culture
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2017 longlist sees established names eclipse debutsMargaret Atwood, Annie Proulx and Rose Tremain lead 16 finalists for £30,000 award, only three of whom are first-time novelists
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Gillian Wearing and Claude Cahun: Behind the Mask, Another Mask – hiding in plain sightArtist, resistance fighter, gender warrior … Claude Cahun was a woman before her time. Gillian Wearing’s latest masquerade holds up a mirror to the French pioneer -
Why Sharon Horgan is the most watchable woman on TVThe star of the brutally honest Catastrophe talks about why fans identify with the sitcom – and why it’s tricky to watch HBO show Divorce with her husband
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news
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Ed Sheeran set to star in musical film that 'mixes Notting Hill with Once'Singer-songwriter says he is in talks with film-maker over movie that would feature his music and cast unknown actors
reviews
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Killing for Love – revisiting a murder mystery that has lasted three decadesA compelling documentary reveals that the story of the 1985 murder of Derek and Nancy Haysom is as perplexing as ever. Plus, Kate Humble: Back to the Land
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Wraiths, ninjas and the savagely addictive NiohThe final column in our series sorts March’s console wheat from the chaff, with nods to Sniper Elite 4 and The Legend Of Zelda: Breath Of The Wild
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Oliver Cromwell by David Horspool – Britain’s chance to be a republicCromwell has controversially been included in the Penguin Monarchs series. This compelling book charts his rise to power
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Mies van der Rohe + James Stirling – a war of bronze v BattenbergMies van der Rohe was set to bring a minimalist skyscraper to the UK – but tortuous planning wrangles saw the project swing towards James Stirling’s bonkers barge. A new exhibition charts this case study in architectural fads
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a profoundly affectionate ... – couples' rows are painful to watchMeera Syal stars in debbie tucker green’s play about intimate relationships which is given a perverse staging that leaves you with a crick in the neck
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Stornoway – stirring farewell from the folk-pop foursomeTen years together come to a celebratory end with moments of unplugged intensity, beguiling melodies and a rowdy Simple Minds cover
people
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A Fanny Mendelssohn masterpiece finally gets its dueLost for 150 years – and mistaken for her brother’s after that – some of Fanny Mendelssohn’s bold, complex music is belatedly receiving the attention it merits. Her great-great-great granddaughter tells the story
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People were confused that I didn't support BrexitThe radical Greek economist recalls how his polemic on the forces driving Europe apart turned in to real political life and made him finance minister
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Your questions answered on The Affair, Idris Elba and MarmiteThe Olivier-nominated actor joined us live from the National Theatre to talk about crying on cue, why American TV takes so many risks and what she has in common with Hedda Gabler
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10 standup comedy milestonesAs Netflix invests in Amy Schumer, Chris Rock and Jerry Seinfeld, what have been the most important comedy specials on stage?
talking points
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Why the pop group's return is cause for celebrationMusic snobs be damned – there’s an uncomplicated reason why Steps had so many hits. It’s that people like really good tunes, and they had them
critics' picks
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The xx and Laura Marling: this week’s best UK rock and pop gigsThe gloomcore indie heroes return to the stage with a week-long festival while prolific songwriter Marling showcases material from her 6th album
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Logan and Moonlight: the best films out now in the UKA fitting swansong for Hugh Jackman’s adamantium ‘ardman, and a truly worthy best picture Oscar-winner in Barry Jenkins’ exploration of black masculinity
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The best TV shows this week: the Wire's Michael K Williams stars in a swamp noirFrom new Williams-led comedy Hap and Leonard to the return of Judd Apatow’s sassy comedy Love, here’s your must-watch list
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Much Ado About Nothing, Tree Of Codes: this week’s best UK theatre and danceChristopher Luscombe’s 20th-century take on Shakespeare lights up the theatre world, while Wayne McGregor, Olafur Eliasson and Jamie xx team up for a ballet
pictures & video
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How a German prison is using theatre to de-radicalise young Isis volunteersA pilot project by the German government seeks to reintegrate young Islamist fighters through the study of the Qur’an and through theatre
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Daniel Radcliffe in Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are DeadDaniel Radcliffe is back on stage in London in Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, Tom Stoppard’s sideways look at Hamlet, which returns to the Old Vic 50 years after it was first staged there
