Mandela: The Official Exhibition is a comprehensive, if somewhat generic, celebration of the anti-apartheid leader February 7, 2019 One of the most revered and recognisable freedom fighters in modern history, Nelson Mandela’s near-Messianic reputation as a revolutionary political leader is far larger than the man himself. His decades long struggle against apartheid in South Africa defies summary, but Mandela: The Official Exhibition has a go at codifying his entire legacy, squeezing the man’s [...]
Comedian and writer Paul Whitehouse on fishing, mental health and why the BBC needs to take more risks February 7, 2019 Last year, Paul Whitehouse appeared alongside his lifelong friend Bob Mortimer in Gone Fishing, a BBC Two show in which the comedians travelled the riverbanks of the UK in search of rare species of fish. In contrast to an increasingly bleak news cycle, it was relentlessly genial television, uncomplicated, familiar, cheerful and good-natured. Both men [...]
The Raft review: A bizarre experiment to determine whether humans are naturally violent has predictably sexy consequences January 17, 2019 In 1973, Spanish-Mexican anthropologist and human behavioural psychologist Santiago Genoves stuck 11 strangers on a raft and sent them on a three-month voyage across the Atlantic. The ethically dubious experiment, which today sounds like the premise of a terrible reality TV show, is the subject of this gripping documentary, and was intended to determine whether [...]
The rise in popularity of recipe boxes is just the beginning of a revolution in food-prep convenience. Here’s what’s next December 20, 2018 Humans love to cook, ever since a caveman accidentally roasted his own forearm on a bonfire and reckoned it smelled kind of delicious. From there it was a short jump to cooking meat that wasn’t attached to our arms. Soon ancient humans were experimenting by throwing bigger and bigger animals on to the flames. Mice [...]
You’ll soon be able to charge your car at the pub, as long as you stick to the Diet Coke, but London’s electric vehicle infrastructure is still in need of some juice December 18, 2018 One of the country’s leading pub chains has announced it’s planning to roll out electric vehicle charging points to boozers up and down the country. For Londoners, it’s jarring enough to be reminded that pubs outside the M25 even have their own car parks, let alone ones that will soon dispense a fleet of perfectly silent [...]
Office Space: Behind the scenes of the Soho headquarters of games developer King, the creators of Candy Crush December 18, 2018 The bright yellow King logo above the entrance to a London office on Wardour Street must trigger some kind of Pavlovian response in the pedestrians who pass by it every day. King is the studio responsible for Candy Crush, which is less a game than a global phenomenon. Since its launch in 2012, games in [...]
The Last Supper: World famous chef Nobuyuki Matsuhisa on why he’d have a simple meal of steamed rice, sushi and fresh fruit for his last meal on earth December 6, 2018 “I was born in Japan and grew up there, so that culture and food is a big part of who I am. That’s why, for my last supper, I’d like to eat very traditional Japanese food: steamed rice, miso soup, grilled fish like salmon, then Japanese pickles and seaweed. I’d also like my wife or [...]
Behind the scenes of YouTube Space London, the co-working space with state of the art studios for video creators November 2, 2018 When Google’s gigantic new campus at King’s Cross is eventually completed, the building will be longer than the Shard is tall. At a planned 1,082 ft it’s been dubbed the world’s first “landscraper”, stretching from the station entrance at King’s Cross to the canalside by Granary Square. Along with the company’s existing premises at 6 [...]
What wicked rugs we weave: Anni Albers at the Tate Modern is a retrospective of modernism’s forgotten pioneer October 11, 2018 Born in Berlin in 1899, Anni Albers was a pioneer of the textile art movement. A weaver, designer, writer and printmaker, she trained at the Bauhaus, where she explored the possibilities of bringing weaving into the modernist project. She later became a teacher at the legendary Black Mountain College, where her work sought to redefine [...]
On the trail of world-renowned gorilla conservationist Dian Fossey, Damien Gabet meets with silverbacks in the Rwandan forest November 24, 2017 There he was, the man we’d trekked hours to meet. Frank was square-jaw handsome, but with a perma-frown and scar that made him look dangerous. Once a poacher, he now uses his tracking talents to locate mountain gorillas for tourists. As we approached, I could see he was casually shaving earth from his boots with [...]