Since retiring, I’ve found time to indulge in more reading, whether it be books, newspapers or online sites. And like me, many seniors have a regular café where they can peruse newspapers for free (yes, it’s annoying when someone has already done your pet puzzle).

However, we need to take care not to become locked into a few favourites, especially with online resources. Surely the more widely we read, the more well-informed – and educated – we’ll hopefully become.

So, here’s a list of five online websites (in no particular order) that provide various material that can, I believe, make us better educated and keep our grey cells working.

Slate: I’m a big fan of the late Christopher Hitchins, so any publication he wrote for is good enough for me. Sure, it’s American, but we’ll forgive that, and you need to subscribe to gain full access, but there’s enough tasty and provocative articles to keep you coming back. Obviously, politics provides Slate with a host of opportunities, but there’s plenty of other titbits for your edification – advice, culture, technology and business, life, news. The list is endless.

UnHerd: The transatlantic cousins in the UK are well represented by the mixed bag that is UnHerd, which “is for people who dare to think for themselves”. Their writers are a diverse lot, meaning that you won’t always agree with them (and they with each other), and that is a major strength.

Examples include Kathleen Stock, an academic philosopher who resigned her professorship at the University of Sussex after being “cancelled”, and the (in)famous Greek economist Yanis Varoufakis (his latest being Donald Trump’s economic masterplan). Comments are welcome, and many of them display impressive arguments and counterarguments on the issue under focus. And if you’re visiting London, you can even pop into an event at the UnHerd Club, a place where “where intelligent people can come together to talk freely and without fear of retribution”.

3 Quarks Daily: Great name, isn’t it? If you’re interested in its origin, the clue is James Joyce. More to the point, though, this 20-year-old site is “a weekly magazine of original, previously unpublished essays”, along with “eight to 12 interesting items from around the web each day, in the areas of science, design, literature, current affairs, art, politics, philosophy and anything else we deem inherently fascinating”.

The editors succeed in providing us “with a one-stop intellectual surfing experience by culling good stuff from all over and putting it in one place”. Overall, most of the articles dig deep to explore issues and current events, although there is occasional light relief with regular poems and cartoons. As with UnHerd, comments are welcomed.

London Review of Books: It might surprise you to learn the London Review of Books is not just about books, although that’s its focus. And it’s been going a long time – it claims to have had more than 2,000 contributing writers, many of whom are familiar names. Alan Bennett is a personal favourite, and even just considering the ‘Bs’, there are plenty of famous authors such as Julian Barnes and Mary Beard.

The articles are almost without exception beautifully written, so if you’re a keen reader, this one’s for you. Other articles provide in-depth and often personal analysis of a current issue such as Samuel Hanafin’s Frozen, concerning his experience as a member of a French NGO that has been hit hard by the US freezing of humanitarian aid. While you can have a paid subscription, there’s a free option that gives you limited access and provides a weekly email of highlights.

Arts and Letters Daily: Lastly, how about a free site with no subscriptions and no advertisements? Arts and Letters Daily is a delight, with its no-nonsense interface and simple presentation. It’s a product of The Chronicle of Higher Education and is updated daily (as the name implies) except on weekends.

Basically, its editors comb other websites (newspapers, magazines, book reviews) for what they perceive to be the most interesting and provide useful brief summaries with links. The articles are presented in three columns: Articles of Note, New Books and Essays & Opinions. It’s a pleasure to visit, and there’s always (well, usually) something to catch your eye.

Of course, there are other useful and informative websites (The Browser, Reason and Hedgehog Review, to name but a few) to educate you, but if you haven’t tried any of the above, give at least one of them a go. You just might (like me) get hooked.

Note: This article first appeared in The Golden Times on 12 March, 2025.