Matt Rudd

My first recommendation: How to Cook A Wolf by MFK Fisher (first published in 1942 then updated with very witty annotations for the Cold War years).

Reading for pleasure is essential for health and joy, but Britain is facing a reading crisis.
I am supporting the Sunday Times Get Britain Reading campaign. Join me and pledge to spend at least 10 minutes a day reading for the next six weeks…

link.thetimes.co.uk/join/74t/sig...

The galactic task of building a 9,000-piece Lego Death Star Ten years after building its little brother — a mere 3,000 pieces — Matt Rudd and his sons tackled Lego’s largest and most expensive set. Was the force with them?

Ten years after building a 3,000-piece Lego Death Star with my kids (9, 7 and 2), I did it again. The kids were older, I was older… the Death Star was much, much bigger…

The galactic task of building a 9,000-piece Lego Death Star

www.thetimes.com/article/95eb...

What happened when Caitlin Moran met her heroine Kathy Burke She grew up in poverty and went on to become a comedy icon and best actress winner at Cannes. Now Kathy Burke has written a shocking memoir about her childhood. Caitlin Moran meets her heroine

Beautiful, upsetting, maddening, heartwarming interview

What happened when @mscaitlinmoran.bsky.social met her heroine Kathy Burke

www.thetimes.com/article/89f8...

A bargain for an app that costs so much in terms of mental health

Surgeon Neil Hopper jailed after amputation of own legs Neil Hopper claimed that injuries to his legs were the result of sepsis and not self-inflicted.

The ultimate example of nominative determinism... surgeon Neil Hopper jailed after amputation of his own legs

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Incredible portraits by Austin Hargrave

Mark Hamill: Dad wasn’t impressed that I was Luke Skywalker Should you ever meet your childhood heroes? The one-time Jedi knight tells Matt Rudd about his difficult father, his biggest roles since Star Wars and why Harrison Ford was a much better actor

Mark Hamill: Dad wasn’t impressed that I was Luke Skywalker

www.thetimes.com/article/8bfc...

When I was nine, I devised a plan to meet Luke Skywalker… it was simple… I would become a journalist and then interview him… didn’t expect it to take 40 years but still…

Nine! Or 27! Plus two more I can’t fit in. Beat that…

Three? Well, there’s three on this beam but that wasn’t enough… not at all…

How many of these do you think we have in our small holiday cottage bedroom? One? Two? …

Friendly annual reminder to all A-level/GCSE students collecting exam results - if a photographer asks you to hold a piece of paper and jump in the air with delight, just say no.

My uplifting day at the repair café that fixes anything for free

Bags, blenders, antique clocks — if you name it, this army of volunteers in Tunbridge Wells can probably sort it with a smile and a story

My uplifting day at the repair café that fixes anything for free Bags, blenders, antique clocks — if you name it, this army of volunteers in Tunbridge Wells can probably sort it with a smile and a story

Favourite story of the year… meeting the 81 - 81! - volunteers and seeing their combined decades of expertise put to work at the Tunbridge Wells repair cafe…

My uplifting day at the repair café that fixes anything for free

www.thetimes.com/article/d9f4...

Thank you… it’s brutal but Floss has made a pretty good recovery for now. We’re appreciating every extra day.

Yes

Goodness me, how depressing: The US government is spending $160,000 to burn nearly $10m of contraceptives rather than sell them to the UN to ship to poor nations, according to sources.

I used to think it was a waste of money keeping an old dog alive ‘Five years ago I watched in disbelief as a friend spent thousands of pounds he didn’t have on improbable surgery for his 12-year-old dog’

An ode to a dog who had a stroke…

I used to think it was a waste of money keeping an old dog alive

www.thetimes.com/article/6dab...

Excited about National Caviar Day on the 18th. Only 11 more sleeps

Anyone else getting a lot of "press releases" from "relaytheupdate.com", "signalthenews.com" or similar? Emails from alleged humans eg Jasmine, Sienna, Adriana, Iris, Lucille etc. Replies get bounced back. Repping companies such as Number 1 Plates, Ski Vertigo, Plumb World. Is this death by AI PR?

A terracotta bowl with a few pebbles in it, partially filled with water.

A larger bowl filled with water.

Bird water bowl alongside seed

Forecast in the UK is scorching for the next week. If you can, please put out some water sources. One for bees/butterflies* and one for bigger critters. *Shallow bowl with stones is ideal for insects, so they can drink without drowning. If you can manage a bird-height one as well, brilliant.

Bird Corp. I’m in. We’re all going on a willow tit hunt. Maybe we can do a Times + event. Just a medium size cruise ship, Bill Oddie headlining, fat balls for canapés.

Very happy to bird bore with you @mscaitlinmoran.bsky.social any time… I can play you our top 10 Merlins. Also, we have a tame baby magpie this year. Magpies are ruthless killers but this one is very cute. Ps lovely column

Tried watching Gladiator 2 last night but zzzzzz… is it just Gladiator but with fancier / worse fx? Is it just Game of Thrones with a fancier / worse story? Should I try again?

My walk through JMW Turner’s Britain, 250 years later To celebrate the anniversary of his birth, Matt Rudd retraces the great painter’s steps

The legend that is JMW Turner was born 250 years ago, tomorrow, and a host of exhibitions are celebrating his legacy this year. If you want to spend the summer retracing the artist's footsteps throughout the UK @mattrudd.bsky.social tells you how in The Times: www.thetimes.com/article/e01c...

When Bezos Met Bridezilla An exclusive look inside Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez’s Venice wedding—zero-gravity Botox, diamanté candelabras, Dom Pérignon, and all.

“It’s for the napkins at the truffle brunch on day three. Before the spa treatments at the palazzo and after the blessing from the Dalai Lama on the superyacht.” @mattrudd.bsky.social

Child A is 16,000th in the queue for a driving test after logging into the DVLA at 6.00.02am one year after the transport minister said it was “unacceptable” that robot scalpers were snapping all the tests released each week. Should this be harder than Oasis tickets? Ridiculous

Flying rats, gruelling shifts — why do we treat binmen like rubbish? Amid the ongoing refuse collectors’ strike in Birmingham, Stephen Bleach joins a crew in Coventry for an exhausting day

A great piece by my colleague of 20+ years…

Flying rats, gruelling shifts — why do we treat binmen like rubbish?

www.thetimes.com/article/75ff...

Shiny apples. Get your shiny apples ‘ere.