10 h. ago The Rehearsal: Nathan Fielder makes genius appointment TV that may spoil you forever

In his twisted and often horrifying reality show, Fielder piles ethical grey areas on top of each other like problematic pancakes. Get stuck in!Schopenhauer defined genius as someone who aims at a target the rest of us can’t see. Which raises a philosophical paradox – how do we know they’ve hit it? I was moved to such musings while watching this week’s pick, a singular piece of art that functions unlike anything else on TV, and calls the medium itself into question. No, it’s not Police Interceptors.In The Rehearsal (Monday, 10pm, Sky Comedy), comedian Nathan Fielder blends documentary, social experiment, performance art and absurdist satire in a devised method all his own. He has ordinary people tackle emotionally fraught situations from their lives, by role-playing them with hired actors in meticulously recreated sets that mirror significant personal locations. It’s arch, but the stakes are real. The first series opened with a man who wanted to apologise to his pub quiz teamma...

Politics

10 h. ago The Rehearsal: Nathan Fielder makes genius appointment TV that may spoil you for ever

In his twisted and often horrifying reality show, Fielder piles ethical grey areas on top of each other like problematic pancakes. Get stuck in!Schopenhauer defined genius as someone who aims at a target the rest of us can’t see. Which raises a philosophical paradox – how do we know they’ve hit it? I was moved to such musings while watching this week’s pick, a singular piece of art that functions unlike anything else on TV, and calls the medium itself into question. No, it’s not Police Interceptors.In The Rehearsal (Monday, 10pm, Sky Comedy), comedian Nathan Fielder blends documentary, social experiment, performance art and absurdist satire in a devised method all his own. He has ordinary people tackle emotionally fraught situations from their lives, by role-playing them with hired actors in meticulously recreated sets that mirror significant personal locations. It’s arch, but the stakes are real. The first series opened with a man who wanted to apologise to his pub quiz teamma...

Politics

61 h. ago NSW floods: one dead and ‘grave fears’ held for three missing people as crisis worsens

With 48,000 already isolated, forecasters say ‘heavy, intense rainfall’ has spread north bringing life-threatening riskNSW floods live updates: latest flooding newsNSW floods map: record-breaking rain in charts and mapsGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastOne man has died and authorities hold grave fears for another three people reported missing in unprecedented flooding on the New South Wales mid-north coast.The premier, Chris Minns, said the region had experienced “a very difficult 48 hours” with more to come as communities braced for 100mm of additional rainfall over the next 24 hours and up to 300mm in some isolated areas. Continue reading...

Events

1 week ago Moving house ‘comes above childbirth’ as most stressful life experiences ranked

Thousands of people said moving house was the most stressful experience in life

Society

1 week ago Spy themed interactive experience comes to London at the end of May

Spyscape London It will be the first overseas location of a concept that began in New York in 2018

Politics

2 w. ago Brits set to sizzle in hottest summer ever as forecasters predict record temperatures

The glorioous weather we are experiencing now is an early taste of what's to come this summer with sizzling record temperatures expected across Great Britain this year

Politics

2 w. ago Pathemata by Maggie Nelson review – a writer’s attempt to describe chronic pain

Woolf said language ‘runs dry’ when it comes to convey the reality of illness. Here is an impressive effort to do just thatIn her landmark 1985 work, The Body in Pain, American essayist Elaine Scarry makes a case for the “unsharability” of pain and its resistance to language. “Physical pain,” she writes, “does not simply resist language but actively destroys it.” Sixty years earlier in On Being Ill, Virginia Woolf made her famous claim about how language “runs dry” when it comes to articulating illness. Both theories grapple with inexpressibility. Experiencing serious, persistent pain invokes many feelings: irritation, curiosity (what’s causing it?), fear (of something sinister) and ultimately the desire to eradicate it. The search for a diagnosis can be as debilitating as the condition itself. In Pathemata: Or, the Story of My Mouth, Maggie Nelson tries to solve the mystery of a longstanding health issue. “Each morning, it is as if my mouth has survived a war – it has pro...

Politics

3 w. ago Amanda Holden attends star studded Chocolate Digestive party

Amanda Holden and Roman Kemp were among a host of celebrities who attended a star-studded 'blue carpet' event at Piccadilly Circus to celebrate 100 years of the humble McVitie’s Chocolate Digestives.

