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‘She made every scene she was in richer’My pick for best supporting actress is Da’Vine Joy Randolph in The Holdovers. Her performance alone elevated that film above all of Alexander Payne’s other remarkable films. As a Black woman actor playing a devastated single mother who’s just lost her only son in the Vietnam war, she was the tuning fork for a film that would have otherwise just been another enjoyable poke at the problems of rich, privileged people. She made every scene she was in richer, more meaningful, more real.…

CULTURE AND HEALTH“How Grammar Changes Perception,” by Christine Kenneally, discusses the structure of grammar in language and how it influences our perception of the world around us.I work in Aboriginal communities in Australia as a remote area nurse, and my wife, who is now deceased, was from the Waanyi clan in Queensland and the Northern Territory. Our children have grown up across both Western and Waanyi cultures. One thing I have observed—and questioned my children about—is the way they perceive the world. They have…

We had plans.My husband, Dennis D’Agostino, was going to reduce his workload as the New York Knicks’ team historian and a statistician for sports teams’ TV and radio broadcasts, and I was going to cover the Paris Olympics and then bid au revoir to the Los Angeles Times. We talked about visiting Maui next summer for our 25th anniversary, with a stop at the beach where we got married. Or, as he called it, the scene of the crime.Man plans, God laughs. And then you cry.When my husbum (a nickname he loved) died of a heart…

Does spam email actually work? I don’t mean dodgy phishing emails, but the annoying ads and sales pitches. Presumably the answer is yes, otherwise the spammers wouldn’t bother, but I find it hard to believe. Ali Farhan, ManchesterSend new questions to [email protected] replyHang on a mo, I’ll just email 300 million people to ask. ElCommentarioIt works better than doing nothing – which is the secret of all marketing. OneAnotherNameThere are different kinds of spam. The more targeted kinds (eg an email from a…

Linda Ronstadt – Long, Long TimeWhen Linda Ronstadt belts those high notes in the last verse, knees buckle and the flood begins. Couldn’t listen to it for a long, long time after a particularly brutal betrayal. Crushing ... BarerBearAlanis Morrissette – You Oughta KnowThe fury of it spoke volumes when I was dealing with a painful break up from someone who cheated on me, broke my heart, but wanted to stay friends. morgarfThe Waterboys – RagsIt’s not subtle and it sure isn’t a “slowie”. Mike Scott chucks everything in here…

‘Steve on the microphone was a force to be reckoned with’I’m devastated to hear about Steve Wright’s death. For a long time, I was a member of the team responsible for comedy jingles featured on his show during his time at both Radio 1 and Radio 2. I was very proud to be Mr Food, performing And That’s Before Me Tea on his show as well as several others. Steve Wright on the microphone was a force to be reckoned with. Unstoppable. As well as interviewing all the stars on air, the Steve Wright I met off-air was a genuine,…

‘A poignant and personal album’I was surprised to see Foo Fighters snubbed in the rock categories, particularly the rock album and rock song of the year. But Here We Are was a poignant and personal album which dealt with the loss of Taylor Hawkins, grief and the future. It was a solid return to form for the band and with its circumstances, I could have seen them win some Grammys. Saying that, Queens of the Stone Age’s In Times New Roman … was a superb album that also deserved the award. Michael Taylor, Weymouth, 30,…

Although Taylor Swift, 34, avoided discussing Democrats or Republicans in the earlier stages of her career, she has become more politically vocal over time. In 2018, she spoke out against Marsha Blackburn and supported Democratic candidates in Tennessee. During the 2020 election cycle, she endorsed Joe Biden and vowed to the then president Donald Trump on Twitter that “we will vote you out”.In recent weeks, a string of rightwing figures have begun to spread conspiracy theories claiming Swift is a “Pentagon asset” who will…

At a time of increasing climate peril and ascendant authoritarianism, it may seem like journalistic malpractice to spill scarce newspaper ink over the romance between NFL star Travis Kelce and uber-star Taylor Swift. But the conspiracy theorizing over the power couple, just before Kelce plays in the Super Bowl, could arise only in a time such as ours, and it says so much about the decline of trust and verifiable truth in this political moment.Make no mistake: This isn’t a both-sides-do-it problem. The speculation that…

Apple may not have released new iPads last year, but you know who didn’t rest on its laurels in 2023? Every other company, including OnePlus, Samsung, and Amazon. For the first time in what feels like ages, there are several solid Android tablets to choose from — including the Google Pixel Tablet, which is on sale for Verge readers at Wellbots starting at $416 ($83 off) when you use offer code THEVERGE52.Despite its simple-looking appearance, Google’s 11-inch slate doesn’t feel cheap. It features a well-built aluminum…