rachelcooke
Rites of Passage by Judith Flanders review – a brilliant account of Victorian Britain in mourning
From shops for the bereaved to beekeepers’ black ribbons, the treatment of death in the late-19th century could be odd but also touchingly universal, as this masterly book reveals
Rachel Cooke
17, Mar, 2024 @2:00 PM
‘This place is utterly dysfunctional’: MPs on why they’re leaving parliament
Almost 100 MPs will stand down at the next election – and for many it won’t come a moment too soon. Here, Harriet Harman, Charles Walker, Caroline Lucas and others talk about what life inside Westminster is really like
Rachel Cooke
17, Mar, 2024 @7:00 AM
I didn’t eat proper risotto till I was nearly 30. And now drought may take it off menus for ever | Rachel Cooke
Just as Britain gets the hang of cooking risotto, its future has been thrown into doubt
Rachel Cooke
16, Mar, 2024 @5:00 PM
Final Verdict by Tobias Buck review – the weight of collective guilt
Reporting on the trial of a former SS camp guard, the author learns that his own grandfather was an early Nazi in this lucid, timely study of Germany’s fraught reckoning with its past
Rachel Cooke
12, Mar, 2024 @7:00 AM
American Mother by Colum McCann with Diane Foley review — amazing grace
The mother of the US journalist James Foley, who was held for two years and then executed by Islamic State, tells her story with exemplary compassion and understanding
Rachel Cooke
03, Mar, 2024 @7:00 AM
Poems on the Underground: free riches I hold in high esteem | Rachel Cooke
This public poetry scheme has been taking the grind out of commuting and delivering ‘life-worth’ since 1986
Rachel Cooke
02, Mar, 2024 @3:00 PM
Polar Vortex by Denise Dorrance review – hazards of a homecoming
The American cartoonist’s story of a trip to tackle her frail mother’s needs is funny, wise and magical
Rachel Cooke
26, Feb, 2024 @9:00 AM
No Judgement by Lauren Oyler review – modish observations from a rarefied world
Despite occasional displays of wit and insight, the buzzy US critic’s ironic essays can feel airless and small
Rachel Cooke
19, Feb, 2024 @7:00 AM
‘I love the dog, the sandals, everything!’: eight artists on their favourite paintings in the National Gallery
As the National Gallery in London turns 200, we ask celebrated artists to pick the artwork from the collection that means most to them
Introduced by Rachel Cooke. Interviews by Killian Fox and Sarah Crompton
18, Feb, 2024 @8:00 AM
I’m fascinated by fasting but, sorry Rishi Sunak, I’m not about to bin my morning toast | Rachel Cooke
I’m suspicious of this fad, and do worry how anyone can run a country on an empty stomach
Rachel Cooke
17, Feb, 2024 @5:00 PM
Trailblazer: The First Feminist to Change Our World by Jane Robinson; A Dirty, Filthy Book by Michael Meyer – review
Studies of two 19th-century champions of women’s rights, Barbara Leigh Smith Bodichon and Annie Besant, shine a light on the bohemian and ‘badass’ pioneers, even if the tone sometimes grates
Rachel Cooke
11, Feb, 2024 @7:00 AM
‘I want to do stuff that pushes things to the edge’: Matt Smith on friendship, fame and radical theatre
For his latest challenge, the Doctor Who star is taking to the stage in Thomas Ostermeier’s new production of Ibsen’s dynamic, politically charged An Enemy of the People
Rachel Cooke
04, Feb, 2024 @7:00 AM
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