The ceramicist and writer on the poetry of Louise Glück, the music of Max Richter and the best secret meeting spot in LondonBorn in Nottingham in 1964, Edmund de Waal is an artist, master potter and the author of The Hare with Amber Eyes, which won the…
On my radar: Sam Fender’s cultural highlights
The Tyneside rocker on his favourite bath time podcast, a second world war memoir and where to get the best breakfast kippersSam Fender was born in 1994 and raised in North Shields. He began writing songs aged 14, building on an affinity with Bruce Spr…
Deep impact: the underwater photographers bringing the ocean’s silent struggle to life
Kerim Sabuncuoğlu – just one winner in this year’s Ocean photography awards – tells the story behind his picture of a moray eel that also shows the wider perils of ‘ghost fishing’In July, off the Turkish port city of Bodrum, Kerim Sabuncuoğlu stepped f…
Object lesson: Michael Craig-Martin’s paintings of Covid era items – in pictures
Lockdown was a productive time for Michael Craig-Martin: most of the works in his new show at Amsterdam’s Reflex gallery were created in its grip. He continued his longstanding project of painting everyday objects in minimal style, their clean lines an…
On my radar: Roy Williams’s cultural highlights
The renowned playwright on David Morrissey’s acting podcast, the joy of Marvel movies and the musician he listens to every dayRoy Williams was born in London in 1968 and raised in Notting Hill. He studied writing at Rose Bruford college and his plays i…
Liu Xiaodong’s portraits of the Chinese diaspora in London – in pictures
“My work is always about movement, about migration,” the Chinese figurative painter Liu Xiaodong has said. Liu, who is based in Beijing, spent nearly a month in June 2019 portraying Chinese expats in London for a series called New England, recently pub…
‘Parts of my brain light up when he’s talking’: Nigella Lawson and Mark Cousins in conversation
The cook and the film-maker, who struck up a friendship on Twitter, discuss aesthetics, watching and being watched, and the benefits of ageingMark Cousins and Nigella Lawson seem, at first, an unlikely pairing. He is an author and film-maker from North…
Paul Mason: ‘Modern fascism’s interests are being represented in government by rightwing populists’
The former Channel 4 News broadcaster on writing at 4am, reading Carlo Rovelli and the danger posed by the new wave of fascism that’s on the rise across the worldPaul Mason was born in Lancashire in 1960, the son of a headmistress and a lorry driver. H…
On my radar: Domhnall Gleeson’s cultural highlights
The actor on an exhibition that’s like a rave, the best crispy chicken and why he’s having to take a break from Kazuo Ishiguro’s latestDomhnall Gleeson was born in Dublin in 1983. Following his father, Brendan, into acting, he broke through in 2010 wit…