15 h. ago After 10 years talking to knights, squires and wizards, I understand why ren fairs are booming

As the loneliness epidemic worsens, young people are finding themselves and each other through the thriving culture of medieval and renaissance fairsGet our weekend culture and lifestyle email“I dunno what to tell ya, mate,” a young knight once told me through his helm’s lifted visor. “Gettin’ shield bashed just feels good.”For the knaves among thee, a “shield bash” is what it sounds like: to bash, or be bashed, with a shield. It’s simple and to the point, like a mace to the face or an arrow to the knee. Witnessing a shield bash, you understand the “haha yesss” that the basher must feel upon bashing, just as you empathetically presume a long “oh noooooo” on behalf of the bashee. So I was surprised to learn being bashed was, in itself, just as fun. Continue reading...

Politics

4 d. ago Keep it short and find what you enjoy: how to start reading for fun

In a world full of distractions, it can be difficult to form a habit that needs attention. Experts advise on getting out of the rutMost of us read all day – texts, emails, menus, utility bills, social media captions and news stories. But fewer people are reading for fun.According to a 2022 report from the National Endowment for the Arts, 48.5% of US adults said they had read at least one book that year, down from 52.7% five years earlier, and 54.6% 10 years earlier. In the UK, a 2024 report found that half of UK adults do not regularly read for pleasure. Continue reading...

Politics

6 d. ago Bill Bryson: ‘Ever since I was a little boy, I have pretended to be able to vaporise people I don’t like’

The American British author on pet peeves, the perils of fantasy dinner parties, and revisiting The Short History of Everything two decades laterGet our weekend culture and lifestyle emailYou did a whole book on Australia, and have travelled here a bit since – what’s the number one tip or recommendation you’d give someone coming for the first time?Get out and walk! I mean, maybe not through the outback, but if you’re in any of the cities, walk. I do that wherever I go. And I love to just go off and explore without knowing where I’m going, without a map or any preconceived ideas. I think it’s the best way to discover a place, and it has the great virtue that if you turn a corner – say in Sydney – and there’s suddenly the Harbour Bridge, you feel as if you’ve discovered it. There’s a real feeling of exhilaration, I think, in that. But also, you discover little cafes and hidden corners and odds and ends.Sign up for the fun stuff with our rundown of must-reads, pop culture and tips for ...

Politics

7 d. ago From the Met to maximum security: Joyce DiDonato is on a mission to bring opera to the people

The celebrated American mezzo-soprano has graced the world’s top opera houses, but is equally passionate about performing to first-timers – and inmatesGet our weekend culture and lifestyle emailAmerican mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato apologises for the bed hair as we chat via zoom from Tasmania, where she’s preparing a series of concerts to mark her first time performing in Australia. “I’m windswept”, she laughs as she pats down her signature spiky blond hair. “I’m having a week of vacation, which is rare for me.” Downtime for DiDonato is made rarer by a punishing touring schedule that sees her perform around the globe in recitals showcasing her extraordinary vocal technique, while juggling major roles in classical and contemporary opera. She’s a regular at the Metropolitan Opera in New York and has sung in the world’s top opera houses, including Milan’s La Scala and Covent Garden in London.Sign up for the fun stuff with our rundown of must-reads, pop culture and tips for the weekend,...

Events

8 d. ago Malice review – you’ll be bingeing David Duchovny’s new thriller until Christmas

The X-Files star is at his charismatic best as a ruthless multimillionaire who hires Jack Whitehall as a sinister nanny. It’s like The White Lotus meets The Talented Mr RipleyI can’t say I had “Jack Whitehall stars with David ‘The X Files/ Californication’ Duchovny in glossy TV thriller” on my 2025 bingo card, but here we are, and a good time with it can be had by all. Alongside, perhaps, a smidge of national pride to see the daft lad from Fresh Meat, Bad Education and Travels With My Father all grown up and holding his own.The glossy thriller in question is Malice, in which Whitehall plays Adam, a tutor promoted to manny (male nanny, for those not au fait with rich people’s terms), who is bent – for reasons as yet unknown – on ruining high-rolling businessman Jamie Tanner (Duchovny). Whether he has it in for the rest of the Tanner family and friends, or they are just doomed to be collateral damage, is not clear, but that doesn’t spoil the machiavellian fun. Continue reading...

