I was a happy kid, president of the school at 11, then went on to St Paul’s Girls’ School. I was supposed to be a barrister, because I was good at chat and liked debating. Mum was the foodie. We were always making things in the kitchen while my sister was in the garden. I…
Bridget Jones is back. The fabled diary (probably a Surface Pro now) has snapped back open. The cigarettes are doubtless replaced by a Vaporesso vape. The new film, Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy, again starring Renée Zellweger, is being released into cinemas on Valentine’s day, which feels appropriate. One of the most emotionally charged…
In 2004 I was a young writer at the University of Adelaide. I was working as an editor on an anthology of short stories when a piece by Sam came across my desk. We emailed back and forth for a while, working on the story, but I never met him in person. A few months…
A man from Massachusetts has agreed to plead guilty to a seven-year cyberstalking campaign that included using artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots to impersonate a university professor and invite men online to her home address for sex. James Florence, 36, used platforms such as Crushon.ai and JanitorAI, which allow users to design their own chatbots and…
Years ago, a good cook, who happened to be Greek, told me to think of olive oil not simply as liquid fat, but as an essential ingredient, as flavour and as a seasoning, with the ability to act like herbs and spices. He’s absolutely right and his excellent advice continues to motivate me when I’m…
Reginald Kofi Boateng had spent his morning scouting the perfect location and gathering props. “The day was steeped with intention,” says Boateng, who comes from Koforidua, in eastern Ghana and now lives in Dansoman, in the capital, Accra. “Dansoman is a sprawling estate and a place of contrasts,” he says. “Stories are waiting to be uncovered in its bustling…