Highlights
Art
The secret life of Renoir’s party paintings
The people-watching painter’s scenes of dancing and flirting captured a Paris on the brink of a social revolution
Who put the penises in the Bayeux Tapestry?
The women who made the masterpiece filled it with sex, violence and propaganda
The curse of modern smartphone etiquette
The British Museum has decided that smartphones will be banned from the Bayeux Tapestry exhibition. I see the point – but I also feel the pain
The Bayeux Tapestry and the continuing allure of all that Norman wisdom
The great tapestry has returned to the land of its birth and can be seen in the British Museum. How could this not be a moment to savour?
The stolen Nazi artworks, the AfD and antisemitic stereotypes
Germany has made it easier for families to reclaim artworks stolen by the Nazis. But it looks as if the AfD has other plans
The strange beauty of London in flames
The extraordinary exhibition that shows how artists found the humanity and horror in a city under siege
Books
Suella Braverman’s book has sold only 106 copies. This is why
Patriot is a tapestry of bilious grievance from a politician whose star is very much declining
Ever lied about reading a book to look clever? Well, you’re not alone
The internet is full of advice on how to look like you’ve read a book when you haven’t. But why cheat yourself of the things that make life worth living?
Gordon Brown’s got a big idea – and it’s painfully dull
The former PM’s new book might have a point about cooperation, but it’s both turgid and naive
The woman who’s seen the end of America
Emily St John Mandel’s new novel Exit Party is set in a future of mistrust, surveillance and civil war. So why is she still optimistic?
Patrick deWitt’s strange road trip through America
The Dodge City novelist set out expecting a hostile, divided country. What happened next surprised him
The women who helped bring down Diddy
Despite swirling rumours, no charges had been filed against Sean Combs by mid-May 2024. Then a shocking video and a damning article changed everything
Music
The women who helped bring down Diddy
Despite swirling rumours, no charges had been filed against Sean Combs by mid-May 2024. Then a shocking video and a damning article changed everything
Ronnie Scott’s v the Blue Note: London’s jazz wars are about to begin
Ronnie’s has been Britain’s premier jazz venue for decades. But as the cost of a night out in Soho escalates, can it and its new challenger both succeed?
Bessie Smith: the woman who faced down the Ku Klux Klan
When a group of white supremacists turned up outside one of her shows in the summer of 1927, the great blues singer knew just what to do
Ed Sheeran was right to say sorry. But really, what’s he got to do with a Free Palestine?
The singer-songwriter nice-guyed himself into a row that will do little to help anyone suffering in the Middle East
Bill Evans and the trouble with the tortured genius myth
A new biopic of the great jazz pianist who died too soon neatly sidesteps music biopic cliches
Noor Inayat Khan, the pacifist turned wartime secret agent
She parachuted into occupied France as an SOE radio operator. The statue of her in London was the first monument to an Asian woman anywhere in Britain
Film
Free Willy: Why are there so many penises on the big screen all of a sudden?
For decades, the male member was taboo. Now, from prestige drama to superhero satire, it’s everywhere
How Orson Welles invented fake news – and predicted it would be used by liars
The great director warned that his 1938 War of the Worlds broadcast would be the tip of the iceberg
Tom Cruise’s Digger is a magnificent, go-for-broke climate satire – with a hell of a twist
Daring and polarising, Alejandro G Iñárritu’s film reminds us of the important difference between culture wars and authentic argument about art
The problem with Tom Cruise’s push for an Oscar
In Digger, the Hollywood hero is taking on his toughest stunt yet: trying to disappear
What Danny Boyle gets badly wrong about The Sun
Ink is an advert for the old media that skirts over the damaging journalism Rupert Murodch’s tabloid unleashed
The secret lives of Hollywood’s animals
The people behind cinema’s unsung stars – from the German Shepherd star of Brad Pitt’s new movie to a black widow spider
Theatre
We are all Keynesians now
James Graham’s new play about the great economist has a powerfully contemporary message for our own times – a moment for government to act, intervene and address the huge challenges of the 21st century
Sutton who? Reform crime chief pulls out of 127-date theatre tour
The party’s police and crime commissioner for Norfolk faced a backlash for choosing to tread the boards
Cate Blanchett’s role-swapping reunion with Nina Hoss is an audacious triumph
Electra/Persona merges Sophocles and Bergman with enthralling results
Sandra Oh kills it in a West End show of rare power
A modern update of Molière’s The Misanthrope sees the Killing Eve star battling conformity and cancellation
Gary Oldman’s Beckett masterclass
The Slow Horses star follows Gambon and Hurt in Krapp’s Last Tape – and outshines them both
Was Andy Kaufman the most creative comedian of all time?
The Taxi star revelled in creating chaos and confusion
Great Lives
How Orson Welles invented fake news – and predicted it would be used by liars
The great director warned that his 1938 War of the Worlds broadcast would be the tip of the iceberg
The lesson that Jamal Khashoggi left behind
The murdered Saudi dissident believed his country could change – and that a journalist must uncover all the facts so people could decide
Bessie Smith: the woman who faced down the Ku Klux Klan
When a group of white supremacists turned up outside one of her shows in the summer of 1927, the great blues singer knew just what to do
Hiroshi Yamauchi, the unlikely genius behind Nintendo
The fiercely ambitious businessman turned a family playing-card business into a global entertainment empire – by spotting talent and betting on the future
Noor Inayat Khan, the pacifist turned wartime secret agent
She parachuted into occupied France as an SOE radio operator. The statue of her in London was the first monument to an Asian woman anywhere in Britain
The kiss that turned Michael K Williams into Omar
The actor poured his vulnerability into The Wire’s most celebrated character – with devastating consequences