ZedVlog

‘To me, their love was a fabled thing’: Madelaine Lucas as a baby, with her parents Steve and Amanda.‘To me, their love was a fabled thing’: Madelaine Lucas as a baby, with her parents Steve and Amanda.Australian books This article is more than 9 months oldMy parents’ divorce reshaped our family – but it wasn’t the end of their storyThis article is more than 9 months oldMadelaine LucasWhen Madelaine Lucas’s parents broke up, their home wasn’t broken. [Read More]

Australia news This article is more than 7 years old'Sadistic' man who raped and tortured daughter jailed for at least 36 yearsThis article is more than 7 years oldWife sentenced to minimum of 11 years in jail for role in couple’s physical and psychological abuse of their daughter throughout her childhood Warning: this report contains distressing details A “sadistic” father who raped, mutilated and tortured his young daughter over a 14-year period has been sentenced in a Sydney court to at least 36 years in jail. [Read More]

Drama filmsReviewThis anthology extolling the Cuban capital feels like it may have swigged a bit too much of the local grogA seven-part anthology film with an impressive lineup of guest directors, all designed to extol the lively, garish charms of the Cuban capital. It wears its days-of-the-week structure very lightly; and despite the recurring motifs (booze-soaked dancing, short-skirted women, personal drivers for nearly everyone) it's a very mixed bag. Elia Suleiman's understated, deadpan essay in observation is the most successful, in that it doesn't try to claim any special insight; while others – Benicio del Toro's American-tourist-in-trouble yarn, Julio Medem's impassioned threeway tug-of-love, Pablo Trapero's paean to local musicianship, featuring wildman film-maker Emir Kusturica – deal in more obvious material. [Read More]

Human rights in focusGlobal development This article is more than 3 years oldCovid outbreak exposes dire conditions at Guatemala factory making US brandsThis article is more than 3 years oldMore than 200 workers tested positive at garment factory supplying Amazon, Gap and American Eagle A garment factory supplying Gap, American Eagle and Amazon was at the centre of one of the worst Covid-19 outbreaks in Guatemala, the Guardian can reveal. [Read More]

The ObserverAmericanaReview(Anti-) The Haitian-American musician explores the troubled history of creole-language Radio Haiti on her rewarding fourth album Born in New York to Haitian parents and now based in New Orleans, Leyla McCalla has explored her ancestral roots on previous solo albums. The result of a commission from Duke University in North Carolina, this fourth venture takes her deeper into the history of the Caribbean republic and that of Radio Haiti, the station that for decades confronted the corruption and brutality of regimes that arrested and tortured journalists and eventually murdered its founder. [Read More]

Teacher NetworkIn the last decade, a wealth of books has brought together ideas to help teachers have the greatest impact on student learning. Here are just a few Plato’s Republic, Rousseau’s Émile and Dewey’s Democracy and Education – there’s a strong case to be made, as Dennis Hayes has, that these are the only books on education that teachers need to read. But if I was about to enter the classroom as a teacher for the first time or was looking to improve my practice, I would probably want to read something with more practical advice on what I should be doing and, more importantly, on what I shouldn’t. [Read More]

Women's rights and gender equality This article is more than 3 years old'She can't say no': the Ugandan men demanding to be breastfedThis article is more than 3 years oldA study is looking into the coercive practice in Uganda, amid calls for the government to address the issue Jane’s* husband likes breast milk. “He says he likes the taste of it, and that it helps him in terms of his health. [Read More]

ObituaryChristian MarquandMultilingual actor famed for screen frolic with Brigitte BardotThere must have been worse ways of earning a living than passionately making love to the 22-year-old Brigitte Bardot on the beach of St Tropez. Christian Marquand, who has died aged 73, was a lucky man. The film was And God Created Woman (1956), and the steamy scene was directed watchfully by Bardot's husband, Roger Vadim. Mostly shot on location, the rather silly, but certainly sensual, tale was a good excuse for him to display his wife's amoral charms in various forms of dress, which mainly comprised jeans, and undress. [Read More]

Well actuallyTech mogul Bryan Johnson swears by the rejuvenating power of shockwave therapy. A good sleep is a safer place to start In an interview on the Diary of a CEO podcast in November, the 46-year-old tech mogul Bryan Johnson shared an update on his genitals. The anti-ageing fanatic, who has spent over $4m since 2021 to attempt to reverse the “biological age” of his body and increase his longevity, said that he was two months into a course of experimental shockwave therapy on his penis, and that as a result, his penis felt “15 years younger”. [Read More]

Other livesTheatreObituaryJoel Cutrara obituaryJoel Cutrara, who has died aged 83, was my partner in the Phantom Captain theatre company from 1972 to 1987, during the heyday of British alternative theatre. He wrote, acted, directed, sound-designed and drove the company van. Born and raised in Chicago, Joel was the son of Betty and August Cutrara, who separated not long after his birth. Betty and Joel kept moving around during his childhood, apparently to avoid August finding them. [Read More]