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  • FluMist Nasal Spray Vaccine Now Available for Home Delivery

    FluMist Nasal Spray Vaccine Now Available for Home Delivery

    AstraZeneca will now provide a home delivery option for its nasal spray flu vaccine FluMist, according to a release from the company.1 With FluMist Home, patients who are prescribed the vaccine can place an order through the independent online specialty pharmacy ASPN Pharmacies and have it delivered to their home via Polaris Pharmacy Services.

    FluMist Nasal Spray Vaccine Now Available for Home Delivery / DragonImages – stock.adobe.com

    “As influenza vaccination rates decline, especially among younger populations, this first-of-its-kind, at-home, needle-free option offers a critical opportunity to help make protection more accessible, convenient, and better aligned with the realities and current preferences of people’s lives,” Ravi Jhaveri, MD, professor of pediatrics at Northwestern University School of Medicine, said in a release.1

    FluMist is the first and only seasonal flu vaccine approved to be self-administered by adults 18 to 49 years of age or by a caregiver to individuals 2 to 17 years of age. The live attenuated vaccine was first approved by the FDA in 2003 and received approval for self-administration in 2024. The self-administration approval was based on data that showed the vaccine instructions were appropriately designed so recipients and caregivers could safely and effectively use it.2 FluMist is approved for the prevention of flu caused by influenza virus subtypes A and B.

    FluMist Home is delivered in a consumer-friendly format with clear, at-home specific instructions that support proper handling, administration, and disposal. The vaccine should be stored in the refrigerator until it is ready to be used. The most common side effects of FluMist include runny or stuffy nose, sore throat, and fever over 100 degrees. It should be avoided if a patient is allergic to eggs or other flu vaccines.

    “Seasonal influenza can have a serious, even life-altering, impact on individuals and families, especially for those most vulnerable,” Michele Slafkosky, executive director of Families Fight Flu, said in a release.1 “Providing flexible vaccination options makes it easier for individuals and caregivers to help get protected. This can help to improve protection for individuals and strengthen collective immunity against influenza.”

    AstraZeneca said in the release that FluMist Home will be available in 34 states and the company aims to eventually have it available in all 48 contiguous states. Although the service is not allowed in certain states due to local pharmacy laws, it remains available in both doctors’ offices and pharmacies for administration across the country.

    “For the first time, consumers can receive and administer an influenza vaccine entirely at home—marking a historic shift in how preventive care is delivered,” Ami Patel, executive vice president of hub operations at ASPN Pharmacies, said in a release.1 “Through FluMist Home we’re seeing a new model of care that puts consumers in control, offering a seamless, end-to-end experience, from determining eligibility to convenient home-delivery and administration. This milestone not only redefines convenience in vaccine delivery, but also sets the stage for a more accessible, patient-centered future in healthcare.”

    READ MORE: Immunization Resource Center

    Ready to impress your pharmacy colleagues with the latest drug information, industry trends, and patient care tips? Sign up today for our free Drug Topics newsletter.

    References
    1. FLUMIST® (Influenza, Vaccine Live, Intranasal), the nation’s only nasal spray flu vaccine, now available for home delivery. News Release. AstraZeneca. August 15, 2025. Accessed August 15, 2025. https://www.astrazeneca-us.com/media/press-releases/2025/FLUMIST-the-nations-only-nasal-spray-flu-vaccine-now-available-for-home-delivery.html
    2. FDA Approves Nasal Spray Influenza Vaccine for Self- or Caregiver-Administration. News Release. FDA. September 20, 2024 Accessed August 15, 2025. https://www.fda.gov/news-events/press-announcements/fda-approves-nasal-spray-influenza-vaccine-self-or-caregiver-administration

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  • Where to watch Australia vs. South Africa free live stream, TV channel, start time for 3rd T20 match

    Where to watch Australia vs. South Africa free live stream, TV channel, start time for 3rd T20 match

    Australia and South Africa step into rare territory on Saturday: a live T20I series decider in Cairns.

    For Australia, it is unfamiliar ground; they haven’t played a live decider since 2022, often sealing series early or being denied by rain. South Africa, meanwhile, arrive sharper from a similar experience in Harare last month and buoyed by Dewald Brevis’ destructive hundred in Darwin.

