In a society that fetishises female self-sacrifice, saying no saved me

 Posted on March 26, 2024  |  8 minutes  |  1500 words  |  Valentine Belue

FamilyWomen continue to take on a disproportionate amount of unpaid household labour and the ‘mental load’. But the road to ‘no’ can be a long one As a working mother, one word has saved me as the pandemic has worn on: “No.” I’ve learned to say no to being the parent who will automatically take carer’s leave when childcare centres and schools close. No to being the only one to plan meals for the week. [Read More]

Is Drake's Kid Cudi depression diss a step too far? | Drake

 Posted on March 26, 2024  |  5 minutes  |  1060 words  |  Valentine Belue

DrakeIs Drake's Kid Cudi depression diss a step too far?From Jay Z and Nas’s feud to Eminem’s persistent mom-bashing, diss tracks have taken things to the extreme, but recent attacks may be stepping over the line Is there a limit to what can be deemed suitable for rap disses? Should there be? What, if anything, crosses the line into outright abuse? Recent squabbling between Drake and Kid Cudi has dredged up some talk surrounding mental illness, and has many listeners calling foul. [Read More]

Misogynist, homophobe... hero | Culture

 Posted on March 26, 2024  |  8 minutes  |  1681 words  |  Valentine Belue

The ObserverCultureMisogynist, homophobe... heroHis lyrics are loathsome, but the critics love him and his new album is topping the American charts. Now rapper Eminem is facing jail - but he's more popular than ever. It isn't because he's white, is it?Two weeks ago, US rapper Eminem's second album, The Marshall Mathers LP, soared to the top of the US charts. When the first week's sales figures were released, few could dispute the Detroit rapper's arrival as a major-league player. [Read More]

Morag Siller obituary | Stage

 Posted on March 26, 2024  |  4 minutes  |  785 words  |  Kary Bruening

Morag Siller as Luce in The Comedy of Errors, with Howard Saddler (Antipholus of Syracuse), centre, and Adam Shaw (Dromio of Syracuse) at the West Yorkshire Playhouse, Leeds, in 2001. Photograph: Donald CooperMorag Siller as Luce in The Comedy of Errors, with Howard Saddler (Antipholus of Syracuse), centre, and Adam Shaw (Dromio of Syracuse) at the West Yorkshire Playhouse, Leeds, in 2001. Photograph: Donald CooperStageObituaryMorag Siller obituaryActor who performed in the stage musicals Mamma Mia! [Read More]

The Premonition by Michael Lewis review a pandemic story

 Posted on March 26, 2024  |  7 minutes  |  1488 words  |  Jenniffer Sheldon

Book of the weekJournalism booksReviewThe Big Short author tackles the US handling of Covid and the ‘superhero’ scientists who tried to save the day It is hard to think of a writer who has had more success than Michael Lewis at turning forbiddingly complex situations into propulsive nonfiction narratives. His first book, the semi-autobiographical Liar’s Poker, drew on his own experience as a bond salesman in the 1980s to tell a vivid story about the predatory culture of Wall Street. [Read More]

Don Henley: Theres no partying, no alcohol, its like a morgue backstage' | Eagles

 Posted on March 25, 2024  |  11 minutes  |  2171 words  |  Chauncey Koziol

EaglesInterviewDon Henley: ‘There’s no partying, no alcohol, it’s like a morgue backstage'Paul Lester The Eagles man may have put the debauchery behind him but he still shoots from the hip, holding court on former bandmates (‘bitter’), Kanye West (‘arrogant’) and Frank Ocean (‘talentless’) You would never know that a member of the biggest American band in history had just entered the building. Dressed down in chequered shirt and jeans, Don Henley has escaped the midday Texas heat and, without fanfare, made his way to a table at the back of the Louie Mueller Barbecue, a restaurant specialising in smoked beef apparently tasty enough to warrant a 40-minute drive from his hotel in central Austin. [Read More]

How to make the perfect cheese-and-potato pithivier recipe

 Posted on March 25, 2024  |  8 minutes  |  1644 words  |  Jenniffer Sheldon

Felicity Cloake’s perfect cheese pithivier. Photograph: Dan Matthews/The Guardian. Food styling: Jack Sargeson.Felicity Cloake’s perfect cheese pithivier. Photograph: Dan Matthews/The Guardian. Food styling: Jack Sargeson.How to cook the perfect ...FoodA magnificent puff pastry pie stuffed full of cheese and spuds makes a showstopping dinner. Our resident perfectionist takes you through the steps Named after the central French town of the same name (which, confusingly, also claims a much older almond cake, thepithiviers fondant, as its own), the pithivier is a free-standing puff pastry pie so magnificent that it’s as much centrepiece as dinner. [Read More]

I dont even know how to be me quite yet: Jorja Smith on self-doubt, body positivity and her

 Posted on March 25, 2024  |  8 minutes  |  1637 words  |  Jenniffer Sheldon

Jorja Smith: ‘I don’t actually like recording.’ Photograph: Rashidi NoahLiving in her childhood town, the two-time Brit award winner is finally content. But, she says, insecurity still creeps in – especially after ferocious scrutiny of her appearance by Tshepo MokoenaJorja Smith was done with London. It was early 2021, about five years since the singer had left her home in Walsall at 18 to try to make it big in music. [Read More]

Indian villager takes 14 years to dig tunnel through mountain | India

 Posted on March 25, 2024  |  2 minutes  |  296 words  |  Jenniffer Sheldon

India This article is more than 14 years oldIndian villager takes 14 years to dig tunnel through mountainThis article is more than 14 years oldTruck owner Ramchandra Das used hammer and chisel to carve 10m-long short-cutAn Indian villager burrowed for 14 years with a hammer and chisel to cut a tunnel through a mountain so that his neighbours could reach nearby fields and he could park his truck outside his home. [Read More]

Ligue 1 clubs stare into financial abyss after huge TV deal collapses

 Posted on March 25, 2024  |  7 minutes  |  1281 words  |  Aldo Pusey

Guardian Sport NetworkLigue 1Mediapro agreed to pay Ligue 1 clubs €3.25bn over four seasons. They did not even keep up their payments for four months By Adam White for Get French Football News Exhausted, dehydrated and stranded, surrounded by sand dunes and a cloudless sky, sweat is wiped from the brow. The sight of palm trees and a sparkling lake in the distance flickers and then vanishes. This is the situation in which Ligue 1 has found itself this year. [Read More]