Culture
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The great escape: reading booms in lockdown
Is reading fiction escapist? With half of the world’s population under lockdown, sales of novels have rocketed. People are turning to stories to keep themselves company and pass the time.
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‘Lives pulled apart for no good reason’
Who is more out of touch: the tabloids or Meghan and Harry? Exactly 100 days after Megxit, the couple are under vicious fire for announcing a boycott of four popular British newspapers.
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Now for the final round – fingers on buzzers!
Do quiz shows really test intelligence? We love watching them and trying to beat contestants to the right answer – but experts say there is much more to winning than being a mere brain box.
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We’re just the same as you – only more famous
In a real crisis, do celebrities help? Some have been praised for leading by example during the pandemic, but many have shown an extraordinary inability to relate to ordinary people.
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Happy birthday to Wordsworth the eco-hero
Was Wordsworth the first ‘green’? England’s great poet of nature was born 250 years ago today, and a new biography argues that the environmental movement owes its whole existence to him.
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All you need is love – and a cheese sandwich
Are food and love the only real things in life? At the age of 82, Britain’s greatest living painter, David Hockney, has written a moving letter telling the world his deepest convictions.
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It must be true – I saw it on the internet
Can we defeat the misinformation virus? Efforts to combat the coronavirus pandemic are being undermined by fake news and scams – and it is not the first crisis to be aggravated in this way.
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Let’s meet up tomorrow – your place and mine
Is online socialising as good as meeting in person? The current lockdown has given rise to virtual parties, choirs, and reading groups – and they could become a permanent part of our lives.
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A man with a cough walks into an empty bar
Is it wrong to make jokes during a crisis? The pandemic – like many tragic and difficult situations throughout the centuries – has brought fear, but also inspired a tidal wave of humour.
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The summer when school changed forever
Is this a catastrophe or a golden opportunity? As the virus forces nearly a billion students around the world to study at home, the notion of traditional schooling is coming under scrutiny.
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BBC predicts explosion of creativity and art
Could the virus spark an artistic renaissance? As lockdowns come into force and people around the world face lonely weeks ahead, the stage is set for a huge flowering of modern genius.
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We may not like who we are about to become
What do the classics teach us? As we enter the dark tunnel of the 2020 pandemic, we will face hard questions. Take comfort that some of our greatest writers have struggled with them before.
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‘Everyone suddenly burst out singing’
Could the virus help bring us together? Social distancing is the new normal as the pandemic takes over the world – but some people predict that, in other ways, we may become closer than ever.
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After 24 years…Spitting Image set to return
Is satire simply cruel? There is a long tradition of ridiculing the famous and powerful. But in an age of increased sensitivity, the return of TV’s Spitting Image might not be that welcome.
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Darth Vader needs therapy, psychiatrists say
Does Darth Vader have borderline personality disorder? An academic paper by psychiatric researchers argues that he shows clear symptoms. And that we could all learn a lot by studying them.