    The Cazaly’s Stadium surface adds intrigue, with spin likely to play a part after Matthew Kuhnemann and Adam Zampa found grip in recent outings, leaving selectors to weigh pace depth against extra spin options.

    Both sides have questions to answer under pressure. Mitchell Marsh’s returns at the top of the order remain modest, and Glenn Maxwell’s bat has been quiet despite his all-round value, while South Africa continue to search for consistency from captain Aiden Markram.

    Kagiso Rabada’s battle with Australia’s power hitters, particularly Marsh and Tim David, could swing the night. 

    The Sporting News looks at the key details ahead of this game, including how to watch the match, kickoff times, and the latest lineup news.

    Australia vs. South Africa 3rd T20I live stream, TV channel in Australia

    Here’s how to watch this T20I match in Australia:

    • TV Channel: Fox Cricket (Channel 501)
    • Live Stream: Kayo, Foxtel

    This game is available for the live TV broadcast on dedicated cricket channel Fox Cricket. You can also live stream this game on Kayo and Foxtel.

    New users to Kayo can currently sign up to a FREE trial.

    What time does Australia vs. South Africa 3rd T20I start in Australia?

    This T20I match takes place at Cazaly’s Stadium in Cairns, Australia, and starts on Saturday, August 16, 2025, at 7:15 p.m. local time (AEST).

    Australia vs. South Africa 3rd T20I predicted XIs, team news

    Josh Inglis is set to return at No. 3 after missing the second game with the flu, with Nathan Ellis also likely to come back after being rested.

    That reshuffle pushes the order down a spot, while Aaron Hardie may slide into No. 7 with Matt Owen ruled out, giving Australia the flexibility to pair Matthew Kuhnemann with Adam Zampa if they want two spinners.

    In that case, two of Josh Hazlewood, Sean Abbott, or Ben Dwarshuis would miss out. And while Dwarshuis has the form, Hazlewood’s seniority could keep him in unless Australia opt to rest their premier quick ahead of a demanding ODI run next week.

    Australia predicted XI: Mitchell Marsh (c), Travis Head, Josh Inglis (wk), Cameron Green, Tim David, Glenn Maxwell, Aaron Hardie, Ben Dwarshuis, Nathan Ellis, Adam Zampa, Josh Hazlewood.

    South Africa, meanwhile, must weigh whether to stick with their winning formula or adjust for Cairns’ spin-friendly conditions.

    That could mean George Linde returning at No. 6 as a spinning allrounder, which might require Dewald Brevis or Rassie van der Dussen to shift up the order given Lhuan-dre Pretorius’ modest scores so far.

    Senuran Muthusamy offers another left-arm option if the surface demands it, while Nandre Burger provides seam cover should Lungi Ngidi or Corbin Bosch be rotated.

    South Africa predicted XI: Aiden Markram (c), Ryan Rickelton (wk), Lhuan-dre Pretorius, Dewald Brevis, Tristan Stubbs, Rassie van der Dussen, George Linde, Kagiso Rabada, Senuran Muthusamy, Kwena Maphaka, Lungi Ngidi.

    South Africa tour of Australia 2025 schedule

    All times AEST

    T20I Matches

    • 1st T20I: Australia won by 17 runs
    • 2nd T20I: Aug. 12, Marrara Cricket Ground, Darwin, 7:15 p.m.
    • 3rd T20I: Aug. 16, Cazaly’s Stadium, Cairns, 7:15 p.m.

    ODI Matches

    • 1st ODI: Aug. 19, Cazaly’s Stadium, Cairns, 2:30 p.m.
    • 2nd ODI: Aug. 22, Great Barrier Reef Arena, Mackay, 2:30 p.m.
    • 3rd ODI: Aug. 24, Great Barrier Reef Arena, Mackay, 2:30 p.m.

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  • The Last of Us Online’s director is now working on a ‘AAA indie’ multiplayer experience at a new studio

    The Last of Us Online’s director is now working on a ‘AAA indie’ multiplayer experience at a new studio

    Vinit Agarwal, who worked as the game director for The Last of Us Online during his decade-long tenure at the studio, left Naughty Dog to pursue his vision of merging cinematic storytelling with multiplayer.

