I wish I'd never been born: the rise of the anti-natalists

 Posted on March 15, 2024  |  9 minutes  |  1799 words  |  Kary Bruening

EthicsAdherents view life not as a gift and a miracle, but a harm and an imposition. And their notion that having children may be a bad idea seems to be gaining mainstream popularity In February, a 27-year-old Indian man named Raphael Samuel announced plans for an unusual lawsuit. He was going to sue his parents for begetting him. “It was not our decision to be born,” he told the BBC. “Human existence is totally pointless. [Read More]

Israeli footballer returns home after Turkish arrest over hostage message | Soccer

 Posted on March 15, 2024  |  3 minutes  |  521 words  |  Aldo Pusey

SoccerIsraeli footballer returns home after Turkish arrest over hostage messageSagiv Jehezkel released from police custody in Antalya Antalyaspor player wore ‘100 days’ bandage on wristTurkish authorities released the Israeli football player Sagiv Jehezkel from police custody before he returned to his home country on Monday. “Sagiv Jehezkel, the Israeli footballer of Antalyaspor, left our country at 5:15 p.m. [1415 GMT],” the Turkish interior minister, Ali Yerlikaya, stated on social media platform X. [Read More]

Ive lost my conversational mojo can I relearn the art of small talk? | Friendship

 Posted on March 15, 2024  |  12 minutes  |  2450 words  |  Chauncey Koziol

Rhik Samadder: ‘What is small talk again?’ Composite: Nick Dawe/The GuardianBeen up to much lately? After a year of isolation, I’ve forgotten how to talk to people – but help is at hand by Rhik SamadderA good friend of mine, who started a new job six months ago, is about to meet his colleagues face to face for the first time. They have been buddied up in pairs to make socialisation less daunting, he said. [Read More]

Killer Women With Piers Morgan review: all a bit murder porn

 Posted on March 15, 2024  |  4 minutes  |  793 words  |  Valentine Belue

Erin Caffey and Piers Morgan at the Hilltop Unit women’s prison in Gatesville, Texas. Photograph: ITV Erin Caffey and Piers Morgan at the Hilltop Unit women’s prison in Gatesville, Texas. Photograph: ITV TV reviewTelevisionReviewAlthough Morgan is a good interviewer (and doesn’t he know it) Erin Caffey doesn’t give a lot away. Plus: Philomena Cunk’s hilarious thoughts on Shakespeare Piers Morgan has heard that Erin does a good Amazing Grace, that it’s her go-to song. [Read More]

Modus review its not The Killing, but a pacy, undemanding thriller

 Posted on March 15, 2024  |  4 minutes  |  807 words  |  Valentine Belue

TV reviewTelevision & radioReviewThere’s nothing very subtle or clever about this new Nordic noir, but it does have Kim Cattrall playing the US president. Plus: can this really be the end of Hard Sun? Air Force One lands at Arlanda airport in Stockholm. Potus is on a state visit. The red carpet is rolled out, the door opens, and out steps … Samantha Jones from Sex and the City! Well, that’s definitely an improvement. [Read More]

Prehistoric women were hunters and artists as well as mothers, book reveals | Archaeology

 Posted on March 15, 2024  |  5 minutes  |  1005 words  |  Aldo Pusey

Archaeology This article is more than 1 year oldPrehistoric women were hunters and artists as well as mothers, book revealsThis article is more than 1 year oldFrench book and documentary coming to the UK in September seeks to ‘debunk the simplistic division’ of gender roles From academic works giving women a supporting role to hunter-gather men, to Raquel Welch’s portrayal of a bikini-clad cavewoman in the 1966 film One Million Years BC, the gender division of the stone age is firmly entrenched in public consciousness. [Read More]

The End of the Myth by Greg Grandin review America can no longer run from its past

 Posted on March 15, 2024  |  8 minutes  |  1525 words  |  Jenniffer Sheldon

Book of the dayHistory booksReviewThe idea of the frontier in US history has been one of endless promise, but the reality has involved violence, even genocide. As this powerful study argues, its latest incarnation is Trump’s wall It is hard, as an American, to take much pleasure in the irony that the past appears to be catching up with the United States. We’ve been running from history for a long while now, watering the continent with blood and imagining all along the way that we were racing forward: not fleeing in fear but charging into a bolder, freer future. [Read More]

Will Ed Sheeran inspire more men to wear engagement rings?

 Posted on March 15, 2024  |  3 minutes  |  452 words  |  Aldo Pusey

Pass notesEd SheeranThe singer was spotted wearing a silver band at the Brits, sparking rumours he was already married – but jewellers have been pushing the idea of ‘man-gagement rings’ for yearsName: Ed Sheeran’s engagement ring. Age: Less than a month. Appearance: A simple silver band. So it’s official, he has bought her a ring. Yes, but that’s not what this is about. Sheeran’s fiancee, Cherry Seaborn, wears an engagement ring – a giant diamond knuckleduster of a thing – but so does Ed. [Read More]

Build Your House Around My Body by Violet Kupersmith review hunting for ghosts

 Posted on March 14, 2024  |  5 minutes  |  858 words  |  Kary Bruening

Book of the dayFictionReviewA marvellous, confounding debut that moves from eerie Vietnamese forests to rundown zoos and crowded nightclubs The twin spectres of colonialism and sexualised violence lurk in the humid Vietnamese air as two-headed snakes slither underfoot in Violet Kupersmith’s marvellous and confounding debut novel. Build Your House Around My Body is structured around the disappearance of 22-year-old Winnie, a Vietnamese American who arrives in Saigon in 2010 to teach English and ostensibly reconnect with her heritage. [Read More]

Cancer vlogger Charlotte Eades dies aged 19 | Cancer

 Posted on March 14, 2024  |  2 minutes  |  344 words  |  Chauncey Koziol

Cancer This article is more than 7 years oldCancer vlogger Charlotte Eades dies aged 19This article is more than 7 years oldTeenager who used video to ‘open up’ dialogue about illness since her diagnosis with brain cancer at 16 dies in Brighton Teenage vlogger Charlotte Eades, who documented her battle with inoperable brain cancer through a series of popular video posts, has died aged 19. Her parents posted a poignant final video message on her channel revealing that she had died in hospital on Thursday. [Read More]