The StavesReview(Atlantic Records)
On their third release, the Watford trio’s beautiful songwriting thrums with frustration at powerlessness and passivity
On the surface, the Staveley-Taylor sisters embody a kind of staid girlishness: their sound composed of celestial three-part harmonies and gently finger-picked folk; their long unstyled hair and sensible blouses evoking a wholesome, homely air. Yet the Watford trio’s lyrics thrum with frustration at patriarchal ideals of female passivity and patience.
TV reviewTelevisionReviewAt last, this show drops the bloated, male-dominated stories of earlier series for an icy murder case in Alaska – with blistering turns from Foster and Kali Reis
Full disclosure: I have never been a fan of True Detective, even in its first and, by wide consensus, best instalment. It was so very full of Acting-with-a-capital-A and Directing-with-a-capital-D. When the two subsequent iterations of the anthology series became overwhelmed by the self-indulgences that had always threatened, I took my leave, along with many other viewers.
Ketamine in its powdered form. Photograph: AlamyKetamine in its powdered form. Photograph: AlamySay why to drugsScienceWhat are the effects of ketamine?In this series, I’m investigating different drugs, busting some myths and explaining potential harms and benefits. This week, I say yay or neigh to ketamine
Ketamine hydrochloride is a synthetic dissociative anaesthetic. It was first synthesized in the 1960s for medical use, and was first used medicinally during the Vietnam war.
A local's guideIstanbul holidaysIn once sleepy Kadıköy-Moda, new nightlife and culture hotspots happily coexist with the district’s established restaurants and cafes
Until recently, the neighbourhood of Kadıköy-Moda, on the Asian side of Istanbul at the southern end of the Bosphorus, was an unremarkable, mostly residential place that barely registered on the city’s cultural map. Over the past few years, however, it has become an unlikely hotspot for cutting-edge bars, art and culture hubs, cafes and music venues, as well as a haven for plugged-in, liberal-minded people opposed to Turkey’s increasingly authoritarian political climate.
Gaza This article is more than 9 years oldAmal Alamuddin refuses UN offer to investigate possible war crimes in GazaThis article is more than 9 years oldThrough agent of her fiance, George Clooney, the British-Lebanese human rights lawyer denies reports that she will serve on inquiry commission
Amal Alamuddin, the British-Lebanese human rights lawyer who is engaged to George Clooney, has turned down a United Nations offer to investigate war crimes in Gaza.
Lidl This article is more than 4 years oldChildhood obesity: Lidl to remove cartoon characters from cereal boxesThis article is more than 4 years oldRetailer says nearly three-quarters of parents experience pester power in supermarkets
Lidl is to remove cartoon characters from its own-brand cereal ranges to help parents resist pester power and tackle Britain’s growing childhood obesity crisis.
The discount retailer, which has almost 800 UK stores, pledged to remove cartoon characters from eight of its cereal ranges by spring.
Metropolitan police This article is more than 11 months oldFormer Met officer who bound female flatmate with duct tape jailedThis article is more than 11 months oldSam Grigg, 36, forced 23-year-old woman to believe she was about to be raped during ‘10 minutes of terror’
A former Metropolitan police officer has been jailed for four years after restraining his flatmate with duct tape, forcing her to believe she was about to be raped.
UniversitiesLettersFunding should be made available for lifelong learningProf Jonathan Michie says lifelong learning is vital for the economy and society – there will be no levelling up without it
You are right that Britain needs a universities review (The Guardian view on universities: Australian lesson might spark much-needed change, 16 January). The final report from the Australian review is not yet published, but the interim report stressed the importance of lifelong learning, calling for the university system “to be better at providing a more flexible and adaptive approach to learning”.
EssaysReviewOutspoken and defiant musings on dating, renting, running out of money – and caring for a parent
To call Samantha Irby’s book scatological would be an understatement. This is a book about assholes – yes, the kind who cheats on you, or never calls, or is “a grown man with a college degree who told me that he only ate angel-hair pasta” – but most of all it is a book about Irby’s bowels and how they ruin her life.
‘I really wanted to distil the tools of the trade that have worked for me,’ says Mishal Husain. Photograph: David Vintiner/The Guardian‘I really wanted to distil the tools of the trade that have worked for me,’ says Mishal Husain. Photograph: David Vintiner/The GuardianMishal HusainInterviewMishal Husain: ‘With a name like mine, my career would only have been possible in Britain’Zoe WilliamsThe presenter has written a book on how to get ahead at work, but is BBC Radio 4’s Today programme her toughest gig?