    This concept was honed through games like Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End, Uncharted: The Lost Legacy, and The Last of Us Part II, where he worked on boss battles. Vinit spoke in an interview with GameSpark on August 13 and explained his roles at the studio:

    “My main titles were Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End, Uncharted: The Lost Legacy, and The Last of Us Part 2. I worked on both multiplayer and single-player. I was mainly in charge of boss battles, and Naughty Dog’s boss battles are generally one-on-one situations.

    So I wanted players to feel like they were fighting a human player, not an AI, even in single-player. To be more specific, I worked on the final boss in A Thief’s End and the fight between Ellie and Abby in The Last of Us Part II.

    I used all of my knowledge of multiplayer to create the feeling that you were fighting a human. A big part of what inspired me to go independent was seeing the potential in combining Naughty Dog’s specialty, cinematic action, with multiplayer.”

    Agarwal announced that he was moving to Japan to form a new studio in July. The unnamed international studio is operating between the U.S. and Japan, and is co-led by Naughty Dog alumnus Joe Pettinati. 

    Drawing inspiration from From Software’s Hidetaka Miyazaki, the team is setting its eyes on a “AAA indie” approach, focusing on cinematic action-packed multiplayer, using Unreal Engine 5.

    The project is still in early development, with Agarwal stating that it is playable in prototype form. He further added, “There’s nothing much we can say yet, but the new game is a multiplayer game, and we aim to bring the cinematic action we’ve been familiar with from our previous titles to multiplayer.”

    Naughty Dog earlier announced that the studio had canceled The Last of Us Online in December 2023 after four years of development with hundreds of team members on board.

    This decision came amid the studio’s desire to avoid shifting its focus to live-service games. Naughty Dog arrived at this conclusion after numerous consultations with Bungie.

    Former PlayStation executive Shuhei Yoshida had described the project as “great” before it was canceled, noting that The Last of Us Online was shelved so Naughty Dog could focus on single-player experiences instead.

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  • ‘I have a daily battle with myself not to go on Ozempic’: Jade Thirlwall on anorexia, protest in pop and life after Little Mix | Little Mix

    ‘I have a daily battle with myself not to go on Ozempic’: Jade Thirlwall on anorexia, protest in pop and life after Little Mix | Little Mix

    It’s customary for former girlband members to shun their manufactured roots the second they go solo. But now that Jade Thirlwall is no longer a member of Little Mix, she’s become their biggest fan. “I look back and I’m gagged at us!” she tells me, eyes wide with delight. “I still watch our music videos or performances and wonder how we weren’t even bigger, because we were fucking amazing.

    “Before I released my first solo song, I listened to Little Mix’s entire discography and cried. I was this young lass from South Shields who just wanted to make it as a singer, and I went on to be in the best, coolest girlband ever.” And now? “Now I get to have a bonus round, doing my own songs,” she beams.

    We meet in an east London photo studio as the 32-year-old prepares to release her much-trumpeted debut solo album. Thirlwall is relaxed, funny company, in a patchwork denim jacket and oversized cargo shorts, slightly incongruous against the bouncing Diana Ross curls and frosting of bright pink freckles applied for our shoot. She’s softly spoken, her voice retaining its geordie dialect and rising in pitch whenever she’s relaying an astonishing anecdote – which is often.

    Little Mix formed during the eighth series of The X Factor in 2011 and went on to sell 75m records, become the third-biggest girlband of all time (behind the Spice Girls and the Supremes, ahead of Destiny’s Child) and the first to spend more than 100 weeks inside the UK top 10. In 2021, they were the first girlband to win the Brit award for best British group. When Noel Gallagher claimed that they were “not in the same league as Oasis”, who had won in 1996, Thirlwall retorted that it was “a shame, really. Because we are definitely the most successful girl group in the country, but he’s not even the most successful performer in his family.”

