13 h. ago Three Days in June by Anne Tyler audiobook review – a masterclass in marital disharmony

A mother reflects on the breakdown of her marriage as she attends her daughter’s wedding, in a novella that brilliantly depicts family dynamicsAt the start of Three Days in June, Gail Baines, a 61-year-old teacher, has a meeting with her school head, who informs her she is about to retire. Gail assumes she is next in line for the job, but the head tells her she doesn’t have the people skills and asks if she has considered retirement herself. Affronted, she walks out of the school and from her job without collecting the photo on her desk of her daughter, Debbie, who is about to get married. After Gail gets home, her ex-husband, Max, arrives. He is staying with her for the wedding weekend and tells her he has forgotten to bring a suit – although he has brought a cat. Not for the first time, Gail wonders “why it was that I had so many irritating people in my life”.Set in Baltimore, Anne Tyler’s novella spans the before, during and after of Debbie’s wedding. Told through Gail’...

Politics

7 d. ago Gunk by Saba Sams audiobook review – messy nights and motherhood

The first novel from the Send Nudes author moves from a Brighton club to baby feedingGunk opens with new divorcee Jules sitting at home cradling a baby who is 24 hours and 17 minutes old, feeding him colostrum from a syringe. After being fed, the baby cries, which Jules interprets as a howl of rejection: “He has no language to tell me I’m not right for him.” We learn that Jules isn’t the child’s biological parent; the birth mother is Nim who, shortly after being stitched up, left the hospital ward and seemingly vanished. Concerned for her wellbeing, the hospital called the police who questioned Jules. “Nim has run away before,” she told them. “And she’s good at hiding.”Set in Brighton, this is Saba Sams’s first novel, the follow-up to her much-admired short story collection Send Nudes. Where that book examined the lives of girls coming of age, Gunk has an older heroine in Jules, who is desperate to have a child. Her alcoholic ex-husband, Leon, who ran a student nightclub and with wh...

Politics

8 d. ago Beloved indie rocker dies just weeks after major festival as band share heartbreak

British indie band The Ultra Violets have announced the tragic passing of their drummer Tyler Harris, telling fans they'll be taking time out to process the devastating loss

Events

9 d. ago British indie band The Ultra Violets announce drummer Tyler Harris has died

British indie band The Ultra Violets have been left devastated following the sudden death of their bandmate, drummer Tyler Harris, just weeks after they performed at the Isle of Wight Festival. 

Events

9 d. ago Jack Draper flexes his muscles at US Open as he deals with spotlight and paparazzi

British No 1 says he is ‘growing out instead of up now’Draper working with Andy Murray’s former coachesDuring the typically chaotic media day before Wimbledon in June, Jannik Sinner and Jack Draper were working through their commitments when they briefly crossed paths in the broadcast media mixed zone. As they warmly greeted each other, Sinner looked his good friend up and down, and a smile spread across his face: “Always stronger,” he said, jokingly flexing both arms.Draper, who responded with a sheepish, embarrassed laugh, has heard such observations many times in recent months. At the same time that he has risen up the rankings over the past 15 months, transforming himself into one of the best in the world, he has become one of the most physically strong players on the ATP Tour. Continue reading...

Economics

1 week ago Trans woman who concealed gender before performing sex act on man is found guilty of sexual assault

Ciara Watkin, 21, of Stockton-on-Tees, was found guilty of multiple charges relating to sexual acts she performed on the 21-year old man over a number of days in June 2022.

Events

1 week ago Trans woman who concealed she had male genitalia before performing sex act on man is found guilty of sexual assault

Ciara Watkin, 21, of Stockton-on-Tees, was found guilty of multiple charges relating to sexual acts she performed on the 21-year old man over a number of days in June 2022.

Events

2 w. ago John and Paul by Ian Leslie audiobook review – the bromance behind the band

Actor Chris Addison narrates a deep dive into the creative partnership of Lennon and McCartneyAnother book on the Beatles? It’s hard to imagine a writer shedding new light on the band given the mountain of literature already in existence. But there is a freshness of perspective in Ian Leslie’s book, which tells of Lennon and McCartney’s unique alchemy through the songs they wrote together. Leslie’s background in psychology serves him well in a study that jettisons the usual narrative of male rivalry; their partnership, Leslie suggests, was closer to a marriage.He begins with the pair’s early songwriting sessions, usually in McCartney’s front room, where rather than each taking ownership of songs, they worked in sync. Other fabled musical partnerships such as Leiber and Stoller, or Rodgers and Hammerstein, divided the labour between lyrics and melody, but Lennon and McCartney worked together on both. Pointing to their profound connection, Leslie notes how in the song I...