Politics

3 w. ago Amanda Holden wows in latex dress as she attends 'blue carpet' event in London

Amanda Holden stunned as her other stars were out celebrating the 100th anniversary of McVitie's Chocolate Digestives at a special pop-up event in the centre of London's Piccadilly Circus

Politics

3 w. ago Crumbs! A Free McVitie's Chocolate Digestive Experience Is Coming To London

Crumbs! A Free McVitie's Chocolate Digestive Experience Is Coming To London  Londonist

Politics

3 w. ago 'I went to McVitie's factory to see how Britain's favourite biscuit is made'

EXCLUSIVE: Senior Features Writer Layla Nicholson goes behind the scenes of McVitie's to get a sneak peek of how they make Britain's favourite biscuit - just in time for the Chocolate Digestive's 100th birthday

Politics

3 w. ago UK ‘icons’ depicted in biscuit form to mark 100 years of chocolate digestive

Mosaic artist Ed Chapman has created biscuit portraits of famous British people using McVitie’s chocolate digestives.

Politics

3 w. ago British icons transformed into biscuits for McVitie's Chocolate Digestive 100th birthday

McVitie's have commissioned some edible art in honour of the Chocolate Digestive's 100th birthday. The clever portraits depict some of your favourite British celebs

Politics

3 w. ago People just realising they've been eating chocolate digestive biscuits wrong

TikTokers say 'this is obvious' as the boss of McVitie's speaks out on the ‘incredible debate’ about chocolate digestive biscuits

Politics

3 w. ago Dating apps face a reckoning as users log off: ‘There’s no actual human connection’

In Australia, dating apps have been hit with lawsuits and new regulation, while their profits are declining worldwideGet our weekend culture and lifestyle emailSad, dizzyingly over-scheduled and suffering a serious case of “thumb fatigue”, midway through last year, Anne* decided to delete her dating apps.For the previous four months, the 31-year-old Sydney resident had been attempting to achieve two big adult milestones at once: finding love and finding a place to buy. Every Saturday, it felt as though she was being priced out of another suburb, and at auctions she was mainly surrounded by couples. Then she would come home, open Hinge and experience a crushing sense of rejection “on such a personal level”. Continue reading...

Politics

4 w. ago The surprising secrets behind Britain's favourite biscuit, as McVities chocolate digestive turns 100

As British as builders' tea, McVitie's chocolate digestives are celebrating their 100th birthday. We discover why one in three UK households eats a packet every single week

Politics

4 w. ago My genitals have been changed forever by common drug taken by millions

This week, the FDA warned that a popular hair loss drug taken by millions could pose a 'serious risk' to someone's genitals. Now, many men have come forward to talk about their experience.

Events

4 w. ago ‘It’s Fleabag’s home – the audience is unshockable’: Phoebe Waller

The central London institution champions new talent, amplifies LGBTQ+ voices and always takes risks. With a new outpost opening in Walthamstow, artists discuss how the West End venue is not just a place – it’s a philosophyA fixture on London’s Dean Street for 25 years, Soho theatre has hatched plays that won Oliviers, shows that earned the Edinburgh comedy award and ideas that became TV hits. On any night, across its upstairs studio theatre, its main house and basement cabaret bar, you’ll find plays from new writers, experimentations in clowning, drag performance, standup comedy, or a hybrid of them all.In those rooms, I’ve watched American clown Natalie Palamides giving such a spirited performance that she vomited on stage, dancer and comedian Adrienne Truscott challenging rape jokes, and performance artist Kim Noble pushing audiences beyond comfort. I’ve sung along to ballads with sketch group Daphne, and folk songs with Sh!t Theatre. Continue reading...

Events

4 w. ago You're eating chocolate digestives all wrong: McVitie's factory boss reveals 'proper' way to enjoy your biscuits

Britain's biscuit enthusiasts have likely been enjoying their favourite teatime treat incorrectly for years, a McVities factory boss has revealed.

Culture

last month We’ve been eating chocolate digestives wrong, says McVitie’s biscuit factory boss

The crumbly staple was first introduced by McVitie’s a century ago

Politics