    Bodysuit by Nensi Dojaka. Sleeves by T Label

    This wit and swagger has been expertly parlayed into a solo career that promises to make Thirlwall Britain’s next homegrown superstar. She tells me that some of her earliest artistic influences were the drag queens of Benidorm and – in the best possible way – it shows. Her solo music and visuals are delightfully melodramatic, embracing a more-is-more approach that implies if the kitchen sink is missing, it’s only because she decided to throw in a bathtub instead.

    Four singles in, she’s flying. Her debut, Angel of My Dreams (a maximalist treatise on the agonies and ecstasies of pop fame that packs more genres than the average person’s Spotify Wrapped into three minutes and 17 seconds), was nominated for an Ivor Novello award. When she performed it at the Brit awards – dropping through a double-height trapdoor and embarking on a dizzying succession of costume changes and dance breaks before taking flight in a pair of giant angel wings – this publication described her as having stolen the show.

    “I think you should be ambitious as a pop star,” she says today. “You shouldn’t give yourself a ceiling.” In an era of reduced budgets and tightened belts, was it easy to convince her record company to let her stage an episodic performance told in five acts? “They understand that if they want me to be the next big pop girlie, then they have to put their hand in their pocket.” She adopts a mock scandalised tone: “I’m not a low‑budget artist! Give me what I need!” Their investment was rewarded when Thirlwall won best pop act.

    Full look by Miu Miu

    Another headline-generating performance followed, this time at Glastonbury festival, where Thirlwall led the Woodsies stage in a chant of “Fuck you” to, among other things, Reform, welfare cuts, silencing protest and selling arms. Was she surprised at the heated online reaction? “I was ready for a backlash from the right kind of people,” she says. “I saw a lot of people saying ‘Your Glastonbury set was really good until you got political’ or ‘I used to be a fan of yours until you got political’. But, hun, you were never a fan, because I’ve always piped up.”

    Memorably, back in 2015, Thirlwall hijacked the official Little Mix Twitter account to tweet that she was “truly saddened and ashamed” by parliament voting to bomb Isil targets in Syria. “I got in a bit of trouble for that,” she concedes cheerfully. “But I felt very passionate about it. I’m no expert in politics but I’ve always taken an interest. Around 9/11 I saw first‑hand the Islamophobia that my grandad experienced, and as someone of Arab heritage I’ve seen people turning a blind eye to the Middle Eastern tragedy. What’s quite funny is that we didn’t have individual Twitter accounts, and we each had to sign off tweets from the Little Mix account with our name. So I did my tweet about Syria and ended it with ‘xxJadexx’”.

    A stalwart defender of LGBTQ+ rights and a vocal advocate for a free Palestine, she is disparaging of artists who opt out of politics. “I don’t think you can be a pop artist and cover your eyes. I saw Matty Healy say that he doesn’t want to be political, which I found disappointing. It’s very easy for someone who’s white and straight and very privileged to say that. Good for you, hun!”


    Before Thirlwall began making weapons-grade bangers, she was a student of pop music. Born in South Shields, she was obsessed with Madonna, Kylie and Janet Jackson, papering her wardrobe doors with moodboards of their most iconic looks. Her mum, Norma, a primary school business manager of Yemeni and Egyptian descent, had the look of Jade’s ultimate idol Diana Ross – and for a time young Jade believed her mum to be living a double life. Norma encouraged the fantasy, claiming that she was going to play concerts when, in fact, she was off down the bingo hall.

    With her mum at the 2016 Brit awards. Photograph: Karwai Tang/WireImage

    Thirlwall was always close to her mum; Norma’s at the studio with us today, and there’s a song on the forthcoming album about her mum’s ill health, which includes lupus (“She was really poorly in hospital and I thought: how can I write a really sad song that we’re all going to want to shake our tits to?”). Still, as a teenager Thirlwall felt frustrated that they rarely had deep conversations, and race wasn’t discussed. “I think my mam had suppressed that part of herself because she didn’t want to confront the trauma of her experiences of racism,” she says.

    During the Black Lives Matter protests, they began sharing stories and “everything clicked into place for me and I had a new understanding and empathy for what she’d been through. Where we’re from there were so many microaggressions, people calling us the P-word, that we were used to it. And in that moment we had to be like, actually it’s not OK for people to call us those things. My mam had to confront people she’d known most of her life. The right people apologise and better themselves, and you get rid of the wrong people. It was a big change for us.”

