How studying friendship has changed the way I understand my own loneliness
A few years ago, I had just moved into a house. As relatively recent graduates, my husband and I had struggled with the banks to secure a mortgage – and worse still, I had a humanities background that didn’t exactly guarantee employment. But after approaching several banks, we managed to persuade a kind loan officer […]
The conspiracy theorists who feel vindicated by the Epstein files
Christopher Penler/Shutterstock At 8.16am on August 10 2019, a post appeared on the online forum 4Chan: “[D]ont ask me how I know, but Epstein died an hour ago from hanging, cardiac arrest. Screencap this.” ABC News broke the story that financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein had died in prison, 38 minutes later. 4Chan […]
Paula Rego’s Story Line – an exhibition that invites exploration of the ambiguous narratives the Portuguese artist drew
At first glance, these look like sketches – the kind artists make on the way to something more finished. But that expectation doesn’t quite hold. The drawings assert themselves: restless, unresolved, and often more direct than the paintings they eventually lead to. This is Story Line, the latest exhibition of Paula Rego at the Victoria […]
Elizabeth I refused to go to bed before she died – a stubborn final act that reflected her reign
Allegorical Portrait of Elizabeth I, unknown artist (1610). Corsham Court In March 1603, Elizabeth I refused to go to bed. For days, she sat on cushions in her Richmond Palace chamber, silent and withdrawn, as her courtiers waited for the end. It’s a final moment that can be read not simply as the failing of […]
How reindeer herds, nature and Sámi culture can thrive when forests are restored across northern Europe
Reindeer grazing in Vattme/Tjeggelvas on the lands of the Luokta-Mávas Sámi reindeer herding community. Anna-Maria Fjellström, CC BY-NC-ND Political debates about the future of forests in Sweden and the EU are reaching an impasse. Producing more wood comes at the expense of nature and the storage of carbon within trees and soils. Conserving and restoring […]
Energy gels: here’s what runners need to know
Energy gels have become an essential part of many runners’ kits. Real Sports Photos/ Shutterstock Sebastian Sawe ripped open a carbohydrate gel sachet and slurped it five minutes before the start of the 2026 London Marathon. Sixty minutes later, he inhaled another one before smashing through the two-hour marathon barrier. Sawe might have been the […]
My unsung hero of science: Carolyn Wood Sherif, pioneer of feminist psychology who foresaw the risks of scientific bias
In the US state park of Robbers Cave, Oklahoma, Carolyn Wood Sherif is standing squinting up at the sun. The two wooden cabins before her rattle with shrieks and cries from excited 11-year-old boys. They have been split into two groups of 11 and encouraged to bond. Over three long, laborious weeks in the summer […]
Xi-Trump summit: reset for US-Chinese relations but tension over Taiwan remains
The initial top line emerging from the Trump-Xi summit in Beijing was that while the two leaders had talked trade, technology and the US war in Iran, the most potentially hazardous issue was Taiwan. The Chinese foreign ministry reported that the Chinese president, Xi Jinping, told the US president, Donald Trump, that “the Taiwan question […]
Who are the main contenders to replace Keir Starmer as prime minister?
It has become a given in Westminster circles that Keir Starmer’s tenure as prime minister could be nearing its end. This is because, fairly or unfairly, the UK public have made up their minds – and they do not like him. Labour MPs know this all too well, having seen the level of animosity on […]
This year’s Venice Biennale marks a major shift in European cultural politics
I was texting a museum director friend in Asia recently. We were discussing whether a trip to this year’s “artworld Olympics”, the Venice Biennale, justified the carbon release. I felt ambivalent. The main exhibition is curated by Koyo Kouoh, whose 2016 edition of Ireland’s Biennale, EVA International, on the 1916 Easter Rising centennial I had […]