Six Guardian reads on Greenland, prison murders, Mondrian and culture

The Guardian has gathered six long reads and interviews covering topics from a proposed Greenland purchase to prison violence, art history, neuroscience, television and a novelist’s new work. Investigations correspondent Tom Burgis explored why Donald Trump and Ronald Lauder became fixated on Greenland, noting Lauder, heir to the Estée Lauder fortune, “is now making deals in the island.” John Bolton told the Guardian that in 2018 Trump said a prominent businessman had suggested the US buy Greenland.

Alex South’s Long Read examines a rise in murders in prisons in England and Wales, describing hotspots for violence such as the exercise yard, showers, mealtimes and association periods, and how the increase is traumatising inmates and staff while arguing that violence is not inevitable.

Joanna Moorhead celebrated the lesser-known artist Marlow Moss and asked whether Piet Mondrian owed his success in part to her work, while Emma Beddington interviewed neuroscientist Ben Rein about how friendship and socialising in what Rein calls “a post-interaction world” can help you live longer.

Julia Carrie Wong asked what the steamy popularity of the gay hockey drama Heated Rivalry — and women’s appetite for its sexual and romantic content — reveals about gender relations in 2026, and Sophie McBain spoke to George Saunders about ghosts, mortality, Buddhism, partisan politics and a terrifying flight.

Key Topics

Culture, Greenland, Donald Trump, Ronald Lauder, Prison Murders, Marlow Moss