    Despite her dreams of stardom, as a child Thirlwall was shy and tomboyish. She was a victim of racist bullying at her overwhelmingly white secondary school. Coupled with the death of her beloved maternal grandfather when she was 13, this provided the catalyst, she says, for a years-long fight with anorexia. When she successfully auditioned for The X Factor aged 18 in 2011, it was just a few months after having been discharged from hospital, with doctors allowing her to compete on the proviso that she maintained a healthy weight. Wasn’t throwing herself at the mercy of Simon Cowell’s notoriously brutal juggernaut a risky strategy for someone so vulnerable?

    “In retrospect, if the show had done a proper mental health assessment, then they wouldn’t have let me on,” she says. Was there not a psych test? “It was very surface. Judging by some of the people in that X Factor house, it wasn’t done properly. Bless them, through no fault of their own, some of those people were mentally unwell. All of the female contestants slept in the same bedroom, and one of them would get up, put all her wigs out and start doing a Britney Spears performance at three in the morning. Or you’d be woken up by the sound of her using her vibrator in the middle of the night. We’d have a meeting with lawyers and someone who was obviously not in the best headspace would be picking their feet and eating it in front of everyone. It was like, ‘Is this the music industry?’”

    Jade, Jesy, Perrie and Leigh-Anne The X Factor Live, 2011. Photograph: Ken McKay/Talkback Thames/Rex/Shutterstock
    JADE performing at Glastonbury this year. Photograph: Jim Dyson/Redferns

    It wasn’t only the contestants enacting surreal stunts. “At one point I got led to a room in the house to get my foof waxed, which I’d never had before.” Hang on, I interrupt, why would a teenager need a bikini wax to appear on The X Factor? “I don’t know! I just remember lying with my legs akimbo, looking up at the window, thinking, ‘I hope there’s not a pap there.’”

    For a show powered by tragic backstories, I’m surprised that Thirlwall’s anorexia wasn’t made part of her onscreen “journey”. “I made sure it wasn’t,” she says. “They’d always try to fish for a sob story, but I didn’t want that to be my identity. I was starting afresh. I thought, OK, this is a huge opportunity for me, it’s a chance to change my life.” She wanted a future bigger than her eating disorder? “Exactly. I wanted to do music more than anything, and if the only way to achieve that was to be healthy, that’s what I had to do. It was the ultimate motivation.”

    These days, Thirlwall says that most of the negative comments she receives online are about her putting on weight. That must be incredibly difficult for a recovering anorexic? “I have a daily battle with myself not to go on Ozempic,” she says. “I don’t judge people that do, but because I have a history of eating disorders, I don’t know where taking something like that would end for me.”

    Shirt and shorts by Kasia Kucharska. Boots by Aeyde

    She believes that the trolling is a depressing byproduct of reaching a broader audience. “Little Mix fans were all about empowerment and celebrating your body however you look. Now I’m in my 30s and the healthiest I’ve ever been, but every time I post a picture, there are comments saying, ‘She must be pregnant.’ The sad thing is that it’s usually women. But people are used to seeing me in a group environment five or 10 years ago when I was stick-thin because I was in my early 20s with an eating disorder.”

    Did she relapse while she was in the band? “I didn’t think it at the time, but when I look back at photos of periods when I was quite unhappy, I think, wow, girlie, you were very, very thin. The pattern was there. Historically, if I’ve ever felt that something is out of my control, then restricting food has been a means of controlling my life in a very toxic way.”

    Can she recall a time when she felt particularly out of control? “In summer 2017 I was living in a flat in east London and having really bad night terrors. I’d have such disturbing nightmares – things that are too horrific to say, dreams where I’d be harming myself – that I’d force myself to stay awake by drinking coffee and playing loud music. I’d be going to perform at outdoor concerts having not slept for days.”

    Eventually her mum drove down from South Shields and took her home to the family doctor, who prescribed antidepressants. “I felt so sad, and so horrendously guilty for feeling sad. I had the fear that something awful would happen with my mam’s lupus and I wouldn’t be there. I missed family funerals and things like that, and wondered if it was all worth it.”

