A matter of loaf and death: How to bake the perfect sourdough Life&Style Standing in silence here at Bread Ahead in Borough Market, awaiting our instructions, you could have heard a pin drop. I am here taking a sourdough masterclass and attempting to breathe life into my creation, not to mention keeping my mother – the flour-and-water starter used to make sourdough – alive. Thankfully, the air here [...]
Why did an AI Chatbot try to convince me Charlie Kirk was alive? Life&Style On the day of Charlie Kirk’s funeral, the AI model Claude went full Colonel Kurtz on me, accusing me of spreading fake news and having a full-blown mental health crisis. In a piece of writing I had referenced the recent assassination of Charlie Kirk and asked Claude to check my grammar. It replied saying: “The Charlie Kirk reference needs clarification [...]
‘Always say yes to a bag of testicles’: A defence of offal Life&Style Like a character straight out of a Carry On film, the Turkish butcher leaned forward, looked my partner in the eye, and, with a heavy accent and an evil glint, said simply: “Testicles. Testicles.” Then, by way of explanation: “Sheep’s balls.” Though things had taken a surreal and vaguely vulgar turn, his strange sales pitch [...]
AI will spell the end of photography May 31, 2025 In focusing on art as a product, we overlook the artist’s role — AI isn’t just a tool, it’s a dangerous force that threatens to erase human creativity, intent, and presence from art entirely, says Andy Blackmore Reading Lewis Liu’s essay on Marcel Duchamp’s impact on the artistic world, arguing that art is simply a [...]
Who watches the Watches? February 19, 2025 As a newly minted Picture Editor and thus part of the management team of a then-popular left-wing national newspaper, I sat in on a discussion about why the poor ate so badly. Having only recently landed the job and as keen as mustard – and oh so naive – my feet were still planted firmly [...]
Leica SL3 review: Love blossomed with this mirrorless beauty December 10, 2024 Leica SL3 review: Utterly peerless ★★★★★ It feels like the plot from one of the romcoms I get teased by my other half for watching. You bond over whiskies at an exotic location – well, if you can call Geleneagles exotic – they even lose your luggage for comedic effect. You fall in love. But [...]
Why the new Fujifilm camera is a five-star must-have November 7, 2024 Reviewing the new Fujifilm camera: the best of both worlds As I traipse across London Bridge, burdened like a packhorse, I recall a time before digital equipment weighed me down. And once again I find myself wishing: if only digital cameras could be more like their film forefathers. But the new Fujifilm camera, the X100VI, [...]
Art is being stolen from public spaces. The worst part? Hardly anyone notices October 18, 2024 The theft of art from public spaces may feel like a painfully middle class problem to despair on, but it affects us all, writes Andy Blackmore.
Gen-Z hates stilton – of course they do, they’re not mature enough September 10, 2024 While Gen-Z go loopy for smashed avo on toast, the passage through life will inevitably lead them to stilton, writes Andy Blackmore Around 554 moons ago as I chortled my way through Monty Python’s Life of Brian, I chuckled my little heart out to one line without understanding the meaning. Now, 45 years later I’ve [...]
Ticketmaster’s dynamic pricing is hypocrisy in action September 6, 2024 There is nothing like the shrill clatter of the hoves of hypocrisy across the cobbles of capitalism to set one’s teeth on edge. Like the squeal of chalk across the blackboard, it discombobulates in a most uncomfortable way. So just what it is that has me clenching my jaw and wishing the noise would stop [...]
