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Richard Eyre: ‘My biggest disappointment? At university in the 60s, I thought social justice was going to improve’

Richard Eyre: ‘My biggest disappointment? At university in the 60s, I thought social justice was going to improve’

The director on his wife’s illness, the worst thing anyone’s said about him and the age he imagines himself to be Born in Devon, Richard Eyre, 82, was educated at the University of Cambridge and became an actor. Between 1987 and 1999 he was artistic director of the National Theatre. His notable films include Iris, Notes on a Scandal and The Dresser; he is currently shooting The Housekeeper and is directing Strindberg’s Dance of Death at Richmond’s Orange Tree theatre until 7 March. He is married with a daughter and lives in London. When were you happiest? In the 80s. Continue reading...

T rex breath and Queen Elizabeth’s car: scientists creating ‘time machine for the nose’

T rex breath and Queen Elizabeth’s car: scientists creating ‘time machine for the nose’

Researchers are recreating ancient odours for museumgoers as interest in the archaeology of smell grows From the interior of Queen Elizabeth II’s car to the scent of ancient Egyptian funerary practices, museumgoers are getting a whiff of the past like never before. Experts say the approach is more than a pungent stunt: it’s part of a broader effort to try to reconstruct the sensory worlds of the past, with collaborations involving historians, scientists, heritage experts and perfumers. Continue reading...

‘Adventurism has had its day’: speedboat shootout leaves Miami’s exiled Cubans bewildered

‘Adventurism has had its day’: speedboat shootout leaves Miami’s exiled Cubans bewildered

Few clues as to how 10 heavily armed men intercepted on stolen speedboat came together from across Florida or what they hoped to achieve Foot traffic was slow outside the Bay of Pigs Museum on Calle Ocho in Miami’s Little Havana neighbourhood. A few tourists in T-shirts and shorts bypassed the gallery dedicated to one of the most fateful days in Cuba’s history and headed instead to nearby Máximo Gómez Park to take photographs of Cuban exiles playing dominoes. This is the street at the heart of the Cuban expat community of more than 1 million people where tens of thousands partied through the night in November 2016 to celebrate the death of Fidel Castro, and where they gathered in sorrow almost exactly 30 years ago to mourn four Cuban-Americans shot down by the communist country’s air force as they conducted a mission for the humanitarian exile group Brothers to the Rescue. Continue reading...

Her husband wanted to use ChatGPT to create sustainable housing. Then it took over his life.

Her husband wanted to use ChatGPT to create sustainable housing. Then it took over his life.

Kate Fox says Joe Ceccanti was the ‘most hopeful person’ before he started spending 12 hours a day with a chatbot On 7 August, Kate Fox received a phone call that upended her life. A medical examiner said that her husband, Joe Ceccanti – who had been missing for several hours – had jumped from a railway overpass and died. He was 48. Fox couldn’t believe it. Ceccanti had no history of depression, she said, nor was he suicidal – he was the “most hopeful person” she had ever known. In fact, according to the witness accounts shared with Fox later, just before Ceccanti jumped, he smiled and yelled: “I’m great!” to the rail yard attendants below when they asked him if he was OK. Continue reading...

I’ve seen some bizarre exercises online. If I were an influencer, this is the one workout I’d recommend | Devi Sridhar

I’ve seen some bizarre exercises online. If I were an influencer, this is the one workout I’d recommend | Devi Sridhar

Forget snake yoga. All it takes to increase your life expectancy is factoring a set of simple exercises into your weekly routine Are you still keeping up with your 2026 resolution to exercise more? Or perhaps you’re just trying to survive the winter doldrums, with exercise the last thing on your mind. Whatever it is, social media is alight with fitness influencers showing off all kinds of bizarre and viral exercise trends. Take squats, a core exercise move . Those don’t seem good enough any more, so now we have Zercher squats (holding a barbell in your elbow crease like a metal baby), squats on vibration plates, squats while throwing a heavy ball and on and on. Some of these exercises may in fact be good, some useless, but because influencers can’t be seen to be doing the same thing every day, the key thing is that they’re novel and can be sold as “the little-known secret exercise that everyone should be doing”. Prof Devi Sridhar is chair of global public health at the University of Edinburgh Continue reading...