    She executes a hard blink, as if resetting her thoughts, or perhaps banishing a troubling one. “That’s when my mam decided that her and her best mate would come on the road with us – it was so cute. The pair of them like Ab Fab, driving me to each venue, making sure I was fed and watered.” Did she ever consider taking a break from the group? “If you stop working in this business, then everybody wants to know why, and I couldn’t be arsed for everything that came with that. So I kept it moving.”

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    JADE performing at this year’s Brit awards. Photograph: Samir Hussein/WireImage

    Thirlwall is keen to stress that she loved her time in Little Mix – loved performing, loved her bandmates. But being in a precision-engineered pop group for 10 years is not for the delicate. The band’s launch coincided with the advent of Twitter and online fandoms, meaning that the girls found themselves acting as guinea pigs in a strange new land that was yet to be mapped. At the same time, the paparazzi were still a hostile force, not yet rendered obsolete by Instagram. “We were 18 or 19 and the paps would be trying to get pictures up our skirts when we were getting into cars,” she says. “Once we were in the car, they’d try and get in with us to carry on taking pictures, which would be invasive for anyone, but especially young girls.”

    Did she ever feel scared? “Oh yeah, I was always scared,” she says with a casual air that suggests she long ago resigned herself to daily terror being the natural order of things.

    Over time, Thirlwall and fellow member Leigh-Anne Pinnock “understood that as women of colour we had to work a bit harder to be noticed”. At signings, young fans would skip past Pinnock, the darkest-skinned member of the group. “Then there was a track on our third album where the label suggested that me and Leigh-Anne not be on a song – at all. No backing vocals, nothing. Obviously when you’re a young woman and you’re told that, you’re going to feel like utter shit. We’re working just as hard, we know we can sing – what do you mean you don’t want us on the track?”

    Their bandmates Perrie Edwards and Jesy Nelson refused to appear without them. “By halfway through our career, everyone knew not to try and separate us because we were so headstrong about always being equal. I do believe that’s the main reason we lasted so long.”

    The band released five platinum albums in six years, a relentless pace when accompanied by the requisite tours and promotional duties. Then, in 2020, the machine ground to a halt when the UK went into lockdown. “When Covid happened it shifted everyone’s perspective on what they wanted. We already knew that our next tour would be the last for a while, but Covid was a bit of a catalyst – it was the beginning of the end in terms of the obvious dynamic shift.”

    She’s referring to the departure of Nelson, who left the band in December 2020, saying, “I find the constant pressure of being in a girl group and living up to expectations very hard.” Nelson had been relentlessly trolled for her appearance since the advent of the group, and was hospitalised after taking an overdose in 2013. In 2019 she made a documentary called Odd One Out about these struggles. In the film, Thirlwall is shown saying, “We just had to watch this amazing, funny person become like a broken doll. It was horrible.” She later revealed that she had created a burner account on MailOnline to fire back at Nelson’s trolls.

    In October 2020 restrictions were eased enough to allow Little Mix to film their Sweet Melody music video. By Nelson’s account, the shoot triggered a panic attack and she ended up back in hospital. “Then the girls spoke to Mum and said, ‘We think Jesy should come out of this now. She has to look after herself,’” Nelson told the Guardian in 2021. Does that fit Thirlwall’s own recollection? “Some of it, yeah. Partly.”

    Coat by Dries Van Noten. Tights by Falke

    It’s obviously not a topic that she wants to dwell on, but I’m keen to understand what happened. Thirlwall has said elsewhere that the contact was “abruptly cut off”. Why so, if it was a mutual decision, with Nelson wanting to leave and the rest of the group supporting her decision? “I can’t answer that question because we weren’t the ones that did it.” Were there any attempts made to get in touch with Nelson after she’d left? “Yeah, there were, and then … yeah.”

    For the first time our conversation stalls. Was it painful to realise that their friendship couldn’t survive Nelson leaving the group? “It was incredibly painful. For all of us that was the worst part, and it’s taken a lot of understanding and therapy and all those things to work out how that can happen when you’ve devoted so much time and love to someone. My biggest wish for that whole period is that it was handled differently. I just would’ve loved us to all sit and chat about it.

