The Guardian • 30/04/2025

What we’re reading: writers and readers on the books they enjoyed in April

Even though it came out only last year, I was so impressed with Álvaro Enrigue’s You Dreamed of Empires that I am on my second reread. As all around me institutions fall and norms fail, I feel the moment requires audacious re-imaginings of history or possibilities of thought, and on both a political and imaginative level, Enrigue delivers with his wild telling of the meeting between Hernán Cortés and Moctezuma.I’d be remiss not to shout out the Australian essayist Vivian Blaxell’s sharp and amus...

The Guardian • 23/04/2025

Gillian Anderson announces ‘even more daring’ follow-up to bestselling book of sexual fantasies

Gillian Anderson has announced a follow-up to her bestselling anthology of female sexual fantasies, Want, with the hope that it will be “more international, and even more daring”.The original book “gave thousands of women the freedom to talk about sex without shame or judgment; to see themselves in the words of strangers, and reflect on their own desires – some for the very first time,” Anderson said. “But Want unlocked so much more for so many and felt like just the beginning of a deeper conver...

The Guardian • 22/04/2025

‘Funny, sexy and a bit weird’: inside the new wave of literary parties

On a Saturday evening in London’s Notting Hill, a large crowd of moderately tipsy young people are spilling into a tailor’s shop on Portobello Road. A passerby could easily assume they were walking past a fashion pop-up attracting a stylish herd of fanatics. But they’d be wrong. The buzzing crowd is here for a live reading event, and they’re eager with energy and anticipation.Soho Reading Series began in the summer of 2023 and was founded by Tom Willis, a writer and PhD student. He wanted to mak...

The Guardian • 21/04/2025

Banned DDT discovered in Canadian trout decades after use, research finds

Residues of the insecticide DDT have been found to persist at “alarming rates” in trout even after nearly six decades, potentially posing a significant danger to humans and wildlife that eat the fish, research has found.Dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane, known as DDT, was used on forested land in New Brunswick, Canada, from 1952 to 1968. The researchers found traces of it remained in brook trout in some lakes, often at levels 10 times higher than the recommended safety threshold for wildlife.Josh...

The Guardian • 18/04/2025

From butterflies to wind turbines, project preserves world’s sonic heritage

The sounds of wind turbines, rare whales and the Amazonian dawn chorus are among the noises being preserved as part of an exhibition of soundscapes found in world heritage sites.The Sonic Heritage project is a collection of 270 sounds from 68 countries, including from famous Unesco-designated sites such as Machu Picchu and the Taj Mahal, as well as natural landscapes such as the monarch butterfly sanctuary in El Rosario, Mexico and the Colombian Amazon.“When you think of world heritage sites, yo...

The Guardian • 17/04/2025

About 15% of world’s cropland polluted with toxic metals, say researchers

About one sixth of global cropland is contaminated by toxic heavy metals, researchers have estimated, with as many as 1.4 billion people living in high-risk areas worldwide.Approximately 14 to 17% of cropland globally – roughly 242m hectares – is contaminated by at least one toxic metal such as arsenic, cadmium, cobalt, chromium, copper, nickel or lead, at levels that exceed agricultural and human health safety thresholds.The analysis, which was conducted by the American Association for the Adva...

The Guardian • 17/04/2025

About 15% of world’s cropland polluted with toxic metals, say researchers

About one sixth of global cropland is contaminated by toxic heavy metals, researchers have estimated, with as many as 1.4 billion people living in high-risk areas worldwide.Approximately 14 to 17% of cropland globally – roughly 242m hectares – is contaminated by at least one toxic metal such as arsenic, cadmium, cobalt, chromium, copper, nickel or lead, at levels that exceed agricultural and human health safety thresholds.The analysis, which was conducted by the American Association for the Adva...

Dazed • 29/08/2024

Youth Demand, the movement taking on the British government

Last month, 10 protesters were arrested on ‘suspicion of conspiracy to cause public nuisance’ outside the opening of Parliament. The protestors – most of them under the age of 25 – were captured by an air drone camera as they donned keffiyehs and held placards with the words “Stop Israel’s Gaza Genocide”, encircled by a ring of Metropolitan Police officers glowing in fluorescent hi-vis. 
Those involved are part of a new organisation called Youth Demand - a youth-led, umbrella activist group whic...

Financial Times • 14/07/2024

Lilac Wine — Nina Simone put her stamp on an intoxicating ballad

The singer was one of a handful who successfully navigated the song’s wayward emotions

Financial Times • 04/07/2024

When Women Ran Fifth Avenue — the queens of 20th-century US retail

If ever there was a place where the impetus behind American consumerism and wealth in the 20th century could be located, it would be Fifth Avenue. Its glittering image as New York’s most lavish thoroughfare is often characterised by female shoppers surrounded by towering edifices named after retail giants.

Yet in our era of shopping malls and online conglomerates, the department store has largely ceased to exist. Today, the likes of Saks and Bergdorf Goodman — which still occupy prime real esta...

Financial Times Property Listings • 01/07/2024

Fantasy home: a blueprint for switching off in Wim Wenders’ Perfect Days

I wouldn’t consider myself much of a homebody. I live in London — a city whose sprawling demands — be they work, leisure or a commute time of 40 minutes — mean I spend more time outside the confines of my home than I do inside it. But as much as I willingly succumb to the frenetic pace of city life, I often yearn to escape the chaos.

