The Taylor Swift effect: why a mystery book is rocketing up US charts despite no one knowing any

 Posted on June 24, 2024  |  4 minutes  |  730 words  |  Barrett Giampaolo

Taylor Swift This article is more than 8 months oldThe Taylor Swift effect: why a mystery book is rocketing up US charts – despite no one knowing anything about itThis article is more than 8 months oldWild speculation over a book known as ‘4C Untitled Flatiron Nonfiction Summer 2023’ has seen excited Swifties placing pre-orders. The bad news? It is likely not by her The formula to a bestselling book is a mystery publishers have wrestled with for centuries. [Read More]

It's the IQ, stupid | Howell Raines

 Posted on June 23, 2024  |  11 minutes  |  2255 words  |  Delta Gatti

US elections 2004 This article is more than 19 years oldIt's the IQ, stupidThis article is more than 19 years oldHowell RainesHis supposed intellectual failings are the butt of countless jokes, but so far the question of George Bush's brainpower hasn't hampered his electoral prospects. Why not? In the latest of his dispatches for G2, former New York Times editor Howell Raines asks how important intelligence really is in an American presidentTalk about it [Read More]

Niall Doherty | The Guardian

 Posted on June 23, 2024  |  1 minutes  |  34 words  |  Brenda Moya

Trailers for Eternals, The Suicide Squad, The Batman and more have twisted vintage pop – from Nirvana to Steely Dan – into epic new shapes. Industry insiders explain why

Published: 27 May 2021

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Schoolgirls for sale: why Tokyo struggles to stop the 'JK business'

 Posted on June 23, 2024  |  9 minutes  |  1734 words  |  Merlyn Hunt

Guardian Tokyo weekCitiesThe persistent practice of paying underage girls for sex-related services, known in Japan as the ‘JK’ business, has seen charities step in where police have come up short On a humid Wednesday night the streets of Kabukicho, Tokyo’s most famous red light district, hum with people. Some are tourists, here to gawp and take selfies, but others are customers. Adverts for clubs flash and sing and girls dressed as maids hold signs offering deals for local bars. [Read More]

The Grand Budapest Hotel recreated in over 50,000 Lego bricks | The Grand Budapest Hotel

 Posted on June 23, 2024  |  2 minutes  |  236 words  |  Brenda Moya

The Grand Budapest Hotel This article is more than 9 years oldThe Grand Budapest Hotel recreated in over 50,000 Lego bricksThis article is more than 9 years oldWes Anderson's cameo-filled film has now been rendered in Lego, in a project that took 575 hours to completeThe Grand Budapest Hotel has become Wes Anderson's highest-grossing film, been toured on the Queen Mary 2 liner, and turned into an immersive theatrical experience by the Secret Cinema team – and now its whimsy continues to grow, as the hotel from the film has been rebuilt with over 50,000 Lego bricks. [Read More]

Weather tracker: Waterspouts off Amalfi coast fuelled by unusually warm conditions | Italy

 Posted on June 23, 2024  |  2 minutes  |  396 words  |  Merlyn Hunt

Weather trackerItalyAnalysisWeather tracker: Waterspouts off Amalfi coast fuelled by unusually warm conditionsLauren Herdman and James Parrish for MetDeskMeanwhile, Storm Bettina brings wind and rain to southern and eastern parts of Europe Last Tuesday, people on the Amalfi coast in Italy saw more than one waterspout form offshore, fuelled by high humidity and relatively warm sea surface temperatures. A waterspout is a column of rapidly rotating air, filled with cloud, which forms from a cumulus cloud above a large body of water. [Read More]

'I wanted sex on my terms, and it was': readers on the joy of losing your virginity in your 30s

 Posted on June 22, 2024  |  8 minutes  |  1610 words  |  Brenda Moya

SexOur article about later-in-life virgins generated a huge response – much of it from readers who had finally found love, or started having sex, in their 30s or later. From the woman who lost her virginity six months ago, to the thirtysomething who no longer feels alone, here is what you told us Later-in-life virgins – ‘At my age, it becomes a red flag’ When Preeta read, in last week’s Guardian, about Jim from East Sussex – who, at 35, had never been kissed and was considering paying for sex to lose his virginity – she could have been reading about her husband. [Read More]

His Bloody Project review by Graeme Macrae Burnet murder in the Highlands

 Posted on June 22, 2024  |  4 minutes  |  725 words  |  Merlyn Hunt

Dark undercurrents … a view from Culduie near Applecross, where His Bloody Project is set. Photograph: AlamyDark undercurrents … a view from Culduie near Applecross, where His Bloody Project is set. Photograph: AlamyFictionReviewBased on ‘found’ documents, this Man Booker-longlisted historical thriller deftly masquerades as a slice of true crime Graeme Macrae Burnet’s second novel from the crime imprint of the tiny Scottish publisher Saraband, a surprise inclusion on the Man Booker longlist, is a slippery creature indeed. [Read More]

Marshall Stoneham obituary | Physics

 Posted on June 22, 2024  |  5 minutes  |  919 words  |  Brenda Moya

PhysicsObituaryMarshall Stoneham obituaryTheoretical physicist with a long-term view of scientific progressProfessor Marshall Stoneham, who has died aged 70 following complications after surgery, represented all that is best in British physics. Throughout a long research career, first with the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA), and latterly at University College London, he pioneered the application of modern solid-state theory, which explains the properties of solid materials – especially electrical conduction in semiconductors and metals – to problems of real industrial interest. [Read More]

Milky Edwards: the soul David Bowie and the joy of musical fakes | David Bowie

 Posted on June 22, 2024  |  6 minutes  |  1245 words  |  Barrett Giampaolo

Music blogDavid BowieMilky Edwards: the soul David Bowie and the joy of musical fakesThe Ziggy Stardust cover album by mysterious, fictional soulman Milky Edwards has gone viral – and is just one of many similar hoaxesJust over a week ago, over a year and a half after it was first uploaded to YouTube, a video by an obscure soul singer called Milky Edwards suddenly started to go viral. The clip features a faceless record collector taking what he describes as a " [Read More]