Life and styleLet there be lightPolly Harvey has blazed a trail in women’s rock, and was instrumental in dragging it back into the mainstream. But the pressures of fame have taken their toll. Now back from that ‘dark time’, a new album sees the singer in a different, almost optimistic mood
It has never been music to potter around the house to, or to sip cocktails to, or to wake up to on a bright Sunday morning: Polly Jean Harvey's music has always been reserved for those long, dark nights of the soul - guaranteed to make us feel much worse, but somehow better at the same time. Read More...
Politics booksObituaryPaul Johnson obituaryProlific journalist and historian who shifted allegiance from the left of Labour to become an ardent Thatcher supporter
Many politicians and pundits abandoned socialism and the Labour party in the 1970s, but there were few rightward shifts of allegiance more dramatic than that of Paul Johnson, the journalist and author, who has died aged 94. As a young man, Johnson stood on the left of the Labour party, made Aneurin Bevan the first object of his hero-worship, hymned the French rebels of 1968, and wrote that Tories were “atrophied Englishmen … on occasions, endearing – but liable to turn very nasty at short notice”. Read More...
WomenWhen relationships are hit by serious illness, such as cancer, it can bring existing gender inequalities shockingly to the surface
When Christie Sanchez was 12, she had the best stepdad in the world. He was charismatic and intelligent. He introduced her to new music and took her hiking every weekend. Then, her mom got sick.
For two years Sanchez’s mom, Sandra, battled stage four breast cancer. It was advanced enough that within days of her diagnosis she was having her breasts, lymph nodes and both ovaries removed. Read More...
