a vanity project that escapes public scrutiny

    Illustration of a white elephant behind a blue train
  • Thursday, 28 September, 2023
    FT MagazineLife & Arts
    Democracies need to work quicker and smarter. Here’s what that might look like 

    Politicians often reach the right answer — but years too late

  • Thursday, 21 September, 2023
    FT MagazineWorking from home
    Bosses won’t like it but WFH is a happier way to work

    Homeworking is not just a corporate issue, it’s a chance to create a better society

  • Thursday, 14 September, 2023
    FT MagazineUK
    Britain’s dawning self-awareness

    The nation has realised what it is: a small country that needs immigrants, high taxes and European allies

  • Thursday, 7 September, 2023
    FT MagazineLife & Arts
    We should pity (some of) the incels

    Beyond the dangerous misogynists there’s a growing group of unseen incels who live in harmless but frustrated misery

  • Thursday, 31 August, 2023
    FT MagazineUS presidential election 2024
    The biggest risk to US democracy? You’ve probably never heard of them

    The threat that a third party could swing the 2024 election is barely discussed

  • Monday, 28 August, 2023
    Football
    Now is football’s moment to change

    The scandal over a non-consensual kiss by Luis Rubiales needs to be an ‘enough’ moment

    Protesters demand the resignation of Luis Rubiales at a rally in Madrid. Female footballers’ voices are being heard — they don’t have to take it anymore
  • Friday, 18 August, 2023
    House & Home
    A laboratory of solar energy gives Lyon its moment in the sun

    A boom in residential panel installations is fuelling large-scale projects in French cities

    Illustration of house with solar panels on the roof receiving energy from the sun
  • Wednesday, 16 August, 2023
    ReviewBooks
    Answered Prayers — how England’s 1966 team delivered on Ramsey’s words

    Duncan Hamilton’s book, based on interviews with the footballers and their often prickly manager, aims to place the World Cup victory in a fresh light

  • Tuesday, 8 August, 2023
    Working It podcast16 min listen
    Shared workspaces are growing up

    Ping-pong tables and beer-on-tap are out. Privacy is in

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