Culture Young ladies too tired to stand at a Black debutante ball Miranda Barnes’s book Social Season opens with a poem set in the mid-1800s, a time that marked the beginning of increased financial prosperity for some African Americans. Cotillion dances have European origins, but Black New Yorkers adapted the waltz and quadrille, dressing in fine outfits; these debutante balls have
Culture Go deep into Freud, follow Gwen John and watch Giacometti melt Exhibition of the week: Lucian Freud: Drawing Into Painting offers a close study of the artist’s portrait process, tracing work from paper to canvas. National Portrait Gallery, London, from 12 February to 4 May. Also showing: Gwen John: Strange Beauties returns one of early 20th-century Britain’s most original
Culture Gaming’s new coming-of-age genre embraces millennial cringe A micro‑trend has emerged in games: millennial nostalgia that goes beyond Y2K aesthetics to become semi‑autobiographical work about growing up in the early 2000s. Recent examples include Despelote, set in 2002 Ecuador and seen through the eyes of a football‑obsessed eight‑year‑old; the award‑winning Consume
Culture The Rookie S8E6 Teases a Chilling Serial Killer's Return and a Deadly Curse Warning: this recap contains spoilers. The episode opens with Celina Juarez and new roommate Miles Penn at a crystal shop, where a spell meant for someone else lands on Miles after Celina ducks. The curse leads to a cascade of dangerous mishaps—pepper spray, allergic spider bites and, by episode&
Culture Margot Robbie says a co-star once gave her a book telling her to 'eat less' Margot Robbie said a male actor once gave her a book telling her to "eat less." She described the incident as happening "very, very early in my career" during a video interview with her Wuthering Heights collaborator Charli XCX for Complex. The book she referenced appears
Culture Weird roguelike tactical cats game Mewgenics release date and launch time The freaky cat turn-based tactics game from Edmund McMillen (The Binding of Isaac) and Tyler Glaiel (The End Is Nigh) is about to launch for you to breed and battle increasingly cursed cats. Release times: 8 am PST (Los Angeles), 11 am EST (New York), 4 pm GMT (London), 5
Culture How a decades-old video game helped me defeat the doomscroll Cutting back on doomscrolling is one of the hardest resolutions to keep. Instinctively tapping the usual apps becomes a reflex, so I tried replacing my phone with something fuzzier and more nostalgic: a Game Boy Advance running Pokémon FireRed, a remake of the first Pokémon games that turn 30 this
Culture Mindhunter: Fincher's Netflix crime series that redefined true crime David Fincher’s work with Netflix has produced some of his most intense thrillers, and his adaptation of John E. Douglas’ memoir resulted in Mindhunter, one of the streaming platform’s most acclaimed original series. Visually glossy and emotionally gritty, the show earned praise even as it was left in
Culture Amidst the Shades review – Ruby Hughes’s Dowland tribute John Dowland died 400 years ago, and this tribute from soprano Ruby Hughes, lutenist Jonas Nordberg and viola da gamba player Mime Yamahiro Brinkmann is exceptionally captivating. The recording is not all Dowland: it takes its title from a Purcell song and includes a spellbinding version of the Corpus Christi
Culture Vila review: imaginative mood music from Fabiano do Nascimento Over the past decade Fabiano do Nascimento has honed a sound so muscular and expansive it may make you think the prolific soloist and collaborator had four hands on his instrument’s six strings. His 14 records since 2015’s debut Dança do Tempo range from the tender duet The
Culture Danny L Harle: Cerulean — earnest homage to early 00s bangers or poor imitation? Cerulean is a confusing business: it is billed as Danny L Harle’s debut even though Harlecore came out in 2021. What sets this release apart is its weighty guestlist — Clairo, Caroline Polachek, PinkPantheress, MNEK and more — a sign of Harle’s rise into the major leagues of pop production;
Culture Prime Video’s Most Bingeable British Crime Series Is Hiding in Plain Sight British crime dramas have long produced gripping, binge-worthy mysteries, and 2025’s Lynley joined that tradition. The new adaptation of Elizabeth George’s Inspector Lynley novels premiered on BritBox on September 4, 2025 and earned a 91% score on Rotten Tomatoes; one user called it "smart, moody, and quietly
