culture
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Amie Siegel's Strata review – from the depths of the Earth to the heights of excessAmie Siegel follows marble from quarry to tasteful, lifeless New York apartments. What will her cryptic excavations turn up?
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'Allo 'Allo! actor Gorden Kaye diesAgent confirms actor best known for role as cafe owner René Artois has died in care home, aged 75
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Call Me By Your Name: A Bigger Splash director's superb gay romanceLuca Guadagnino’s masterful coming-of-age tale is a major addition to the queer canon
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news
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Roll over Beethoven: Desert Island Discs stars pick pop over classicalVarying background of modern castaways means Radio 4 show features more diverse range of cultures and musical choices
reviews
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Aidan O’Rourke, Alasdair Roberts, Alex Neilson and Stephanie Hladowski review – compelling combinationA wide-ranging Celtic Connections set of Scots tragedies, Irish ballads and macabre ditties is imbued with plenty of good Glaswegian spirit
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BBCNOW/Søndergård review – the orchestra played out of their skinsMahler’s extremes of shrill, manic violence and tender pastoral idyll spoke directly of the world’s predicament and made for a shattering experience
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LSO/Rattle – eloquently expressive Turnage and mighty MahlerUnder Simon Rattle and the London Symphony Orchestra, Mark-Anthony Turnage’s reflective Remembering was in no way discountenanced by being followed by Mahler’s mighty sixth symphony
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The Age of Anger by Pankaj MishraA trenchant study of how anger and violence have influenced modern societies will have you fearing the worst
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Beware the Slenderman – documentary on a deadly memeA harrowing and nuanced look at the notorious online figure who inspired two 12-year-old girls to stab their friend
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Apple Tree Yard – a thriller of sex, death and broom cupboardsLouise Doughty’s psychological thriller revolves around a passion that leads to a trial for murder. Plus: the timely return of Homeland
people
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Can's Jaki Liebezeit: the man who marched to the beat of his own drumThe late drummer of krautrock band Can influenced the likes of Roxy Music and Talking Heads by restructuring rock’s basic rhythm and drumming like a machine
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Life itself feels like success as a black man – if you can hold on to itThe star of This Is Us and the award-winning The People v OJ Simpson on how Hollywood is waking up to new, empowering and diverse stories
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Benjamin Grosvenor on music education and playing to sparrowsThe pianist talks about striving for excellence in performance, playing in a barn to sparrows and why music education in schools is so important
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Øslø PårksBrighton duo channelling Bowie-era Berlin and 80s downer electronica for their maudlin, reverb-heavy disco
talking points
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Could The Last Jedi's title bode well for Star Wars' spirit of invention?If Rian Johnson’s film charts the last hurrah of Luke Skywalker’s order, the space opera could be forced to find radical new modes in which to flourish
critics' picks
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Plan your week’s theatreEscaped Alone returns, Gary Barlow opens his musical The Girls, Vault and Manipulate add to the festival fare and The White Devil walks again
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Top things to do this weekFrom the return of the terrorist thriller to Ruth Wilson’s turn in Ibsen’s finest play: your at-a-glance guide to the best in culture
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This week’s best rock and pop gigsCure your Beta Band withdrawal symptoms and enjoy one of last year’s best albums. Plus: Goat Girl, C Duncan and Skinny Girl Diet
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This week’s best exhibitionsThe life of Rudyard’s artistic father is explored, while a retrospective reveals Himid’s influence on western art history
pictures & video
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Backstage on the live tourNow in its 10th year, Strictly Come Dancing Live starts its 2017 tour in Birmingham, featuring Ed Balls, Louise Redknapp and 2016’s winner, Ore Oduba. Guardian photographer David Levene got a sneak backstage preview of the final preparations
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Anne Hathaway has psychic connection to giant monster in first trailerThe film, which opened to mixed reviews at the Toronto film festival, sees the Oscar winner overcome alcoholism by saving South Korea
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What should be pristine white is littered with blueLieber's shots of lakes forming on the Arctic ice cap are a beautiful but chilling reminder of climate change
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An exclusive clip from Danny Boyle's sequelIn this clip from the forthcoming followup to Danny Boyle’s 1996 hit about Edinburgh heroin addicts, the friends have a rather more successful trip up Arthur’s Seat
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The orchestra helping stroke survivors recoverA pioneering collaboration between the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and Hull Integrated Community Stroke Service uses group music-making to drive recovery in stroke survivors
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The female street photographers of InstagramThe art of street photography was long dominated by men and the ‘male gaze’, but new project Her Side of the Street celebrates women’s role in the practice
lists & playlists
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10 of Europe’s best alternative carnivalsIt’s carnival season in Europe in the lead up to Mardi Gras. We round-up some of the best, beyond the most famous, from festivals dating back centuries to epic parties in Cádiz, Basel and Sicily
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The six worst US presidents in video game historyFrom Fallout to Metal Gear Solid – here are six leaders of the free world that no one would vote for
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culture webchats
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Your questions answered on the Obamas, motherhood and feminismThe author of Americanah and Half of a Yellow Sun joined us to answer your questions – and opened up about her creative process, female sexuality and early failures
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Your questions answered on Madonna, fertility and Doctor WhoShouting ‘Pop’ on TV aged 12, why Chris Evans’ son should host Top Gear, Timothy Dalton in a hoodie, Lady Macbeth, Rose Tyler and the Roots – all covered by the popstar turned actor in her webchat
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Your questions answered on Brexit, squash and David AttenboroughFresh off a knock-out performance at Glastonbury, the artist also known as Natasha Khan answered your questions
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Your questions answered on crisps, hecklers and The SopranosThe Scottish comedian joined us during his UK tour to answer your questions. From why stand-up is full of needy people to what he’d say to David Cameron via why he’s considering giving acting a go, catch up with his answers here
you may have missed
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I'm going to speak out as often as I can, otherwise I can't live with myselfThe novelist on Trump and publishing the book of his life at 70
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Meet the new faces of fiction for 2017A fortysomething who is still ‘pinching herself’ at starting a publishers’ bidding war. A woman who fell under the spell of witches. And a film critic with widescreen ambitions: these are some of the stories behind our pick of 2017’s debut novelists
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Why the next four years will be a test for all of usIt is not enough to protest Trump’s presidency. We must all challenge injustice, at home and in the wider world
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2017’s biggest new design talentsThis year’s emerging stars are united by one thing: their love of colour
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I have contempt for messages in plays. I'm not trying to influence anyoneIn the past, his plays have enraged the right. But Howard Barker’s new foes are liberals – angry at the ‘yellowface’ casting in his latest work. Why is he so unbothered?
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Cocteau's scandalous siblings dance on the edgeAhead of the Royal Ballet’s new production of Philip Glass’s dance opera, based on the poetic French novel, choreographer Javier De Frutos and his principal dancers talk incest, jealousy and revenge
what we're reading
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Rethinking the legacy of writers who worked with the CIA.Literary agents: the legacy of writers who worked with the CIA
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“La La Land” is in all ways a sunny film, and one that wants badly to please.Art in the age of masculinist Hollywood: Damien Chazelle’s La La Land
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DYER Ah, the reason for that is that quite often, after I’ve revised the prose—tightening it up—it comes out seeming too uptight, like it’s got a poker up its arse. So then, having done the tighten up, I do the loosen up, massaging the prose so that it’s lighter, more...Geoff Dyer, The Art of Nonfiction No. 6
the big picture
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Weronika Gesicka's warped AmericanaPolish photographer Weronika Gęsicka takes corny American photography and manipulates it into something surreal and uncomfortable
Eurovision The UK's songs are in! And we are doomed