Vanessa Thorpe

Marion Coutts: ‘I essentially think memory is made up’ The artist and writer on living through a ‘zombie state of grief’, and how the ocean inspired her new novel

It is NOT a sequel, Marion Coutts tells me observer.co.uk/culture/book...
Marion Coutts: ‘I essentially think memory is made up’

Shoshana Zuboff wants to abolish social media | The Observer The Harvard professor believes that Silicon Valley’s business model must be outlawed. Her new film about the tragic case of Molly Russell explains why

Shoshana Zuboff tells me she wants to abolish what drives social media and save democracy, as well as lives…https://observer.co.uk/culture/interviews/article/shoshana-zuboff-wants-to-abolish-social-media

Why is just one candidate tipped for the troubled Tate’s ... Dwindling visitor numbers, an industrial dispute and a huge wage bill have put off applicants, say insiders

Whoi fancies taking the reins?

observer.co.uk/news/nationa...

Tom Kerridge is fighting for your pint | The Observer Despite his success in persuading the Treasury to cut business rates for pubs, the chef and campaigner is pessimistic about his industry’s future. Even so, he says, entering the cauldron of politics i...

A life raft for a sinking boat? Kerridge tells me about hospitality…
observer.co.uk/news/nationa...

Lost in translation at the Jaipur Literary Festival My first visit to the country prompted an unravelling of assumptions about a place I’d only encountered in books and films

observer.co.uk/news/opinion...

Peter Capaldi: ‘I wouldn’t mind some of my ashes being sp... The Scottish actor and musician revisits the now gentrified streets of London’s Soho, recalling the sites that marked his youth hustling for jobs, first in studios, then on stage

observer.co.uk/news/nationa...

Allegations against predatory tutors reveal an ‘endemic’ ... Two claims of historic sexual misconduct at Guildhall are under investigation, but these could be merely the tip of the iceberg

observer.co.uk/news/nationa...

A reckoning at the Guildhall school of music | The Observer

Elite music training has a historic legacy of unhappiness and shame
observer.co.uk/listen/the-s...

‘It’s like finding myself again’: Julian Lloyd Webber picks up his cello after 10 years | The Observer

A long pause between movements….
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Comedy or error: is Shakespeare actually funny? | The Observer

A jest or a pest? You, the jury, decide observer.co.uk/culture/thea...

Klimt’s $205m lifeline for the art world | The Observer

Defib for the art market: I hear views from the room where it happened

observer.co.uk/culture/art/...

Remembering Rachel Cooke | The Observer

Beautiful piece by @TimAdamsWrites on the brilliant Observer journalist Rachel Cooke who could write wonderfully about anything, has died tragically young and will be hugely, hugely missed by so many people.
observer.co.uk/news/nationa...

BBC losing grip, warn staff after bias row | The Observer

Director General and BBC news chief resign after this string of bias claims…..https://observer.co.uk/news/national/article/bbc-losing-grip-warn-staff-after-bias-row

Helen Garner: ‘Writers need to have their arse kicked around the block’ | The Observer

Garner on telling it straight and winning a big prize

observer.co.uk/culture/book...

The prizewinning author who almost lost his nerve This week the prestigious British Academy book prize went to The Burning Earth, a ‘magisterial’ study of mankind and its relationship with nature. Its au...

‘Over the last 150 years, human intervention has had a disproportionate influence on nature… The paradox is, though, that by causing planetary warming, in some ways we have unleashed the full power of nature.’
Sunil Amrith talks to @vanessathorpe.bsky.social
observer.co.uk/news/nationa...

Writer Hanif Kureishi mourns his loss of mobility by chor... The Buddha of Suburbia author broke his neck three years ago – and has filmed a dance to document the aftermath

Dance steps in …https://observer.co.uk/news/national/article/i-envy-people-who-can-walk-writer-kureishi-mourns-loss-of-movement-through-ballet

Vermeer’s Girl with a Pearl Earring finally gets a name Historian Andrew Graham-Dixon has a radical new theory about the life and beliefs of the Dutch master

Convinced? I learn Delft holds the key to Vermeer’s masterpieces - and a kinder way of life observer.co.uk/culture/art/...

Haywire: an entertainingly meta take on The Archers Plus, the squelchy sounds of rural life in Cow/Deer at the Royal Court

Listening to The Archers Omnibus? Take a trip to early Ambridge…..
observer.co.uk/culture/thea...

How Raymond Briggs found his style | The Observer Two rediscovered early works show how the beloved author of The Snowman and Father Christmas perfected his blend of the fantastical and ordinary

Trace back those wry, sentimental suburban settings observer.co.uk/culture/book...

The Slow Newscast | The Observer <p>Our weekly investigative show</p>

observer.co.uk/listen/the-s...

Historians dismayed by ‘scandal’ of BBC cutting access to... Critics say new limit to trove of information sounds knell for independent research

Academics are very concerned that the BBC is changing access to its archival material by releasing material in an orchestrated way rather than allowing researchers to ask their own queries. Very worrying development and a good overview by @vanessathorpe.bsky.social
observer.co.uk/news/nationa...

Anna Netrebko’s Putin problem looms over Royal Opera return The Russian soprano says she doesn’t support the war in Ukraine but her Tosca this week faces a chorus of critics

observer.co.uk/news/nationa... Or buy tickets for the Ukrainian Freedom Orchestra at Cadogan Hall in London tomorrow night

The campaign to save a very British sculpture | The Observer A unique Barbara Hepworth sculpture inspired by the tension of wartime London and the comfort of the Cornish coast could soon leave the country. But a pu...

Any loose change to donate?https://observer.co.uk/culture/art/article/the-campaign-to-save-a-very-british-sculpture

I sat through an 8-hour choral epic on a beanbag. Was it ... John Tavener’s monumental Veil of the Temple promises to take us on a journey to a sacred, spiritual realm

observer.co.uk/music/classi...

Pat down the golden retrievers: Cotswolds put on high ale... With helicopters whirring overhead and police quizzing residents, rural life is anything but tranquil

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#edinburghfestivaltheatre
#EIF

Grasshopper relic for sale. But was it stolen from King T... Some argue that the artefact up for auction should be returned to Egypt

Who took the risk and bought this today?
observer.co.uk/news/interna...

For sale: battle-scarred banner that shows the allure of ... As two union flags break auction records, we investigate the historic pull of the UK’s national standard

observer.co.uk/style/featur...

In the footsteps of Mrs Dalloway: taking to the street to... Dublin marks Joyce’s Ulysses with Bloomsday every summer. So, on the centenary of the publication of Woolf’s treasured book, isn’t it time for an annual ...

Friday 13th coming - watch out for aesthetes on the streets….
observer.co.uk/culture/book...

The literary battle against AI is on: ‘Real words from real people are so much better’ | The Observer Book lovers weren’t best pleased when The Observer presented them with a new debut novel created by ChatGPT at the Hay Festival this weekend

An AI app summoned up the author of The Weft of Nettles for @hayfestival.bsky.social Is she the future after the Data Bill? observer.co.uk/culture/book...