Culture Sudoku 7,205 medium Click here to access the print version. Fill the grid so that every row, every column and every 3x3 box contains the numbers 1 to 9. Continue reading... sudoku, 7,205, medium, print version, grid, row, column, 3x3 box, 1-9, instructions
Culture Nuisance Bear Review: In Case You Forgot, Climate Change Sucks In the northern corner of Manitoba lies Churchill, often called the "Polar Bear Capital of the World." Gabriela Oslo Vanden and Jack Weisman's Nuisance Bear documents the town's uneasy coexistence with polar bears as melting sea ice forces them to scavenge and travel further
Culture 50 Cent trolls Stefon Diggs amid Cardi B split rumors 50 Cent mocked Stefon Diggs on Instagram after the wide receiver and Cardi B sparked breakup rumors at the Super Bowl. The rapper wrote, “Can you imagine waking up this morning and you done lost this b!tch and the Super Bowl,” adding, “I would tell everybody get away from
Culture Mamoru Oshii has played 10,000 hours of Fallout 4 Mamoru Oshii says he has spent roughly 10,000 hours playing Fallout 4, about 2,000 on PlayStation and another 8,000 on Steam. He called it "a game that seems to have been made for my own desires," noting that VATS suits his lack of facility with
Culture Guidelines review: teens and the aftermath of a murder filmed on a phone The play pieces together fragments: distorted voice notes, the depths of the comments section and snatches of conversation form James Nash’s lithe little nightmare. It follows the aftermath of a murder filmed on a phone as its impact ricochets outwards in real life and on our screens. Pip Williams’
Culture Quick crossword No 17,399 Continue reading... Continue reading... Continue reading... quick crossword, crossword, puzzle, clues, grid, solution, across, down, no 17,399, continue reading
Culture Troubles-rooted play Sapling wins Women’s prize for playwriting Sapling, a play rooted in Troubles-era Belfast that examines what happens when trauma is left to fester, has won the Women’s prize for playwriting 2025. Judges praised the unflinching and moving writing of Georgina Duncan, a working-class playwright from Lancashire. "Sapling is the rare kind of play that
Culture Untamed renewed for season 2 set in Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park Likened to a blend of Yellowstone and True Detective, Netflix's crime series Untamed made an impressive splash on the streamer in 2025 and earned a second season renewal in late July. It debuted at #1 on Nielsen’s U.S. streaming chart and logged 2.1 billion minutes
Culture This Bond-Era Throwback Spy Series Has a New Season 2 Twist Betrayal, a Bond-era throwback spy thriller written by award-winning playwright and screenwriter David Eldridge and directed by BAFTA and Emmy nominee Julian Jarrold, debuted on ITV this past Sunday and has already prompted questions about a second season. Shaun Evans, who portrays MI5 agent John, said the show was conceived
Culture Savannah Guthrie pleads for help finding missing mother as ransom deadline nears Savannah Guthrie pleaded on Instagram for the public’s help locating her mother, Nancy Guthrie, more than a week after the Arizona woman was taken. In an emotional video the “Today” host thanked people for the “love” and “prayers” and said, “We believe that somehow, someway, she is feeling these
Culture Fans call for Anran redesign over 'same face' in new Overwatch heroes Blizzard's latest season for Overwatch 2 has drawn a lot of attention, but conversation has centered on the design of the game's newest Chinese damage hero, Anran. Critics say Anran's in-game appearance differs markedly from how she looked in a recent animated short, and
Culture Cryptic crossword No 29,926 1 down. Father’s attempt to make small cake. 6 letters. 2 down. Subjects of King leaving degrees of latitude. 6 letters. 3 down. Has Starmer mostly dithered over national aggravation? 10 letters. 4 down. Precious thing given by queen, evenly wrapped by friend. 5 letters. 5 down. Predatory rodent
Culture X-Men '97 Created Rogue and Gambit's Romance and a New Love Triangle X-Men '97 debuted two years ago to near-universal praise, earning 99% from critics and 91% from audiences on Rotten Tomatoes and becoming the highest-rated Marvel project in history despite not being set in the MCU. The series was greenlit for Season 2 before Season 1 premiered, and the studio
