The US government shutdown reached its 36th day yesterday, making it the longest in the nation’s history – and there’s no end in sight. These shutdowns have “become a recurring feature of US politics”, said Bloomberg. Since 1981, there have been 15, “the product of partisan standoffs” over government spending. 

Why do shutdowns happen?
The federal government budget is outlined over 12 appropriations bills, each covering a broad area, such as defence or agriculture. If these are not passed by Congress before the US fiscal years begins, in October, short-term extensions of the existing funding arrangements are usually agreed to minimise disruption. But if Congress refuses to agree to these extensions, the government is left facing a funding shortfall.

The current shutdown centres around Covid-era healthcare subsidies that are due to expire at the end of the year. Democratic lawmakers say millions will be left struggling to afford healthcare if they are not extended. Republicans have maintained that they will not discuss the subsidies until government is reopened.

What are the effects?
Around 750,000 federal employees have been furloughed without pay in the ongoing stand-off, and almost as many are working without receiving any wages. Many are seeking temporary jobs, while others have been forced to resort to using food banks.

The shutdown is also affecting the 42 million Americans who receive benefits through Snap, a federal programme that provides food stamps to low-income families. Although the government is to use an emergency fund to cover around half of the normal benefits, payments for November have already been delayed for millions.

When will it end?
“Despite the punishing toll of federal closures on the country”, said The Associated Press, an imminent agreement remains unlikely. The Democrats’ victories in Tuesday’s regional elections are viewed by many in the party as a “validation of their strategy” of holding out for a deal.

A “small bipartisan group of rank-and-file senators” are “in conversation” to try to end the shutdown, said ABC News. But House Democrat leaders say a reopening of government in the coming week is unlikely, according to Politico.

The finale of “The Celebrity Traitors” airs tonight, ending “what has felt like a timely national bonding experience”, said Phil Harrison in The Guardian. The first four episodes attracted an average audience of 12.6 million, making it the UK’s most-watched TV show of the year even before the finale. The celebrity version has confirmed what the “civilian series” suggested: “this is one of the most immaculate small-screen entertainment formats ever devised”.

‘Sheer ineptitude’
The idea of celebrities taking over the game “ruffled my feathers at first”, said Emily Baker in The i Paper, but I have “never been more glad to be wrong”. While it may be “boring to watch Sally from Southampton” attempt physical challenges, it’s “altogether thrilling” to watch Stephen Fry “and his fellow famouses get stuck in”.

The celebrities bring something previous contestants couldn’t, said Laura Jane Turner in Digital Spy: “prior knowledge about their fellow game-players”. Familiarity from outside the show can “make or break alliances”, and “pre-conceived ideas could influence the hunt” at the nightly Round Tables.

Even so, “the sheer ineptitude on display has been staggering”, said Harrison in The Guardian, “and oddly endearing”. From David Olusoga’s “torturous circular monologues” to Kate Garraway – “a literal news journalist, lest we forget” – blundering around “like someone trying to burst a birthday piñata during a bomb disposal operation”, the Faithfuls haven’t exactly mastered the art of Traitor-spotting.

‘Manna from TV scheduling heaven’
The “cloak-swishing” game of deception quickly became “the ultimate watercooler series”, said Barbara Ellen in The Observer. Perhaps the show’s inherent “isolation and paranoia” resonates with our “post-Covid generation”; perhaps it has a particular appeal for the “‘cosy crime’ home nation of Agatha Christie”. Or maybe it’s simply because this is a “televisual microscope-slide of human nature at its worst, and suggestibility at its strongest”.

So many little moments from this season are destined to become “TV folklore”. From Alan Carr’s mounting glee at being a Traitor to Paloma Faith’s “fury at being killed first” and Celia Imrie’s unforgettable fart, it has been “manna from autumn TV scheduling heaven”.

The Beaver supermoon – the largest and brightest full Moon of 2025 – shines above the Shenyang Imperial Palace in northeast China. Each month’s lunar cycle takes its English name from Native American tradition, with Beaver falling between Harvest and Cold.

VCG / Getty Images

Ella Hickson’s “rollicking” adaptation of J.M. Barrie’s tale is “lavish family entertainment”, said Nick Curtis in London’s The Standard. As well as capturing the “adventure and enchantment” of the original, the playwright delves into its “psychological depths”.

In this “fascinating, feminist riff on a classic”, Wendy (Hannah Saxby) is “suspicious” when she spots Peter Pan (Daniel Krikler) “lurking outside her bedroom”, said Alice Saville in The Independent. And when he whisks her away to Neverland, “she’s not enchanted – she’s enlisted into a life she didn’t ask for, forced to mother and feed its lost boys”. Although the production sometimes feels “more suited to misty-eyed adults than actual kids”, it’s an “intelligent, contemporary” take.

The production is most “confident” when it enters “classic ‘Peter Pan’ territory of swashbuckling swordfights and dastardly pirates”. Toby Stephens is “delightfully jovial” as Wendy’s father, Mr Darling, and also brings all the “cut-glass accented camp villainy you could hope for” to the role of Captain Hook.

Colin Richmond’s set designs are the “brightest stars of the show”, said Julia Rank in London Theatre. And the choreography provides a “constant whirl of activity and adventure”, with “spectacular flying sequences”.

Adults are given “plenty to mull over”, said Clive Davis in The Times, but I’m not sure the “fitful pace” of Jonathan Munby’s production will “win over every child”. Still, the “heavy” plot changes are handled “lightly”, said Curtis in The Standard. And the thrilling aerial and combat scenes are beautifully put together. “On balance, magic.”

Why the anger with Billie Eilish? Because it’s against the rules to say what we all know about billionaires
Zoe Williams in The Guardian
Billie Eilish faced “global backlash” after saying billionaires should give away their money, writes Zoe Williams. But why do we talk “constantly” about “billionaire agendas” and “billionaire networks” yet never “ask whether billionaires should exist at all”? We agree that this “minuscule wealth class undermines democracy” and that “pharaohs of tech are algorithmically mushing our brains”, yet we “avoid the logical conclusion: that maybe having a billion dollars in the first place is innately bad”.

The dulling of America’s scientific edge
The Washington Post’s editorial board
US scientists are “increasingly” viewing Europe “as a safer setting for conducting their cutting-edge research”, says The Washington Post. Donald Trump has “canceled or frozen billions of dollars for research” and “mounted pressure” on universities “to micromanage their curriculums”. It is “a dangerous time” to “weaken” our “scientific engine”. As we “hold back the country’s intellectual might”, China is building “momentum in its application of AI-powered technologies”. America “can ill afford to lose its academic sheen”.

What’s so fresh about ‘fresh hell’?
Dot Wordsworth in The Spectator
The phrase “fresh hell” has “been freshly added to the Oxford English Dictionary”, writes Dot Wordsworth. The OED cites Dickens using “fresh” to mean “new”, but I’m not convinced. It was Dorothy Parker who coined the phrase: “if the doorbell rang”, she used to say, “What fresh hell can this be?” I don’t think the dictionary needs this new entry, because “a dictionary of English is not a dictionary of quotations”.