Stereotypically seen by the ignorant as a pastime for meek old ladies, crafting has a radical side: everything from sweary sewing to campaigning crafting (aka craftivism: ‘craft’ + ‘activism’)...
If you like The Detectorists, you’ll love The Dig. A dreamy film based on the true story of the discovery of an Anglo-Saxon burial ship at Sutton Hoo in Suffolk; on the brink of the Secon...
You could almost hear the sighs of relief from the climate-concerned as President Biden announced he would be re-joining the Paris Accord as one of his earliest actions in office. I’m sur...
One of the positive aspects of this annus horriblis is the fact that we’ve all been reading more. Books helped us to get through the year.
Talk about coincidence. I was a guest on Woman’s Hour last week (promise not to mention it many more times), and while I waited for my section I listened to Chila Kumari Burman talking about her...
If anyone took the time to closely examine fast fashion, how it’s made and what it involves, it could really take the fun out of shopping. Contrary to popular opinion, cheap thrills come at a price ...
Before suffragettes, before girl power and way before #MeToo, there was Artemisia, a woman who triumphed over tyranny and achieved global fame in the male-dominated world of Baroque art. The Na...
In the latest That’s Not My Age podcast I chat to the award-winning journalist and author Yasmin Alibhai-Brown about her esteemed career. The first regular columnist of colour on a national n...
As we stumble into Covid Winter, it’s good to have a plan. So, I’ve been thinking about what got me through lockdown earlier this year: Yoga With Adriene (still doing it), mastering the ar...
This spring, the global pandemic prompted record numbers of people to plant for the first time. Whether it was the fear of global food shortages or to stave off lockdown boredom, most we...
I have no idea why it’s taken me so long to pick up an Ann Patchett book. After reading her latest novel The Dutch House in lockdown, I’m now bingeing on Patchett’s back catalogue (t...
Now some museums and galleries are open again, it’s time to tentatively venture forth on public transport. Masked-up and hand-washed within an inch of sanity.
