54 h. ago The Kardashians of history: why are we so obsessed with the Mitford sisters?

They were impossibly glamorous, fatally flawed and turned up at every significant moment of the 20th century, but underneath it all is a highly relatable family drama – without the infamous friendsThe rise and fall of the Mitford sisters is like one of those earthquakes we’re due on a regular rotation: eight years out from Gucci’s much-documented Never Marry a Mitford jumper, four years after the BBC drama The Pursuit of Love, a new TV show appears fortuitously to bring them back into the public consciousness again.Here they come, out of the mists of time, the seven children of a minor member of the House of Lords: Nancy, of course, the author of Love in a Cold Climate and The Pursuit of Love and probably the most famous in her own right; followed by Pamela, the least famous and fond chiefly of chickens and horrible men; then Tom, the only boy, with a weakness for the Nazis and, as far as history is concerned, no personality. Continue reading...

Politics

2 w. ago The revealing inside account of how Baroness Bra came undone: CHRISTOPHER STEVENS reviews The Rise and Fall of Michelle Mone

Director Erika Jenkin's documentary builds to an infamous confrontation with the BBC's Laura Kuenssberg, with the Glasgow businesswoman squirming under questions about the PPE scandal.

Politics

2 w. ago Jamie Oliver turns 50: the 10 defining moments from the celebrity chef's rollercoaster career

Jamie Oliver has seen empires rise and fall, cookbooks sell in their millions, and TV shows blossom over the past 25 years

Politics

2 w. ago Weather rollercoaster for Brits as mercury to rise then fall

The mercury is set to rise this weekend, warm enough to enjoy a barbecue at around 27C, before the temperature falls dramatically - then rise again over a few days

Politics

3 w. ago The Six Billion Dollar Man review – WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange’s rise, fall and limbo

Cannes film festivalFocusing on the rogue’s gallery of hypocrites and crooks surrounding him, Assange himself is in the background of a pretty definitive examinationJulian Assange sits at the centre of this gripping account of the WikiLeaks founder’s rise, fall and protracted seven-year limbo inside the Ecuadorian embassy. Eugene Jarecki’s documentary takes its title from the price the incoming Ecuadorian government supposedly charged the Trump administration for helping furnish his extradition to the US, thereby reneging on a promise of political asylum. If The Six Billion Dollar Man doesn’t rebuild Assange, exactly, that’s because it’s more interested in comprehensively demolishing his enemies. Compared to the hypocrites, scoundrels and crooks who surround him, the man himself looks almost virtuous.Actually Assange is mostly a background presence here. He’s more talked about than talking up; a karmic victim of his own success. While even his supporters admit to his personal failin...

Politics

3 w. ago ‘Every person that clashed with him has left’: the rise, fall and spectacular comeback of Sam Altman

From Elon Musk to his own board, anyone who has come up against the OpenAI CEO has lost. In a gripping new account of the battle for AI supremacy, writer Karen Hao says we should all be wary of the power he now wieldsThe short-lived firing of Sam Altman, the CEO of possibly the world’s most important AI company, was sensational. When he was sacked by OpenAI’s board members, some of them believed the stakes could not have been higher – the future of humanity – if the organisation continued under Altman. Imagine Succession, with added apocalypse vibes. In early November 2023, after three weeks of secret calls and varying degrees of paranoia, the OpenAI board agreed: Altman had to go.The drama didn’t stop there. After his removal, Altman’s most loyal staff resigned, and others signed an open letter calling for his reinstatement. Investors, including its biggest, Microsoft, got spooked. Without talent or funding, OpenAI – which developed ChatGPT and was worth billions – wouldn’t even ex...

Politics

4 w. ago The rise and fall of Versace: Can Prada's £1 billion buyout save Donatella's legacy?

News that ailing brand Versace had been sold last month to its Italian rival for £1 billion rocked the fashion world. Will the new owners help the brand get its bling back

Economics