Culture
European culture: art, music, film, books and ideas.
E
A beautiful portrait of the musical instrument in danger of extinction: best podcasts of the week
Food writer and music enthusiast Ruby Tandoh details a tender picture of the existential threat to the lute. Plus, a joyous celebr…
E
A Year in London review – fashion student hits it off with her professor in frothy lesbian romcom
An Italian on an exchange to the glamorous UK capital gets involved with a sophisticated older woman in a tale of soap opera silli…
E
Sam Neill, star of Jurassic Park films, Peaky Blinders and The Piano, dies aged 78
New Zealand actor built career as dashing romantic leads and charismatic villains across film and television Sam Neill’s 20 best p…
E
TV tonight: Chris Packham’s wondrous series about evolution
His epic exploration starts with the mystery of the African elephant. Plus: top prankster Oobah Butler takes on the housing crisis…
E
Eat, sleep, rave ... make peace! DJ Yousuke Yukimatsu’s mission to change the world with topless raves
He beat brain cancer. Now your favourite DJ’s favourite DJ is on a UK tour, armed with experimental techno, Beastie Boys and Taylo…
E
Christopher Nolan says people ‘disdain’ AI and the idea it will replace humans is ‘nonsense’
Odyssey director addresses industry fears over artificial intelligence and says rightwing criticism of Lupita Nyong’o as Helen of …
E
Disney’s live-action Moana fails to make a splash at box office with underwhelming opening
Latest film in franchise takes just $43m in North America and $95m globally, against a $250m budget The Walt Disney Company’s live…
E
Crypto wealth replaces US fossil fuel donors, eyes EU border state
Cryptocurrency has replaced fossil fuels as the biggest donor in US election cycles, a shift in political power accompanied by tec…
E
The Dark review – this gothic crime drama is so icily creepy it’s practically a heatwave antidote
A cold finger of dread will run up your spine as you watch this tale of a Highlands murder investigation. It’s stylish, fun and ch…
E
Aziz Ansari review – a hugely gifted comic who makes funny look easy
Royal Albert Hall, London Shiny-suited and slick, the US standup fired off peppy and sometimes taboo-teasing gags about his cultur…
E
Dermot Murnaghan dealt in affability, reliability and authority – not ego
The TV presenter – who has died aged 68 – worked for the BBC, ITN and Channel 4 and announced the death of Diana, Princess of Wale…
E
Top Gear crash passenger seeks £150,000 from BBC Studios
A racing driver injured in Andrew Flintoff's 2022 Top Gear crash is suing BBC Studios, raising fresh safety questions as the broad…
E
David Willey, BBC journalist who covered Treaty of Rome, dies at 93
David Willey, the veteran BBC correspondent who reported on the signing of the Treaty of Rome and five papacies, has died aged 93,…
E
‘Stop telling people it’s weird’: Andrew Upton on his strange new novel, and having Cate Blanchett read it first
An allegory in the spirit of Animal Farm, the Australian playwright’s debut novel about a disfigured chicken is a fantastical fabl…
E
The Market Deeping Model Railway Club review – the absurdities of British life in miniature
Nottingham Playhouse The camaraderie and eccentricities of some model railway enthusiasts make for an endearing group portrait in …
E
Kelela targets wider market with rock-influenced album
American R&B artist Kelela has released her third studio album, a rock-influenced pivot designed to convert a recent surge of vira…
E
Antiques Roadshow expert Theo Burrell dies aged 39
She was diagnosed with a glioblastoma, a highly aggressive brain tumour, in June 2022.
E
Love’s Labour’s Lost / Much Ado About Nothing review – breezy double bill brings out the best in both
Braboeuf Manor, Guildford Elegantly stitching the plays into two parts of the same continuing story, Tom Littler’s sunny al fresco…
E
Fun Home review – Alison Bechdel’s musical memoir feels every emotion
Royal Exchange, Manchester A celebration of the cartoonist’s sexual awakening and queer identity as well as an investigation of da…
E
Europe's dating market malaise fuels rise in female heteropessimism
Dating columnist Annie Lord's debut novel "The Project" highlights a widening disconnect between educated women and a broken datin…
E
Why do free speech debates make us so angry?
We try to pin down definitions and enforce rules – but often what we’re really arguing about is character In January 2015, two mem…
E
Lowry exhibition seeks to overturn artist's neglected reputation
A new show of 140 works aims to dismantle the persistent myth that LS Lowry was an uneducated industrial painter, a misconception …
E
Barry's Earnest Revival Shows Modern Opera Can Survive Premieres
Jack Furness’s new production of Gerald Barry’s The Importance of Being Earnest at Garsington Opera demonstrates that contemporary…
E
Nolan's Odyssey film taps Greek epic's modern resonance
Christopher Nolan’s upcoming blockbuster adaptation of the Odyssey demonstrates the enduring grip of ancient Greek narrative struc…