Although the treadmill has been around since the early 1800s, when it was once used to punish prisoners (sounds about right), it didn’t become a common feature in the home until the late 1960s, when William Staub unleashed his PaceMaster 600 on the US public. The Guardian’s journalism is independent. We will earn a commission…
Lynda Saldana saw A Complete Unknown on the day it opened – partly because she’s a Bob Dylan fan, and partly because she loves Timothée Chalamet, who plays the folk rock icon during his breakout black turtleneck years. But one supporting character stood out more: the folk legend Joan Baez, played by Monica Barbaro. Saldana…
I was first introduced to bees when I was invited to visit a neighbour’s apiary one April afternoon, 20 years ago. Like most people, I was terrified of stinging insects, but I was fond of the honey they produced, which I would drizzle into my tea to soothe a scratchy throat. An invitation to meet…
On 27 September last year, three climate activists were arrested for throwing soup over Sunflowers by Vincent van Gogh at the National Gallery. The Just Stop Oil protest landed on the national front pages. But will the action help further the activists’ cause to end fossil fuels? Scientists are beginning to find answers to this…
It was Roger Federer’s white jacket in 2006 for me. Golden initials embroidered on the breast pocket, as he lifted the Wimbledon trophy. The elegant monogram suggested an aristocratic elan that I craved. Was it possible to grab some of his pedigree, without the achievements or money, but with some simple stitching? I wondered if…
1. 1. Edward Norton (British Mount Everest Expedition) 2. Giacomo Matteotti’s (assassinated) 3. A Passage to India (E M Forster) 4. Harold Abrahams and Eric Liddell’s (Olympic Games. Chariots of Fire) 5. Leningrad (Petrograd prior to death of Lenin). 6. The Cunning Little Vixen (Opera by Janacek, premièred in Brno) 7. The Zinoviev letter (UK…
I love Lime bikes because I live next to a secondary school, and I see those tearaways in every mood. Coming in, grumpy; going home, cranky; yelling at each other, kicking bins for no reason. Ah, the sweet hell of teenagehood. But when they get on the Limes, you can see in them both the…
Advice on looking after young children from parenting columnist Séamas O’Reilly My father doesn’t give much advice, which is a bit of a pisser considering he should know more about parenting than any man alive. He raised 11 children, and did most of that as a solo parent after my mum died tragically young. While…