74 minutes ago The Daring Young Man on the Flying Trapeze by William Saroyan review – vividly crafted Depression

The US author’s debut collection from 1934 focuses on impoverished individuals in precarious times using language that is punchy and full of compassionMany of the 26 stories in William Saroyan’s 1934 debut collection – reissued this month with an introduction by Stephen Fry – take place in Depression-era San Francisco and explore the experiences of ordinary people trying to get by. California-born, the son of Armenians who fled the genocidal Ottoman empire, Saroyan draws on his own heritage. His narrators are often struggling young writers, such as the protagonist of the title story, who lives on a diet of “bread and coffee and cigarettes” and laments the lack of “weeds in the park that could be cooked”.Despite the focus on poverty, there is an ebullience to Saroyan’s punchy prose. Take...

Politics

74 minutes ago Trump voters hail controversial cabinet picks as the government they want

Trump voters in the American heartland are excited, even as senior Republicans are less than enthusiastic about some of the president-elect’s choicesIn the American heartland, they’re excited. Finally, say voters who put Donald Trump into the White House for a second time, they are about to get the president they wanted all along.Even as leading Democrats decry Trump’s cabinet nominations as “agents of his contempt, rage and vengeance”, the former and future president’s supporters are interpreting the selections as evidence that he has finally broken free of the Washington establishment. Continue reading...

Politics

74 minutes ago ‘Deep in my madness, witches gave me hope’: Elizabeth Sankey on motherhood, depression and witches

While battling through the darkness of severe postpartum anxiety, Elizabeth Sankey saw a light of solidarity in the stories of witchcraftFour years ago, when my son was only one-month-old, he and I were admitted to a mother and baby unit, a psychiatric ward that cares for people with perinatal mental health issues and their babies. I was diagnosed with severe postpartum anxiety and depression, and placed on medication. I had weekly sessions with the psychiatric team about my progress, and my son and I spent time with the other women on the ward and their babies. Every day, sometimes twice a day, my husband would come and see us and we would walk around Hackney as I tried to remember who I once was, tried to resist the temptation to step in front of a car. Gradually, horrifically, painfu...

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74 minutes ago The tragic ghost elephants of Illinois as people have heard wailing at night

The ghost elephants of Woodlawn Cemetery in Illinois are said to be the spirits of circus animals who died in a horrific train crash in 1918, which killed 86 people

Events

1 hour ago Benefits claimants will face sanctions if they refuse to work, minister says

Liz Kendall said people have a ‘responsibility’ to engage with training or employment programmes and will lose financial support if they do not do so.

Politics

1 hour ago Laos methanol poisoning: Two young women killed pictured as death toll rises to six

Anne-Sofie Orkild Coyman, 20, and Freja Vennervald Sorensen, 21, were among the six young people who died after drinking suspected poisoned alcohol at a backpacker's hostel in Laos

Events

1 hour ago If people refuse to work they WILL lose their benefits, insists Labour as Starmer's vows to crack down on huge welfare bill is branded a 'hollow promise'

Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall was involved in a toe-curling exchange on Sky News as she was grilled about Labour 's new welfare crackdown.

Economics

2 hours ago Killer Storm Bert leaves 3 dead and one missing as experts warn of more carnage to come

The UK has been suffering after Storm Bert ravaged its way across the country, leaving three people dead and one missing – but experts say there is more to come

Events

2 hours ago Chuck Woolery, host of ‘Love Connection’ and ‘Wheel of Fortune’, dies aged 83

Woolery played matchmaker on popular dating show ‘Love Connection’ for 11 years

Events

2 hours ago People 'grossed out' after discovering how to properly clean wooden spoons

A woman has shared a 'gross' way to clean wooden spoons, and it's left people horrified - but some are joking that it's a waste of flavour. Here's how it is done

Politics