Weekend

Weekend is taking a little break. So this week, we’ve picked some of our favourite pieces from the last few months, just in case you missed them… Two stories about secrets, lies, and what happens when the people we trust turn out to have hidden motives: first, Joe Gibson reveals a troubling affair he had with his teacher that changed his life (1m48s); and comedian Michelle Brasier explains why she...

For the next two weeks, we’re picking some of our favourite pieces from the last few months, just in case you missed them… Two tales of coming of age and finding out what matters most: in this episode, Heartstopper’s Kit Connor confronts the aftermath of being forced to come out under the gaze of millions (1m44s); and how food helped the Guardian’s restaurant critic Grace Dent create small, meanin...

Marina Hyde mulls over Lady Mone’s PPE farrago, car crash interview and fight with the PM (1m26s); Victoria Mary Clarke on the excess, addiction and love that bound her and Shane MacGowan together (10m20s); and Anita Chaudhuri on being shut out by loved ones for 40 years (27m46s)

Actor Toby Jones on class, character and the cost of fame (1m26s); John Crace on Rishi Sunak’s break from a feral Tory party with a spa day at the Covid inquiry (23m00s); and the weird world of celebrity training – how Taylor Swift, Beyoncé and Madonna get in shape for their shows (30ms58)

Marina Hyde ponders the small slip that sent Omid Scobie’s Harry and Meghan book into orbit (1m18s); and an English couple, a Ukrainian surrogate and a baby: the extraordinary story of how war united two unlikely families (8m51s).

Rishi Sunak loses his marbles and causes a diplomatic spat in the process (1m18s); Gareth Gates on bullying, resilience and tabloid gossip (7m32s); and the nature cure: how time outdoors transforms our memory, imagination and logic (21m06s).

How The Crown went from prestige drama to TV disaster (1m26s); what happened when one man’s boat sank in the dead of night – and he had to save his seven-year-old son (11m19s); how discount supermarkets changed the way we shop (25m21); and Philippa Perry shares advice on how to overcome loneliness and isolation (40m08s)

Is Rishi Sunak rewarding failure? With David Cameron back it’s being celebrated like never before, says Marina Hyde (1m28s); Nicolas Cage on dreams, fame and his two-headed snake (10m25s); why one woman flew across the world to win back her ex (22m51s); and four cardiologists share 20 simple steps to a healthy heart (27m37s)

Marina Hyde asks: What’s in Nadine Dorries’s book? A pile of dead cats big enough to kill that phrase for good (1m18s); and writer Simon Hattenstone finds out what happened next after Harry Potter’s stunt double broke his neck on set, changing his life forever (8m18s).

Marina Hyde reports on the not-so-shocking incompetence laid bare by the Covid inquiry (1m20s); Zoe Williams turns the tables on avuncular interviewer Louis Theroux (9m58s); and Elle Hunt reflects on Matthew Perry’s troubled life and foreshadowed death (28m48s).

Marina Hyde wonders if anything will change, as GB News is found to have breached Ofcom rules yet again (1m26s); American writer Kenny Biddle, reveals how he became a full-time paranormal investigator…and sceptic…(10m03s); and Olympic champion Caster Semenya talks labels, leaked medical records and how lowering her hormones took its toll on her body (15m58s).

Marina Hyde is impressed by Princess Diana, the ‘hardest working spectre in showbiz’ (1m22s); Bella Ramsey talks football, rapping and why fame is ‘silly’ (9m44s); and Elle Hunt meets a woman who was crushed by an elephant (20m32s).

John Crace watches a glitter-covered Keir Starmer get down to business with a game-changing speech (1m21s); Dolly Parton on style, stardom and sexism (9m51s); plus one man’s leap of faith into the world of hair transplants (26m46s)

John Crace watches Rishi Sunak veer between dull and delusional in his conference speech (1m23s); actor Julia Fox unpacks abuse, fame, and dating Kanye (9m12s); plus the bizarre story of how an advert for a reality show led to a British TV mystery (35m01s)

Marina Hyde asks: who gains from Rishi’s ‘longterm’ thinking? (1m21s) ; and journalist Simon Hattenstone meets the illustrious Joan Collins to discuss love, loss and lust at 90 (8m43s).

Marina Hyde appeals for us all to do the right thing by the victims of Russell Brand’s misogyny (1m23s); and writer and professor David Runciman reveals what happened when he followed all the same Twitter accounts as Elon Musk to try to get inside his head (11m9s).

Marina Hyde ponders a government so tedious, even the ‘shocking’ revelation of an alleged spy can’t sex things up (1m20s); Grace Dent delves into ‘the great social leveller’, cheese, and what our love for this foodstuff says about us (8m8s); and a male escort reveals what women want when they pay for sex (34m56s).

Marina Hyde on why crumbling concrete is just the latest phase in Rishi’s doom loop (1m26s); Maggie Smith on why her marriage disintegrated as her career took off (10m01s); and Richard Osman reveals how he conquered both TV and publishing (25m24s)

Marina Hyde on Prince Andrew being chauffeured back into the royal fold by Prince William (1m24s); how Shallow Hal almost broke Gwyneth Paltrow’s body double (8m29s); and pop sensation Olivia Rodrigo contemplates overnight pop superstardom, plagiarism and growing up in public (21m17s)

The Weekend team are taking a break. So this week, we’re looking back at some of our favourite pieces of the year. Elle Hunt reveals the incredible story of one man’s struggle to rebuild his life after being struck by lightning (1m35s); Amelia Dimoldenberg recounts her journey from the Chicken Shop to Vanity Fair’s Oscars party (16m32s); and Chloë Hamilton describes navigating the heartbreak of fe...

The Weekend team are taking a break. So for the next two weeks, we’re looking back at some of our favourite pieces of the year. Michelle Obama reads an exclusive extract from her book The Light We Carry: Overcoming in Uncertain Times (2m05s); are you a stehpinkler or a sitzpinkler? Sam Wollaston extols the virtues of sitting down to pee (28m23s); and three decades on, the only survivor of a plane...

Marina Hyde recoils at Matt Hancock’s latest cringeworthy attempt to boost his brand (1m24s); writer Joel Snape asks whether we should worry about snacking (7m55s); and journalist Simon Hattenstone sits down with author Jacqueline Wilson to discuss rivalry, censorship – and love (14m02).

Tyson Fury weighs in on marriage, mental health and life as a multimillionaire in Morecambe (23m57s); John Crace looks on as the PM gaslights the UK with his North Sea plan while the world burns (1m30s); and Michelle Brasier explains why she befriended her scammer (8m42s)

Viv Anderson: the phenomenal Black footballer who changed England for ever (11m39s), the chequered history of the TV makeover show (1m23s), and the slow running revolution: how to really enjoy the race (26m53s).

Charlotte Edwardes meets Kit Connor (11m12s); Marina Hyde implores us to stay angry about the Post Office scandal (1m32s); and Lily Scherlis explores the genesis of ‘boundaries’ in the world of therapy (35m25s)