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Illustration: Peter HorvathWhat are the odds that you have royal blood? It’s a question more and more of us are asking these days. As genetic testing gets faster, cheaper and more accurate, the age-old fantasy of suddenly learning you’re descended from a king or a queen – the premise of countless movies, books and daydreams – is inching closer to reality. But we’re not there just yet. While a genetic test can tell us a lot – 23andme can even pinpoint how much Neanderthal we have in us – there’s still no single test for royal blood. [Read More]

CitiesThe study of metropolitan areas and how their inhabitants interact with them is key to planning our future as a speciesMore than 30 years ago, the pioneering urbanist William Whyte was charged by the city of New York with the task of unraveling the mysteries of public space. Why do some such spaces attract crowds of happy visitors whilst others sit barren and empty? Whyte's research programme, conducted with stopwatches, time-lapse videography, and lots of simple paper charts, was a spectacular success. [Read More]

Chinese food and drinkNative to southern India, the black pepper that most of us have in our grinding mills at home is sadly beyond viability away from tropical climes. Fortunately however the livid red berries of the Szechuan pepper grow perfectly happily in most temperate areas and make for a delightful alternativeWhile not botanically related to black or white pepper, Szechuan pepper and a number of other members of the Zanthoxylum genus are certainly its culinary cousins. [Read More]

10 Jan 202422.41 GMTAndy Hunter was at Anfield tonight. Here’s his report. Thanks for reading this MBM. Gakpo caps Liverpool fightback to gain Carabao Cup first-leg edge over FulhamRead more10 Jan 202422.40 GMTJurgen Klopp’s turn. “I’m not sure [Conor Bradley] will make it home tonight, he may fall asleep in the dressing room … what a boy, a wonderful fantastic character … a real talent, top potential, everybody loves him … it was a great game … super hard, super tough … first half we caused ourselves some problems against really compact defending … no fluidity … we had to change that … in the second half they had big counter-attacking chances so we had to reorganise protection … but then we scored and it was fine … it was not our best game … but we are human beings … it was too slow and we had to change that … in the second half it was a proper all-round Liverpool performance … it is half-time, good, now we go there … we need a really good game at Fulham and we need a result … but for now, after the press conference, I will not think of all these things! [Read More]

Women's Super LeagueLiverpool stun Arsenal as Miri Taylor gives visitors opening-day WSL winIt is not a crisis yet – there are plenty of World Cup hangover caveats to Arsenal’s sluggish defeat – but it is edging towards becoming one. A crowd of 54,115 – breaking their own WSL record set last season to ensure they have the top three Women’s Super League attendances – is all well and good but Arsenal need to perform to maintain that momentum. [Read More]

Mad Men: notes from the break roomMad MenMad Men: season four, episode fourWhile Peggy is tuning in and turning on, Don is dropping outSPOILER ALERT: This blog is for those who are watching season four of Mad Men on BBC4. Don't read on if you haven't seen episode four – and if you've seen more of the series, please be aware that many UK viewers will not have done so … [Read More]

Sex Pistols This article is more than 7 years oldNot pretty, not vacant: Sex Pistols' London home given listed statusThis article is more than 7 years oldHouse where band lived in 70s is decorated with graffiti drawn by John Lydon, and has been awarded second highest form of listing Punks may have been the sworn enemies of government and all its institutions but that is not stopping the heritage body Historic England bestowing on them a rare privilege. [Read More]

Crime fictionWhat To Do When Someone DiesWhen Ellie Falkner's husband, Greg, is killed in a road accident, it's awful enough. But then she learns that he wasn't alone in the car: he was with another woman, who also died. Unable to accept that Greg was having an affair, Ellie sets out to prove it to her sceptical friends and family. She borrows her best friend's identity, infiltrates the dead woman's workplace and noses around until she finds what she's looking for: evidence that Greg was murdered. [Read More]

‘She painted demonstrations and street life’: Support the Union, 1937. Photograph: The Estate of Alice Neel‘She painted demonstrations and street life’: Support the Union, 1937. Photograph: The Estate of Alice NeelArtReviewBarbican, London She immortalised New York’s bohemia and her own joys and struggles in paintings powerfully alert to body language and psychological vulnerabilities Alice Neel was a painter of fearless and tender portraits. Although apparently direct and uncomplicated, her paintings of people alone, of couples and families and mothers and children, not only unpick the dynamics between her sitters but also their complicity with the artist. [Read More]

The ObserverAutobiography and memoirReviewThe poet’s Joni Mitchell-inspired memoir of her partnerless life marks an important shift in ideas about intimacy and solitude A couple of years ago, I tried to create a playlist of songs for those who were, like me, long-term single. The result was not as uplifting as I’d hoped. It kicked off with a couple of bangers – You Can’t Hurry Love by the Supremes, Independent Women Part 1 by Destiny’s Child – but quickly got a bit too real. [Read More]