Bob Dylan documentary Shadow Kingdom is a portrait of rare genius June 12, 2023 Geniuses never do what we want them to: if they did, they’d be just like us. There’s recompense for the dismay we sometimes feel at the trajectory of our heroes. After the initial confusion comes comprehension, forgiveness, and awe – followed by amnesia about the traversal of that progression. Soon you forget why you ever [...]
Silvio Berlusconi: Ex Italian PM known for sex-fuelled parties, dogged by corruption and scandal, dies aged 86 June 12, 2023 Former Italian premier and media mogul Silvio Berlusconi has died at the age of 86, Italian media has reported. He was Italy’s longest-serving premier despite scandals over his sex-fuelled parties and allegations of corruption. Italian news agency LaPresse reported Mr Berlusconi’s death after he was taken to hospital on Friday for the second time in [...]
Five amazing moments from Kite Festival 2023 June 12, 2023 The charming and idyllic Kite Festival of music and ideas, which ran for the second time this weekend, is well worth a visit. But for an ‘ideas’ festival, the line-up was overwhelmingly white “I never thought I’d be sharing a line-up with Michael Gove,” admitted the musician Lynks on Saturday night, playing a high-tempo set [...]
The housing crisis speaks to unique social injustices – and is distinctly acute in London June 12, 2023 There are overcrowded families living with mould, and schools referring the poor housing of their pupils to the Housing Ombudsman. This housing crisis is ripping our country apart, writes Richard Blakeway
All of It at the Royal Court: An astonishing trio of monologues June 9, 2023 What a strange and brilliant change of direction this new trio of acted poems represents for mercurial playwright Alistair McDowall. His philosophically dense sci-fi stories Pomona, X and The Glow all grappled with vast, existential questions but felt too big, too untamed, too messy for the stage. All of It at the Royal Court gives [...]
Alcaraz, Djokovic, Zverev and Ruud ready for battle at French Open June 9, 2023 It is almost the perfect final line-up; three of the four top seeds and a zippy, exciting German left standing in the men’s French Open semi-finals. Roland Garros this year has been a tournament of hostility. Fans have booed Russians, Belaurisans and Ukrainians alike while Brit Cameron Norrie became public enemy No1 amid controversy against [...]
War Pony is a character-driven tale from the American Honey team June 9, 2023 A hit at last year’s Cannes, War Pony is set in the Pine Ridge Oglala Lakota reservation in South Dakota, within the Indigenous community that lives there. It focuses on two loosely-connected stories: Bill (Jojo Bapteise Whiting), a young father trying to hustle his way into a better situation; and Matho (Ladainian Crazy Thunder), whose [...]
What next for Manchester City if they win the Champions League? June 8, 2023 When the Abu Dhabi United Group bought Manchester City almost 15 years ago, the new owners’ stated aim was to turn a club who had gone 30 years without a major trophy into a major European force. On Saturday against Inter Milan in Istanbul, City could tick the last box on their checklist by winning [...]
Jimmy Choo: The shoes I still haven’t designed, and my fight to save London’s creative industry June 7, 2023 The name Jimmy Choo might remind you of Carrie Bradshaw’s shoe infatuation on Sex and the City – “No!” she cried in one episode, dropping her stilettos off the edge of the Staten Island Ferry. “My Choos!” What it’s unlikely to remind you of is the City of London. But Jimmy Choo has always lived [...]
LIV Golf and PGA tie-up is proof that competition still works June 7, 2023 To the fairway, then, for the latest example of markets working effectively. The merger of the three biggest tours in the game shows what can be achieved when new entrants disrupt a market – forcing the established players to (excuse the pun) up their game. When LIV Golf – the Saudi-backed, all-singing, all-dancing new form [...]