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Teaser trailer lampoons Logan and SupermanRyan Reynolds’ foul-mouthed character takes aim at his fellow superheroes in a short film that also features Marvel great Stan Lee
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Life as a Muslim in New YorkExhibition celebrates New York City’s diverse Muslim community and the immigration that enriches city life weeks after Trump’s executive order fallout
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Inside Banksy's Walled Off hotel in Bethlehem – videoBritish street artist Banksy unveils his new Walled Off hotel on Friday. The 10-room establishment is situated next to the barrier wall at Bethlehem
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The high art of Erik Madigan Heck's fashion photographyFrom heady shots for Mary Kantrantzou to dreamy scenes for Dries Van Noten, the American artist’s work is being published in a new book. Taking inspiration from painting, his photographs are at once timeless and futuristic
lists & playlists
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No 57 – Travels With a Donkey in the Cévennes by Robert Louis Stevenson (1879)The Scottish writer’s hike in the French mountains with a donkey is a pioneering classic in outdoor literature – and as influential as his fiction
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Six surveillance films to make Trump paranoidFrom All the President’s Men to the Bourne series, wiretapping is widespread in Hollywood. No wonder Trump is twitchy …
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culture webchats
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Your questions answered about sexism, Glastonbury and risottoThe British actor, currently starring in Nell Gwynn in the West End, joined us live to answer your questions about where Alice Creed might have gone, how to make the perfect risotto and whether she’s headed back to the stage
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Your questions answered on Werner Herzog, spaniels and posh boysYou may know him as ever-so-nice Matthew Crawley from Downton Abbey – but he’s turned into an all-American badass for new film The Guest. Dan Stevens answered readers questions
No more Mr Nice Guy: Viv Groskop’s recent interview -
Your questions answered on opera, sore throats and The SopranosThe classical star talked about making opera affordable, her heroes and whether she’d snog Elton John
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Your questions answered on musicals, hair metal and snookerThe Scottish rock titans answered your questions, on everything from their cathartic lyrics to fighting duck-sized horses
you may have missed
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I had no identity. I was socially bankruptAt the height of her success, Laura Marling quit music and became a yoga instructor. But now she’s back. She talks about falling in love with friends – and why everything’s about sex
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Cult cartoon Mr BennDavid McKee: ‘My parents didn’t have a TV. They’d watch it in a furniture shop’
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The mesmerising living sculpture Mari KatayamaShe had her legs amputated at the age of nine – now she uses her body in dazzling artworks
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Daniel Dennett on consciousness and 100 years of Anthony BurgessThe influential thinker talks about From Bacteria to Bach and Back, and we discuss the A Clockwork Orange author’s legacy
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Your questions answered on hymns, Illinois and Ella FitzgeraldThe country music star talked about digging around YouTube, bad singing habits and Dolly Parton
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Can people please stop telling me feminism is hot?The novelist has been accused of making equality mainstream: isn’t that the point? Plus an extract from her new Feminist Manifesto In Fifteen Suggestions
what we're reading
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Some of the most beloved hit-songs over the past 20 years were written by a swede. For the first time Max Martin tells his story in a world exclusive interview.A world exclusive interview with Max Martin
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How the author teaches young readers to confront problems and be resilient.Mo Willems’s funny failures
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The transformation of the World Trade Center site was hampered to a shameful degree by the intransigent self-interest of both individuals and institutions. Although all major construction schemes face tremendous problems, the rebuilding encapsulates everything that is wrong with urban development in a period when, as in so many other aspects of our public life, the good of the many is sacrificed to the gain of the few.New York’s vast flop
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Recipe books from the Middle Ages reveal the extreme methods artists pursued to achieve their reds.A brief history of red: how artists made the elusive colour
the big picture
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The 'new Soviet' city that never wasAs the centenary of the Russian revolution approaches, the designs of top Soviet architects for the capital’s future reveal their visionary aspirations
My Bob Marley musical Kwame Kwei-Armah on his reggae emancipation