Category : Culture

UK seaside community unites to restore vandalised statue of Black woman

When the sculpture in Bexhill was spray-painted white, its artist invited locals to help repair it in a powerful gesture against racismWhen a three-metre-tall sculpture depicting a Black woman leisurely turning in her chair towards the English Channe...

Vicky McClure: ‘Working with Madonna never felt normal’

The actor, 40, on not having a posh accent, working in a jewellers, and having a tram named after her“There’s no such word as can’t!” Mum said that a lot growing up. She was right, of course. Always bloody is. So many times I thought I had no chance:...

Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band review – there’s still magic in the night

Murrayfield Stadium, EdinburghIn a typically breathless three-hour set, the Boss and band deliver the goods with such joy and passion, there’s little option other than to succumb“As you get older,” notes Bruce Springsteen wryly, “death gives you paus...

‘Deeply personal and very authentic’: how podcasts took over the world in 20 years

Since the first podcast was released two decades ago this month, the medium has upended pop culture in countless unexpected ways, from revolutionising standup comedy to providing storytelling fuel for drama and documentaryDo you remember life before...

Brandon Taylor: ‘Writing is the most fun I’m capable of having’

The American author talks about growing up queer in a family of ‘wolves’, poverty and class in the US, and the 19th-century writers who inspired his latest novelBrandon Taylor writes quickly. “I can type almost as fast as I can think,” he says. The f...

‘Suddenly, we were in Wonderland’: Paul McCartney on his lost photos of Beatlemania

The pictures the singer took of his friends and bandmates give a Beatle’s-eye view of the mania around the band in 1964. Seen here for the first time, these extraordinary behind-the-scenes moments capture four young men on the brink of immortalitySom...

Adam Kay: ‘My worst job? A comedy gig for angry, horny squaddies. I was on after the stripper’

The writer of This Is Going to Hurt on self‑destruction, an awkward meeting with AOC and why he can’t stand Jeremy HuntBorn in Brighton, Kay, 42, spent six years as a junior doctor before leaving in 2010 to become a comedian. In 2017 he published his...

All the rage: the rise of the menopause novel

Self-help shelves are filled with guides to surviving midlife, but where is the fiction? Lisa Allardice talks to Marian Keyes, Joanne Harris and others about ‘hot-flush lit’Joanne Harris was rereading Carrie by Stephen King during lockdown when she g...

British Museum ends BP sponsorship deal after 27 years

Campaigners hail split as a ‘massive victory’ , which marks a retreat of the fossil fuel giant from the British arts worldBP’s sponsorship of the British Museum has ended after 27 years, new disclosures make clear, bringing to a close one of the high...

RVG: Brain Worms review – delicious absurdity from one of our most underrated songwriters

With tracks about turning into a sea creature and going insane online, the Melbourne post-punk band captures a very contemporary existential crisisGet our weekend culture and lifestyle emailThere’s a moment on RVG’s third album that made me laugh, th...

Author Ama Ata Aidoo, ‘an inspiration to feminists everywhere’, dies aged 81

The Ghanaian playwright and novelist, who also served as her country’s education minister, focused on the modern African womanThe Ghanaian writer and academic Ama Ata Aidoo, whose work focused on the modern African woman, has died aged 81.Ata Aidoo,...

Caster Semenya to publish ‘unflinching’ memoir with Stormzy’s #Merky Books

In The Race to Be Myself, the Olympian athlete will detail her battle for permission to compete as a woman with hyperandrogenismStormzy’s #Merky Books is to publish Olympian Caster Semenya’s memoir this year.South African athlete Semenya, whose book...

‘I’m not used to seeing sex that kinky’: Is The Idol the most shocking TV of the year?

It’s undeniably seedy – but is the show a ‘toxic man’s fantasy’, as critics have said? Or is it a candid look at sex today? As 2023’s most controversial series hits our screens, we meets its starsMonths before it had even come out, The Idol was the y...

Surfing the Holyland review – balanced view of Israel from a surfboard

Caravanserai, BrightonAn Ohioan moves to Israel in this charming solo performance which offers a fresh perspective on the Middle East – plus ukulele songsIt is refreshing to hear a story about Israel that does not have the Middle East conflict raging...

Trespasses by Louise Kennedy audiobook review – love across the sectarian divide

Actor Bríd Brennan narrates this debut novel about a dangerous love affair between an Irish Catholic teacher and a Protestant lawyerA gripping tale of love across the divide, Trespasses – which has been shortlisted for this year’s Women’s prize – is...