Culture

Text-based social media used to be fun and stimulating, but now it’s just a dirge of scolds, pedants and mansplainers. If this goes on, it will die out

You’ve come back exhausted, with loads of stuff to do, and facing the prospect of a grim autumn of politics. As for me – this year I did things a little differently

If you pick a lane at the lido then you need to move at the right speed – and if not, then what on earth are you thinking?

Paying for 30 minutes of rampant destruction offers a rare chance to break plates, rules and a few social expectations too

Everywhere you turn, people are handing you a drink. In your 20s, it can be quite fun. But as the years drag on, the problems start

Made from shells in northern Australia and taken to Manchester, they’re now on show in Venice

The ‘laureate of ordinary people’ has informed the new PM’s concern for the ignored

Sardines on toast used to be the dinner of last resort. Today, thanks in part to a man in a fez, they are a foodie obsession

Young people have turned away from the French classic – but that doesn’t mean the end of artisan boulangeries

In countries like Britain with no strong baby naming traditions, Lily, Ivy and Elsie can disappear for decades before returning to popularity

Which syllables should be stressed is a cause of stress – so here’s a guide

Dead Pioneers are ferocious – and furious about stolen lands and centuries of being erased

A new history finds divisions that predate colonialism - and suggests that the future might be federal

The origin of the hat’s name comes from the location of berries used to dye its felt

Digging into the detail and data to separate the noise from the news

Never mind Saturday Night Live UK, the most biting indictments of politics and culture are now on your laptop or phone

It’s depressing to see tiny children glued to screens and worrying to think what this total absorption in tech will do to their young minds. Are we raising a generation of screen-addicted zombies?

Authoritarian governments have pushed Farsi’s dominance – but 59 other languages still thrive

New research suggests that mysterious symbols carved by early humans may have functioned like a primitive writing system

His new documentary series profiles delusional misogynists. Will the women in their lives ever push back against them?

Traditional English music is booming again, but extremists are trying to jump on the bandwagon

Digging into the detail and data to separate the noise from the news

From Imogen Poots to Orwell 2+2=5, the best actors and films that weren't even nominated

This September, I will have lived in the UK for longer than I lived in France. And yet the defining characteristic of British society still remains, to me, a total mystery

Smoking and drinking might be bad for the health, but sitting around with people who see the world differently can have profoundly beneficial effects

How a genuinely old dialect word became part of a made-up East Anglian pub game

A narcissistic trend is teaching young men the worst lesson women were ever taught: your appearance is everything

Digging into the detail and data to separate the noise from the news

How a Greek word for sanctuary became one of the most contested terms in modern English

How the widow of Martin Luther King Jr transformed mourning into a lifelong movement

Digging into the detail and data to separate the noise from the news

One guilty purchase was all it took for the algorithm to start stalking me