Whistler by Ann Patchett: a pacy metafiction where rich people are nice to each other
In Ann Patchett’s 11th novel Whistler, a former stepfather and stepdaughter, Eddie and Daphne, meet again by chance after 44 years. They rekindle their bond (before long, Eddie is introducing Daphne as “my daughter”) and revisit the events that prompted Eddie’s abrupt departure from her life when she was nine. Eddie is a fiction editor […]
Backrooms: why being trapped in the film’s endless corridors feels a lot like modern life
In Backrooms, the latest horror film from production company A24, Chiwetel Ejiofor plays Clark – a failed architect who accidentally slips out of reality. He ends up trapped in an endless labyrinth of yellow-tinted rooms, humming fluorescent lights and eerie, disembodied sounds – the “Backrooms”. The film is an adaptation of a popular internet horror […]
Life in the ancient Arctic: tiny teeth of newly discovered species suggest it was a cradle of mammalian evolution
Artist’s impression of the Prince Creek Formation in northern Alaska during the Late Cretaceous period, with small mammal highlighted. James Havens, CC BY-NC-SA A fossil mammal tooth smaller than a grain of rice does not announce itself loudly. It must be hard won from sediment and stone. Then, under a microscope, it reveals itself – […]
Four top tips for tracing your ancestry from a family historian
Tracing your family history is time-consuming but very rewarding. mpaniti/Shutterstock Whenever a new series of Who Do You Think You Are? airs, there is an uptick in the number of people who decide to trace their own family history. Watching the show, it is tempting to think that conducting this research is easy. But underpinning […]
We don’t always read comics in the same way as text – and that makes them a good learning tool
Nicholas Ellinas/Shutterstock From comics aimed at very young children to university-level textbooks, comics are known to be an effective medium for helping people to learn new information. This is because they represent information in two complementary modes – visual and textual. This is likely to make it easier to move information to our long-term memory, […]
Extreme weather is making Antarctic research harder, but new technology is providing some answers – new study
Scientists could ski in the mountains to have a break from research but that’s no longer possible during the Antarctic summers for safety reasons because the ice is melting so quickly. Katherine Hendry, CC BY-NC-ND When you think of Antarctica, you might imagine a stark, other-worldly continent of endless, white ice. The only sound being […]
Tony Blair has taken aim at Keir Starmer – but some of his criticisms apply to New Labour too
It is rare for former prime ministers to engage in debates about public policy nearly 20 years after they left office. Other than the most general observations, they tend to avoid interventions. So, when Tony Blair offered 5,700 words of criticism directed at the party he led for 13 years, it was obviously significant. Much […]
What happened to Afghanistan’s female academics?
Picture this: you have spent decades building a career. You have a master’s degree. You have taught hundreds of students. You walk into work every morning with a sense of purpose. Then, almost overnight, the gates close. You are told you cannot come back. Not because of anything you did, but simply because of you […]
Battleground Vienna: Austrian intelligence officer convicted of spying for Russia belongs to a long tradition
Egisto Ott is no James Bond. But the stories the 63-year-old Austrian told a Viennese jury recently would make good plotlines. Ott worked as an intelligence officer in Austria’s now-defunct Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution and Counterterrorism. He was also moonlighting for the Russians. Prosecutors say Ott, who was sentenced to four […]
How to be clutter free with kids – minimalist families told me how they live with less
Igisheva Maria/Shutterstock Kids need things, but they grow out of their toys, clothes and furniture so quickly. Families can be left struggling with clutter, as seen on decluttering shows like BBC One’s Sort Your Life Out where families wade through large amounts of toys and children’s clothes. Children and their parents are also under ever […]