This week we hit a milestone, with it being the 200th Thursday quiz. That means since the very first one in April 2021 there have been approximately 3,000 questions, of which only about 2,995 of them have generated somebody in the comments going: “Well, actually, I think you’ll find …” followed by a minor quibble. … Read more
The story of the church of St Michael de Rupe begins – as all the best Dartmoor stories do – on a dark and stormy night. A sailor, stricken in a wild and furious sea, fell to the deck of his ship to pray for salvation. The almighty unveiled a mountain in the midst of … Read more
Growing up gay in the 90s was incredibly difficult. In 1998, I was 16 and living in east London, only out to my parents, my sister and a few friends I had made online. I’d already been the target of homophobic bullying and didn’t feel safe coming out to the rest of the world. I … Read more
Customers at Britain’s major banks and building societies suffered the equivalent of more than one month’s worth of IT failures in the last two years, MPs have said. Enquiries by the House of Commons’ Treasury committee have found that nine of the top banks and building societies operating in the UK accumulated a total of … Read more
It starts with a discussion in the car, prompted by the washing up. It wasn’t done that morning. The laundry needs hanging up, too, and someone has forgotten to make the packed lunches. We need to pay the dog walker, fix the broken bath panel, work out why our toddler has started waking in the … Read more
It’s Saturday night and the entire back half of the tapas restaurant is packed for my friend Ivy’s birthday dinner. Ivy is queenly at the centre of the table, bouquets and little gift bags crowding her elbows. Multiple lines of conversation flow above the small plates, and drinks and desserts keep coming, because no one … Read more
Can you feel it? A warmth to the air, brighter days, and smiles on people’s faces. Spring is almost upon us: toes that haven’t seen the light of day for months need a polish, seeds need to be sown, and there’s an urge to spring clean (windows look particularly filthy when sunlight pours through them). … Read more
Name: Baldness cures. Age: Hundreds of years old. Appearance: Suspiciously hirsute. Wait, they’ve cured baldness? For the sake of argument, let’s say yes. This is huge! Tell me everything. Well, a recent piece in the Cut detailed the rise in platelet-rich plasma (PRP) therapy – a treatment where balding men can have their blood centrifuged … Read more
If you want to stir up online controversy, wooden spoons are the perfect tool with which to do so. Every few years, influencers go viral with warnings about how the wooden spoons in your kitchen are covered in disgusting gunk and if you don’t boil them immediately you will poison yourself and everyone you love. … Read more
Standing in a Scottish seaside village, I am confronted by two smart red doors and a curious figure standing in a niche above them: a man, one hand clutching a staff, the other shading his eyes as he gazes out to sea. There’s a flintlock pistol in his belt and he’s dressed in tattered rags. … Read more