As the reader interview goes to Green Man festival, tell us what you would like to ask the garlanded British artist, fresh from her turn as Circe in The OdysseyAt this weekend’s Green Man festival, Samantha Morton will join Guardian writer Kate Hutchinson to discuss a career spanning acting, directing and music.From her Oscar-nominated performances in Sweet and Lowdown and In America to Morvern Callar, The Serpent Queen and her latest role as Circe in Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey, Morton has become one of Britain’s most distinctive actors. Her directorial debut, The Unloved, won the Bafta for best single drama, while in 2024 she released the deeply personal album Daffodils & Dirt with producer Richard Russell under the name Sam Morton. Continue reading...

17 Aug 2026 08:36 ✍️ RSS THE GUARDIAN

Sony Pictures in July announced that the celebrated theater, built in 1963 and shuttered during Covid, will reopen in 2028Drive down Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles, along the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and you’ll see a movie theater straight out of The Jetsons.Built in 1963, the Cinerama dome is instantly memorable: a white, geodesic construction that looks like a giant golf ball cut in half and plopped down in the middle of the city. Continue reading...

16 Aug 2026 11:00 ✍️ RSS THE GUARDIAN

The Arctic Monkeys, Pet Shop Boys and Pulp collaborator was at the height of his powers as Britain’s most in-demand music producer when leukaemia struck. ‘I realised life is exceptionally fragile,’ he saysThere was a moment outside the door of a recording studio in rural France, staring at a half-eaten apple that he believed possessed psychedelic properties, when James Ford knew things had really got out of hand. He was stood with Klaxons; all of the band members were hypnotised by this rotting fruit which throbbed on the floor with kaleidoscopic intensity. They were convinced that its blooming mould was in fact their spiritual guru.The band had been riding the wave of their huge, scene-defining debut album, 2007’s Myths of the Near Future – which was produced by Ford – and were now trying to record the interminably difficult follow-up, aided by daily doses of a concoction they’d taken to calling “the five-star general”. Continue reading...

16 Aug 2026 09:00 ✍️ RSS THE GUARDIAN

The differences in body types does mean that, on average, women find the exercise more difficult – but that’s not the whole storyPull-ups are a bodyweight exercise where you hang from an overhead bar, usually with an overhand grip, and pull yourself up until your chin clears the bar. “They’re a great upper-body exercise,” says Prof Leigh Breen, a specialist in muscle physiology at the University of Leicester. “They primarily work the muscles in the back, but also recruit the arms and the core.” They’re known for being tough – particularly for women. But is that true?“If we take the population as a whole, doing a pull-up is typically more challenging for the average woman,” says Breen. There are a few reasons for this. First, women naturally tend to carry a smaller proportion of their muscle mass in their upper body than men – and these are the muscles relied upon for the exercise. Second, women generally have a slightly higher body fat percentage than men. Because a pull-up requires you to lift your entire bodyweight, having less upper-body muscle relative to the weight you’re moving can reduce what’s known as your strength-to-weight ratio. Continue reading...

17 Aug 2026 07:00 ✍️ RSS THE GUARDIAN

There are more than 70,000 hysteroscopies every year in England alone. The NHS calls them ‘low complexity’ – yet a shocking number of patients complain of inadequate pain relief and medical staff who refuse to take them seriouslyIn February this year, Beth Harris sat in the day surgery waiting room of her local hospital and tried to steady her nerves.She was there for a hysteroscopy, in this case to remove a fibroid. A thin surgical instrument with a lens, a light, a blade and an irrigation system for pumping saline solution would be inserted through her vagina and cervix, into her womb. The saline solution would widen the womb and the fibroid would be shaved away. Her hospital had advised taking paracetamol or ibuprofen an hour before the appointment, which Harris had done. However, the appointment was for 1pm, and by 4pm, she was still waiting in her hospital gown, surrounded by other patients. Continue reading...

16 Aug 2026 13:00 ✍️ RSS THE GUARDIAN

A sweet, tangy and spicy chicken dish that matches well with crisp fried potatoes and apricot-glazed spring onionsI use this exact cooking method to make every kind of traybaked chicken, and this one is a blend of store-cupboard staples with the addition of fresh lime to push the flavour. Then, I love hash browns, röstis and latkes – give me crispy fried potatoes of any description, and I’m a happy girl – but I won’t lie and tell you that I love frying, because, if I can avoid it, I do: it’s messy, greasy, smelly and uses a fair bit of oil, which is pretty costly. But how to produce a perfectly crispy latke by baking? Well, I’ve managed to do it, and I’m really happy with the results. Continue reading...

17 Aug 2026 05:00 ✍️ RSS THE GUARDIAN

A cook-your-own adventure meal, with all manner of fillings and servings to exploreThe Mexican equivalent of a cheese toastie, but even quicker to make, these are the perfect summer holiday or weekend lunch, because everyone can choose their own fillings and help cook. Plus, this recipe is just a jumping-off point – once you’ve mastered the method, you can fill them with anything you like … grated chocolate and mashed banana are pretty good!Prep 5 min Cook 4 min each Makes 8 Continue reading...

16 Aug 2026 12:00 ✍️ RSS THE GUARDIAN