When watching Wim Wenders’ latest feature Perfect Days, I was struck by the refined living space of Hirayama — a toilet cleaner who spends his days driving in his

Dazed • 19/06/2024

Why are so many of us ditching the pill?

The contraceptive pill was the harbinger of the sexual revolution – but now women are growing increasingly sceptical of

Since launching as a consumer drug in the UK in 1961, the pill has earned a reputation among feminist historians as one of the driving forces behind the sexual revolution. For generations now, the circular wheel on the green tinfoil package has been recognised as a rite-of-passage drug for those seeking sexual freedom without the risk of pregnancy. Today, it’s estimated that 1

Financial Times • 05/05/2024

Hierarchy of Pleasures: Calum Franklin’s five picks from Paris

FT Weekend Magazine

Financial Times • 26/03/2024

Gallery Page - Lisa Oppenheim

FT Weekend Magazine (print only)

Financial Times • 16/03/2024

Anna Jones on her favourite vegetarian spots in London

FT Weekend Magazine

Financial Times • 18/02/2024

Gallery Page - Leroy Cooper

FT Weekend Magazine (print only)

Roman Road LDN • 12/01/2024

The mother and daughter leading a bilingual poetry collective — Roman Road LDN

Bengali-born Bow residents, Shamim and Eeshita Azad are cultivating cross-cultural and inter-generational collaboration through language and words.

Upon meeting Shamim Azad at the SoBo housing complex on Mostyn Grove, she handed me a badge of a red and green flower fastened to a safety pin. It’s a ‘Bijoy Phool’ she told me, a symbol worn to commemorate the 1971 Liberation War of Bangladesh.

In English, the name translates to ‘victory flower’, and is worn throughout December, similar to that of

Roman Road LDN • 13/12/2023

Where to celebrate 2023 New Year's Eve in East London

It’s that time already! Wave farewell to 2023 and sing, eat, dance and laugh yourself into 2024 with this round-up of the best NYE events in East London.

Out with the old and in with the new, 2023 has flown by in a flash and it’s hard to believe that 2024 is approaching us already. The New Year can seem daunting but it’s also an opportunity for change and fresh beginnings. A glass of bubbly and a rendition of Auld Lang Syne is a well-loved tradition but this NYE it might be time to experience s

Roman Road LDN • 13/12/2023

Columbia Road Christmas Carols cancelled 2023 — Roman Road LDN

Columbia Road Christmas Carols have been cancelled for the remainder of the month after the event went viral on TikTok resulting in safety risks due to overcrowding.

St. Peter’s Church on Bethnal Green has cancelled its annual Christmas Carol service on Columbia Road due to overcrowding presenting a ‘risk to public safety’. The announcement was made on Sunday after last Wednesday’s event attracted a crowd of over 7,000 people.

After being advised by the police and local authorities, St Peter’s

Roman Road LDN • 12/12/2023

Jellied Eels: The Quintessential Cockney Cuisine —

The way to the heart of the East End is through its stomach. Are jellied eels the forgotten food of the East End or a snack that’s destined to make a comeback?

From Pie and Mash, Fish and Chips to Chicken Tikka Masala, the East End is well-known for its big appetite. Though these famous dishes are now enjoyed across the world, the origins of the cockney cuisine began with something lesser known and slightly more fishy.

Jellied eels, cockles and winkles once tantalised the taste buds of the ord

Roman Road LDN • 30/11/2023

Happy Endings Opens Pop-Up at Victoria Park Pavilion

Happy Endings’ ice cream connoisseurs bring a new warming winter menu to Victoria Park’s Pavilion Cafe so you can enjoy their award-winning soft-serve whatever the season.

The last time we spoke to ice cream expert and ex-MasterChef judge, Terri Mercieca, she was operating her business ‘Happy Endings’ under the railway arches on Burdett Road in Mile End, navigating the financial strains of the ongoing cost of living crisis. 10 months later, she’s set up shop at The Pavilion Cafe, with a new sto

Whitechapel LDN • 16/11/2023

Bobby Baker's East End family made of cake at Tate Britain — Whitechapel LDN

‘An Edible Family in a Mobile Home’ is open at Tate Britain and features a restaged cake installation once held in Stepney Green in 1976 and inspired by working-class families in the East End.

Bobby Baker’s 1976 art project ‘An Edible Family in a Mobile Home’, originally held in a Stepney Green housing estate, has now been restaged by Tate Britain as part of their new ‘Women in Revolt’ exhibition. The piece features four rooms inhabited by a working-class East-End family entirely made out of ca

Whitechapel LDN • 10/11/2023

Wickham's Department Store: The Harrods of the East End

Once the East End’s most upmarket shopping destination, the peculiar-looking building holds a secret history of family feuds and rifts between locals and big business.

The building that spans 69-89 Mile End Road looks more like it should belong on the streets of nineteenth-century Paris than here in the East End. Between Stepney Green and Whitechapel stations, the classical Beaux-Arts structure is embedded into the high street. You wouldn’t guess that the building was once Wickham’s Department

Roman Road LDN • 07/11/2023

East London Christmas Markets 2023 — Roman Road LDN

Get yourself in the festive spirit with this local guide to the best Christmas markets East London has to offer in 2023.

Once again the festive season is approaching us and it’s never too early to get ahead of the Christmas rush. We’ve got you covered with a selection of the best Christmas markets East London has to offer. Whether you’re looking for stocking fillers, decorations, or even just a festive day out, you’ll certainly find what you’re looking for here and might even come across someth