Eurofile

The Royal Observatory is celebrating its 350th year, and partly owes its existence to a king’s mistress

Just when America most needs dissenting voices, the comedian is retiring from his brilliant WTF podcast after 16 years

The new David Bowie Centre fails when it reduces his ambiguities to tidy lessons – and soars when it simply shows off stagewear and possessions

Once shocking, Mr Sloane now feels quaint - but still fun

Sensational and deeply cerebral, Paul Thomas Anderson’s 10th feature film is a stone-cold masterpiece

A new book on the role of the whips office raises an exasperating question about the role of politicians

The Eat, Pray, Love author is back with a shocking memoir that reveals far more about her glib manipulations than she understands

The actor excels as a pub philosopher in Conor McPherson’s The Weir

Indhu Rubasingham banishes the doldrums of her predecessor with a big, bold Bacchae

This year’s long list boasts parental bonds, family dynamics and an entry I cannot get my head around

Happy-clappy beige influencers are everywhere now, encouraging us to stay away from anything that makes life worth living

The sport’s familiar – but often baffling – terminology has its origins in Anglo-Norman instructions, Old French numbers and Arabic palms

From The Man From UNCLE to NCIS, the Scottish actor defied typecasting to become a global star and a fixture of television history

Nasa’s Perseverance rover has found organic carbon in Martian rocks – but scientists have warned against jumping to conclusions after previous false alarms

Steve McQueen’s Occupied City reveals how the ghosts of Nazi occupation are still present, more than 80 years later

Today’s worldwide boom follows decades of resistance – but the battle for equal status is far from won

Winnie M Li’s novel brought back painful memories of sibling resentment and hurt

More fans are taking it in the stands. The bans have begun, but it won’t change the British need to do everything to excess

In the face of a crackdown, the Istanbul biennial returns with fewer homegrown artists and political content neutered

The London artists who united in their desire to oppose the first wave of fascism in Europe

Solarpunk began as a sci-fi vision of a beautiful, sustainable planet. Now it inspires Hollywood movies and real-life tech. Can it change the world?

Mick Herron’s spy thriller series and Will Smith’s magnificent adaptation have become pitch-perfect accompaniments to the shabbiness and disillusionment of Britain today

Jonathan Buckley’s female protagonist only exists to validate the male characters around her. She’s utterly unbelievable

Robert Redford’s death reminds us of his effortless greatness - and that the age of the Hollywood giant is itself fading into history

Most entertainment produced by streaming giants is quite nothingy these days

The guitar took Jimi Hendrix to stratospheric heights; first as a backing musician for the Isley Brothers and Little Richard, then to swinging London

As the Pompidou Centre in Paris prepares to close for a five-year renovation, it is staging the largest single show in its entire history

Music made with artificial intelligence is funny, viral and quietly insidious

The Voice of Hind Rajab, about the last hours of a five-year-old, is breaking audiences and winning awards

New experiments have failed to prove that cold fusion will lead to a practical energy source

How many native English speakers would be entirely comfortable conducting a press conference in some language other than their own?