Politics

1 week ago I used to scold myself for forgetting things. Then I built a daily survival pouch

It contains a stain-remover pen, silent fidget toy and a few Band-Aids, and Matilda Boseley never leaves home without itGet our weekend culture and lifestyle emailI’ve spent a lot of this year trying to perfect the art of leaving the house.This might sound like an odd mission until you’ve seen me spend 25 minutes getting distracted while looking for my wallet and sunnies, doubling back to grab my laptop, tripling back for my work pass, missing my train, arriving at my destination with 1% battery and only then realising the medication I was meant to take that morning is still sitting on the counter.Sign up for the fun stuff with our rundown of must-reads, pop culture and tips for the weekend, every Saturday morning Continue reading...

Events

1 week ago Blind date: ‘The most awkward moment? Trying to get the lighting right for our cute little selfie’

Will, 33, a government officer (left), meets Fred, 29, a business analystWhat were you hoping for? To have a fun Saturday night with someone kind and easygoing. Continue reading...

Events

2 w. ago The moment I knew: I was riffling through my sudoku book when I saw a message on puzzle 239

Actors Michael Wahr and Adinia Wirasti met on set in 2018. Less than a year later, his world stopped when he spotted a handwritten noteFind more stories from the moment I knew seriesGet our weekend culture and lifestyle emailIt was 2018 and I’d just landed a role on HBO series Grisse. I was excited to meet the cast, who’d already started filming in Batam, Indonesia. After a flight from London to Singapore, then a ferry to Riau Islands, I arrived at my chalet. Even though it was late, I was invited to join the others at one of the villas.About 20 people were gathered, eating, drinking and chatting loudly. I was given a drink and a bowl of noodles, then shortly afterwards the director and showrunner asked me to read a scene with one of the actors, Adinia. She was so graceful and precise in her reading, I remember sitting across from this woman and being in complete awe of her.Sign up for the fun stuff with our rundown of must-reads, pop culture and tips for the weekend, every Saturday...

Politics

3 w. ago Teen Jesus and the Jean Teasers: ‘We don’t want to be the biggest band in the world. It’s just fun playing with our besties’

The Australian rock band are ‘legit now’ with their second album, Glory. They talk about performing while underage, playing with Dave Grohl and the ‘girl band’ labelGet our weekend culture and lifestyle email“If you want to rock, you’ve gotta break the rules. You’ve gotta get mad at The Man,” a wise man (Jack Black) once said (in School of Rock). And in 2015, four 15-year-olds in Canberra watching the Richard Linklater film at a sleepover decided they wanted to do just that, forming a rock band the morning after that has become one of Australia’s most exciting acts: Teen Jesus and the Jean Teasers – a joke name suggested by one of their uncles that stuck.The four teenagers had enough punk brio that they were soon being booked to play venues they weren’t old enough to enter unchaperoned. Adults around them would assume they were in their early 20s, when they were actually 16 or 17.Sign up for the fun stuff with our rundown of must-reads, pop culture and tips for the weekend, every Sa...

Politics

3 w. ago Scottish roundup: Celtic celebrate O’Neill’s homecoming with 4

Hearts stay top after battling 2-2 draw at St MirrenDanny Röhl’s Rangers win 1-0 against HibernianMartin O’Neill celebrated his Celtic homecoming with a thumping 4-0 win over Falkirk at Parkhead. The 73-year-old former manager was installed along with the former Celtic player Shaun Maloney as the interim management team after the stunning resignation of Brendan Rodgers on Monday night.Celtic fans continued their protest against Dermot Desmond, the club’s major shareholder, and the board outside the stadium before the game due, in part, to a perceived poor summer transfer window. Desmond sat in the directors’ box and watched his fellow Irishman Johnny Kenny fire Celtic into the lead after half an hour and then head in a second 10 minutes later, before goals from Benjamin Nygren and Sebastian Tounekti in the second half increased the fun factor. Continue reading...

Politics

3 w. ago Scottish football: Celtic celebrate O’Neill’s homecoming with 4

Hearts stay top after battling 2-2 draw at St MirrenDanny Röhl’s Rangers win 1-0 against HibernianMartin O’Neill celebrated his Celtic homecoming with a thumping 4-0 win over Falkirk at Parkhead. The 73-year-old former manager was installed along with the former Celtic player Shaun Maloney as the interim management team after the stunning resignation of Brendan Rodgers on Monday night.Celtic fans continued their protest against Dermot Desmond, the club’s major shareholder, and the board outside the stadium before the game due, in part, to a perceived poor summer transfer window. Desmond sat in the directors’ box and watched his fellow Irishman Johnny Kenny fire Celtic into the lead after half an hour and then head in a second 10 minutes later, before goals from Benjamin Nygren and Sebastian Tounekti in the second half increased the fun factor. Continue reading...

Politics