    “We absolutely adored Jesy like family – it wasn’t just work,” she continues. “We all wanted to protect her, because we understood that trauma there and what she’d been through. I think we handled it as best as we could. All of a sudden we were a member short in the middle of album promo, with everyone asking what was going on. Obviously we don’t speak any more, and things happened that I don’t think should have, but I still do feel an element of protection towards Jesy. Nobody fully understands how complex the whole thing was – it wasn’t just a case of someone wanting to leave. Numerous things built up in the last year and in the back of my mind I knew it was going to happen. I’d just like for it to have happened in a … better way.”

    One positive to come from Nelson’s departure was the remaining members’ determination to resolve any lingering conflicts. The band had been in group therapy at the start of their career, and re-entered as a trio. “We’d seen what happened when we didn’t air things out and so there were apologies between the three of us. We all knew that we really wanted to end things on a high, still adoring each other, so we’d do whatever we had to do to achieve that.”

    Thirlwall says that the group’s final – for now – tour was the most fun she’d ever had. “Anything we’d wanted to say had been said by that point and we loved each other more for it, and had more of an understanding of each other. At the end of the tour we were like, ‘Do we really want this to be the last one?’ It’s definitely not a closed door. Even now if one of us is having a bad day as a solo artist, we’re like, ‘Hello, knock, knock, is it time?!’ Not yet, but it will happen.”


    For now, Thirlwall is laser-focused on her solo career. While Little Mix worked to a rough template – empowering songs about loving your mates and forgetting useless boyfriends – she has enjoyed exploring more nuanced themes on her album. Singles Angel of My Dreams and It Girl are inspired by her experiences in the music industry. (The former includes the lyric “Selling my soul to a psycho”, seemingly a reference to Cowell’s record label, Syco, which Little Mix were signed to until 2018. It Girl includes the lyrics “I’m not your baby doll … This bitch can’t be controlled”.) “I wanted to be tongue-in-cheek and admit that I love the game and I hate it at the same time,” she says. “It was a way to give an honest account of my experiences without being ‘woe is me’.”

    With her boyfriend, Jordan Stephens of Rizzle Kicks, in March. Photograph: Matt Keeble/Getty Images

    Several of the tracks are about her relationship with Rizzle Kicks singer Jordan Stephens. “When you’re a successful woman it’s really hard to find someone who isn’t intimidated by you or jealous of that,” she says. “When I met Jordan I wasn’t looking for anyone. Me and my best friend, Holly, were in lockdown together, and we promised ourselves a humongous dick hunt when it was over.” After being introduced to Stephens by a mutual friend, and bored of doing Zoom interviews, Thirlwall suggested they liven things up by dressing in business suits and asking each other job interview questions for their first online date. (“One of mine was, ‘Do you clap when the plane lands?’ because that’s a big ick for me.”) After their first in-person meetup, in Greenwich park, “I came home to Holly and was like, I’m so sorry, the dick hunt is over. She was fuming.”

    Stephens recently published a memoir detailing his experiences of ADHD, and Thirlwall says dating someone with the disorder has been a learning curve. “When I met him I was like, why is he so messy and why is he never on time?” she says. “We had a few clashes, but it was up to me to do my research and understand his brain. Once I did that it was a turning point in our relationship because he felt loved and supported. I follow a lot of TikTok accounts for people with ADHD partners and they really have been helpful because I have a lot more patience and understanding.”

    Now the trio live together in Thirlwall’s six-bedroom house in south-east London. What’s a typical evening for the pop star, her boyfriend and her best friend since secondary school? “Whoever gets in first makes dinner. I’m not a big TV watcher, but them two love Love Island. Me and Holly are like grandmas, so we’ll sit and do a jigsaw – anything to stop me going on my phone. At the moment I’m making a Lego castle. Then there’s always a point in the evening where Jordan knows to take himself to bed because we’re going to watch Lady Gaga music videos.”


