The hidden corner of Cumbria where you’ll meet more sheep than people
It didn’t start well. On my first day the rain was lashing down, clouds were low and Wild Boar Fell (my target) was nowhere to be seen….
15 luxury holidays in South America that don’t require a backpack
Every continent delivers bespoke luxuries. In South America, many are free, including wide-open wild spaces, extraordinary natural attractions such as glaciers, deserts and rainforests, and star-filled night…
Ancient Greeks: Science and Wisdom, Science Museum review: a tantalising, if basic introduction
No single exhibition could comprehensively cover the subject of Ancient Greek science. Innumerable advances were made by figures who, in many cases, deserve entire shows in their…
C’mon, C’mon, review: Joaquin Phoenix is brilliantly sympathetic in this sensational chamber piece
15 cert, 108 min. Dir: Mike Mills The writer-director Mike Mills has what you might call a chilled work rate – we get about one film from…
The 50 best Christmas shows to book in 2021, from theatre to pantomimes
‘Tis the season to don your gladrags, pack some popcorn (or mini chocolate santas, perhaps) and skip off to a show – whether that be a theatrical…
The best new British politics books to buy for Christmas 2021
Five and a half years after the referendum, arguments about Brexit are still capable of ruining your Christmas lunch. But at least the questions it has reignited…
Is it time to purge the name ‘Sackler’ from the arts?
Much has now been written about Purdue, who pleaded guilty to federal charges in 2019 after years of settling private lawsuits out of court, but the Sacklers,…
The best new science books to buy for Christmas 2021
In July, Richard Branson went up to the edge of space in a rocket plane, just pipping Amazon boss Jeff Bezos, who rose in his penis-shaped spacecraft…
‘Why was this film ever made?’: the savage history of ‘Bloody Sam’ Peckinpah’s The Wild Bunch
For all the dynamite and bloodshed, some of the film’s most powerful moments are its quiet, reflective exchanges. When Mapache abducts one of them – a native…
Kelsey Grammer is a great actor – why has he never made a great movie?
The team managed to wrangle a few concessions. Frasier would follow Crane’s return home to Seattle, trading the brawling stickiness of Boston for the Pacific Northwest’s newly-cool…
What’s on TV tonight: An Audience with Adele, I’m a Celebrity and more
Sunday November 21 An Audience with AdeleITV, 7.25pmITV kicks off a blockbuster evening (centred on the new series of I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here!…
The Velvet Underground owe so much to Doug Yule – why was he written out of history?
Yule has been largely written out of Velvets history too. And that despite the fact he was a key member for a significantly longer period than John…
How deadly crowd crushes happen – and how to stop them
Characterising a crowd surge as a “stampede” or “panic” is misleading he says in that it implies the audience is in some way to blame. “People don’t…
‘Loads of illicit substances’: the night Led Zeppelin invaded an Indian dive-bar
And the whereabouts of the recording? Dhas has been trying to track it down for years, without success. Keith Kanga, the bass player of Atomic Forest who…
Drugs, diets and coercive control: the sad story of Brian Wilson’s conservativeship
Brian Wilson’s mental health problems began back in the mid-Sixties. He recalled first hearing voices after taking psychedelic drugs. The voices plagued him forever after (“All day every…
Somebody Loves You by Mona Arshi review: this gorgeous debut novel is a lesson in sensitivity
Mona Arshi’s first poetry collection, Small Hands, won a Forward Prize in 2015. Her debut novel shares many of its virtues: a crispness of phrase, for instance,…
The solution to climate change? It could be right under your feet
This is a very timely book. Farmers are pondering regenerative agriculture, gardeners are discussing “no dig” and we are all worried about reaching carbon “net zero”. But…
Nina Conti, Warwick Arts Centre, review: a head-spinningly clever show
The bizarre art of ventriloquism can be traced back to antiquity – the ability to conjure a disembodied voice allowed the dead to speak, and the imparting…
Ghetts, Roundhouse, review: veteran cements his claims to greateness with the help of some stellar guests
Ghetts is a storyteller at heart. The veteran UK grime artist’s approach has long been defined by its dense lyrical architecture: in his Noughties pirate-radio days, he…
Adele, 30, review: fiercely honest and shockingly raw, this is her best album yet
The welcome news for listeners of a nervous disposition is that 30 is not quite the utterly devastating weepy many feared. There is plenty of spirited positivity…
Adele: One Night Only, review: only Oprah could make her this dull
The last time Oprah Winfrey sat down with royalty, the aftershocks rumbled on for weeks. But hopes that Queen of the Dinner Party Ballad Adele would deliver…
Zadie Smith is right – today’s literature rarely bridges the class divide
Barbara Pym, as great a chronicler of society’s mores as Jane Austen, was, like her forebear, often confined (perhaps willfully so) to genteel environs which, in Pym’s…
Greece’s Elgin Marbles ‘swap’ would be a bad deal for Britain
From the Greek perspective this attachment to the marbles is understandably difficult to fathom. There is a wonderful purpose-built gallery in the Acropolis Museum where they could…
Andrew Neil is right – on climate change, the BBC is short-changing us
I understand why the BBC feels that it can trust the global scientific establishment to the extent that it accepts climate change as a reality. And I…
Andrew Marr is a BBC man to his core – and that’s why he had to go
And he has also been quite clear-sighted about the organisation he worked for. Back in 2006, for instance, talking about alleged bias at the BBC he said:…