culture
-
They were a riot of makeup, feathers, tribal drums and surf guitars – and, for a brief, spectacular moment, they became the biggest band in the UK. Adam Ant and Marco Pirroni tell the story of their breakthrough
-
-
A bleak, hard-to-watch episode, with hideous confessionals and assassination attempts – leavened with the hilarious news that the Shelby gang have a scholar’s pass at the British Library
-
The Canadian actor’s portrayal of the athlete’s triumph in Race is a tale of success in spite of racism. And today, James says the lack of Hollywood diversity means he has to work twice as hard
-
-
news
-
Arkady Ostrovsky’s The Invention of Russia, an account of media manipulation and of language in modern Russia, wins UK’s top award for political writing
Shakespeare Solos
-
Damian Lewis performs Antony’s funeral oration for Julius Caesar in Shakespeare’s tragedy – one of a new set of films to mark Shakespeare 400
-
Joanna Lumley speaks Viola’s soliloquy from Twelfth Night in which, disguised as a page boy, she wonders whether Olivia has fallen in love with her
-
David Morrissey speaks the opening lines from Richard III in which the scheming Richard lays out his plan to turn his brothers, Clarence and the newly enthroned King Edward IV, against each other
-
Jaques’s speech about the seven ages of man from As You Like It is performed by Zawe Ashton
-
Riz Ahmed speaks Edmund’s soliloquy from King Lear, in which Edmund reflects upon being an illegitimate son and plots against his half-brother, Edgar
-
Ayesha Dharker plays Titania, the queen of the fairies, in a scene from A Midsummer Night’s Dream
reviews
-
Steven Spielberg’s sci-fi masterpiece may be the nearest thing he created to an old-fashioned epic
-
Van McCann and co make meat-and-potatoes music for festival crowds to punch the air to
-
It’s might be less than cinematic, but who could begrudge the World Cup-winning England captain his own adulatory documentary?
-
Imax galaxy quest reveals life in orbit and a breathtaking perspective on our planet’s landmasses, with a little over-earnest narration by Jennifer Lawrence
people
-
The controversial actor and director stars as a former biker in thriller Blood Father. To research the role, he talked to gang members and undercover DEA agents – and learned how to be a terrible tattoo artist
-
Johnson has written his autobiography, and will join us to answer your questions in a live webchat from 12.30pm BST on Tuesday 31 May
-
A new wave of male indie artists, such as Car Seat Headrest, Palace Winter, Kevin Morby, Alex G and Whitney are not afraid to show their sensitive side
-
Dynamic jazz trombonist who played for Duke Ellington, excelled in Hollywood and toured around the world
talking points
-
Muralist JR has cast a spell over the Paris museum’s glass canopy in a work that recalls the Renaissance’s eye-fooling tricks. Now can we have one for the Shard?
critics' picks
-
From WNYC’s new show about gentrification to Carly Rae Jepson explaining how she crafts pure pop, this week is a bumper time for all things podcast
-
Netflix’s vicious family drama is back for a second series while Bob and David make a welcome return on Amazon Prime
-
Curious Directive combine science and storytelling in Norwich, Katie Mitchell and Duncan Macmillan collaborate at the Barbican, and the world premiere of Edward Bond’s Dea is in Sutton
-
Dig out that tent – this summer’s music festivals look as good as they’ve ever been. Here’s our top ten – and the best of the rest
pictures & video
-
Author and passionate lepidopterist Vladimir Nabokov once said: ‘Literature and butterflies are the two sweetest passions known to man.’ His scientific drawings and watercolours of butterflies have now been collected into one volume, Fine Lines
-
‘The sign means happiness. You close your eyes, walk towards it, and try to touch the centre. I can’t explain the handbag’
-
The stars of Jeff Nichols’s Loving, a biopic of Richard and Mildred Loving, a white man and a black woman who were arrested in Virginia in 1958 for marrying, talk to Nigel M Smith
-
Watch the two singers - who star as Wagner’s ill-fated lovers in ENO’s new production - rehearse the love duet from act two of Tristan and Isolde. Edward Gardner conducts the English National Opera orchestra.
-
Capturing classic album sleeves and private moments on 35mm, Kramer spent a breathless 12 months with the musician, who turned 75 yesterday
-
In this archive video, filmed in 2015, Alan Rickman remembers visiting the Royal Court as a teenager, starring in an acclaimed Irish version of The Seagull there and taking Rachel Corrie’s parents to see the play based on their daughter’s diaries
lists & playlists
-
Our reader suggests Janis Joplin or Freddie Mercury as jumping off points: make your suggestion in the comments and they’ll pick a playlist next week
-
Reader Scott Blair picks from your nautical suggestions this week, with Queen, Lulu, Seth Lakeman and – naturally – Bryan Ferry all setting sail
-
you may have missed
-
The Chilean architect Alejandro Aravena pitches activism against starchitecture and uncovers the architect’s role in drone warefare – leaving Richard Rogers and Renzo Piano distinctly out of place
-
Hugely popular on the PC version of Minecraft, multiplayer competitive games are coming to console, starting with a battle mode
-
In 1969, Philip Trevelyan filmed the beguilingly strange life of the Page family, who lived off-grid and rode steam engines round their wood. The director talks about how the film changed his life
-
Human pups like to live in packs, play with squeaky toys, eat from bowls and nuzzle their ‘handlers’. Ahead of a new documentary, Spot, Bootbrush and Kaz open up about their community
-
The tooth of a sperm whale, a street sign to a ghost village, issues of Romania Today … Cornelia Parker’s new show is a treasure trove of finds chanced upon by artists and writers
-
A new doc zooms in on a Portsmouth shop peddling legal highs before they are banned for good. Beneath the silly names lies a distinctly sordid world
what we're reading
-
‘Ça ira,’ a birth-of-a-nation tale in France
Chris WiegandThe play, written and directed by Joël Pommerat, about the early years of the French Revolution, won Moliere prizes for best director and playwright. -
I invented a fictional band, got a hair cut, armed myself with CDs, and went to the buzziest new music festival in Britain to find out if the music industry still works.
-
The business of too much TV
Gwilym MumfordThere are more great shows in production now than ever before â but itâs never been harder to make one. -
Steve Albini: 'I try to be an ally in feminism'
Michael HannIn this exclusive article for LISTEN, Evelyn Morris recounts a difficult story of sexual trauma and how it impacted her love for Shellac, before posing a series of incisive question to the band’s frontman, Steve Albini. Albini answers Evelyn’s questions in detail here, saying: “this is the first time I’ve ...
popular
the big picture
-
From Damien Hirst in his boxers to Yayoi Kusama in a polkadot wonderland, Shigeo Anzaï tracks art’s biggest names to their natural habitats and captures them in candid black and white
-
From Thursday 12pm BST we will be hosting a panel discussion at the Continue conference about the untapped value of games to the cultural establishment
-
Archaeology must open up to become more diverse
Raksha DaveArchaeology classrooms are becoming more representative, but we need practitioners with more varied backgrounds and perspectives -
Big or small, interactive art is about making allowances for time, responding to space – and always looking after the audience
-
From jargon busting to getting started, London Sinfonietta, the National Holocaust Centre and more share their tips for good R&D
Film How Disney’s princesses got tough
Review Alice Through the Looking Glass