Culture

2 w. ago West Lothian town rallies together to save gala day after vandals strike

Residents of Armadale were devastated when several rented items were damaged by a handful of youths at the gala day in June.

Events

2 w. ago Strictly Come Dancing stars Tyler West and Molly Rainford announce engagement after sunset proposal

BBC Strictly stars Molly Rainford and Tyler West have announced their engagement after the TV presenter got down on one knee during a trip to Mykonos, Greece

Politics

2 w. ago Strictly Come Dancing stars Tyler West and Molly Rainford engaged after the sweetest proposal

Strictly Come Dancing stars Molly Rainford and Tyler West have announced their engagement three years after meeting on the BBC dance show

Politics

2 w. ago BGT star Molly Rainford and Tyler West engaged three years after meeting on Strictly

Strictly Come Dancing stars Tyler West and Molly Rainford have announced their engagement after the TV presenter got down on one knee during a trip to Mykonos, Greece

Politics

3 w. ago Yorùbá Boy Running by Biyi Bándélé audiobook review – from enslaved teenager to celebrated preacher

The novelist’s final work tells a remarkable tale of resilience, based on the life of Samuel Àjàyí Crowther, who was kidnapped by slavers but won his freedomSet in 19th-century Òsogùn in what is now Nigeria, Yorùbá Boy Running opens with 13-year-old Àjàyí reporting a premonition to his mother about dark days ahead. A week later, the town is surrounded by Malian slave raiders and Àjàyí is kidnapped along with his mother, sister, best friend and neighbours. He is taken to Lagos and sold to Portuguese slavers preparing to ship their human cargo to the Americas. But they are intercepted by the British navy, which releases Àjàyí in Sierra Leone, where he is recruited by missionaries. From there, he is put on a path that leads to him to study at Oxford and become a celebrated preacher, linguist and abolitionist who meets Queen Victoria.A remarkable tale of barbarism and resilience, Yorùbá Boy Running is the final work by the Nigerian novelist and film-maker Biyi Bándélé, who died in 2022 ...

Culture

4 w. ago The Names by Florence Knapp audiobook review – a Sliding Doors

What happens to a boy called Gordon, Julian or Bear? Irish actor Dervla Kirwan narrates this smart tale about a how a boy’s name influences his lifeHow influential is a name? This is the question underpinning The Names, which opens with Cora taking her newborn son to register his birth. Her abusive husband Gordon wants his son to be named after him, though, secretly, Cora isn’t keen. She notes how the second syllable lands with “a downward thud like someone slamming down a sports bag”. She prefers Julian, which means “sky father”, though their nine-year-old daughter Maia would like her little brother to be called Bear, since it sounds “soft and cuddly but also brave and strong”.Florence Knapp’s smart debut novel features a Sliding Doors-style plot in which the three names are tried out for size, each triggering a different reality. By defying her husband and choosing Bear, Cora is subjected to a beating that prompts a neighbour to intervene and call the police; when she names him Ju...

Politics

4 w. ago I’ve spent my life fighting bullies. I still believe there’s hope for America | Robert Reich

As a child, an activist, and secretary of labor, I’ve seen the harm bullies cause. Yet I can see what led to Trump’s riseI was born on 24 June 1946, 10 days after the birth of Donald John Trump, 12 days before the birth of George Walker Bush, and 56 days before the birth of William Jefferson Blythe III, whose name was later changed to Bill Clinton.I did not become president. but among my earliest memories is my grandmother, Minnie Reich, telling me that I would become president. I think she was trying to reassure herself that despite my being a runt, fully a head shorter than other little boys, I’d make her proud. Continue reading...

Politics

4 w. ago Prince Andrew 'invited paedophile billionaire financier Jeffrey Epstein into the Royal Box when the Queen and Queen Mother were there'

The Duke of York allegedly asked the late paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein and his sex-trafficking girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell to join him at Ascot for Ladies' Day on June 22, 2000.

Politics