    The Jade Thirlwall of today is galaxies away from the anxious teenager who auditioned for The X Factor – she’s firmly in control of her own story, with a record deal stipulating that she has final say on all creative decisions. Still, she’s conscious never to lose touch with the inner fangirl who dreamed of emulating her idols. “A lot of making this record has been about pleasing my younger self and tapping into that love of pop that I’ve always had,” she says. “When I’m nervous before going on stage, I picture her in the front row, reminding me not to forget that part of myself.” Young Jade was there at the Brits, on Later … With Jools Holland and at Glastonbury. “I close my eyes and imagine her telling me, ‘You’re going to kill it!’”

    And then? “And then I do.”

    JADE’s debut solo album, That’s Showbiz Baby!, is released on 12 September.

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  • Creatine may do more than build muscle; it could help the brain fight Alzheimer’s

    Creatine may do more than build muscle; it could help the brain fight Alzheimer’s

    You’ve probably heard about creatine as that go-to supplement for athletes trying to boost muscle energy and performance, right? Well, a new study from the University of Kansas Medical Center is shaking things up by showing creatine might also help the brain, especially for people with Alzheimer’s disease.Here’s the scoop: Alzheimer’s messes with how the brain produces and uses energy, which is a big part of why memory and thinking start to slip. Creatine is a natural compound that helps shuttle energy inside your cells, including your brain cells. So the researchers wondered, if we give Alzheimer’s patients extra creatine, could it help their brains get more fuel and work better?They ran a small pilot study with 19 participants aged 60 to 90 who had Alzheimer’s. These folks took a pretty hefty dose of creatine, 20 grams a day, for eight weeks, way higher than what athletes usually take for muscles. The idea was to make sure enough creatine actually makes it to the brain, not just the muscles.Here’s what they found:Brain creatine levels went up by about 11% after the supplementation, which was exciting because it confirmed creatine was crossing into the brain.Cognitive tests showed moderate improvements in working memory, the kind of memory you use to hold info and work with it, like in a card-matching game.They also saw some encouraging signs that executive function, your ability to focus, block out distractions, and plan got better too.The supplement was safe and well tolerated with no major issues during the trial.“These preliminary results suggest that there are good things happening here, that creatine has a benefit,” said Matthew Taylor, Ph.D., assistant professor of dietetics and nutrition at KU School of Health Professions, who led the study, which was known as Creatine to Augment Bioenergetics in Alzheimer’s (CABA). “This is a great rationale for doing more clinical trials with larger sample sizes.”The study is small and doesn’t have a control group, so it’s just a first step. But the lead researcher, Dr. Matthew Taylor, said these results are promising enough to jump into bigger clinical trials. Creatine might even help reduce inflammation and oxidative stress in the brain, which are linked to Alzheimer’s progression.“There has been evidence in other populations that giving a higher dose of creatine does change brain creatine levels, but seeing it change in Alzheimer’s patients was really exciting,” said Taylor. “That (11%) is a significant increase.”Bottom line? This research is opening a new door. Creatine might not just be for bodybuilders anymore, it could become a useful brain booster for people battling Alzheimer’s, helping them stay sharp a little longer. There’s still a lot to learn, but this pilot study is a hopeful start.


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  • The Moon reaches Last Quarter

    The Moon reaches Last Quarter

    The Last Quarter Moon floats in the predawn sky, preparing to occult the Pleiades from some parts of the world.

    • A Last Quarter Moon occurs at 1:12 A.M. EDT, positioned approximately 4° west of the Pleiades star cluster in Taurus before sunrise.
    • Uranus, located 4.4° southeast of the Pleiades, is observable near the 6th-magnitude stars 13 and 14 Tauri, exhibiting a magnitude of 5.7 and a 4” apparent disk.
    • The Moon will occult several stars within the Pleiades, an event visible from Japan, Korea, and northeast Asia.
    • The Moon will pass 5° due north of Uranus at 4 P.M. EDT.

    Last Quarter Moon occurs at 1:12 A.M. EDT as sunset sweeps across the lunar nearside following the Full phase last week. Visible in the early-morning sky, the Moon lies just under 4° west of the Pleiades in Taurus some two hours before sunrise, rising in the east. (The Moon will continue to creep closer to the cluster over the course of the day, occulting several stars in the Pleiades in an event visible from Japan, Korea, and northeast Asia.)

    Uranus also lies in this region, some 4.4° southeast (to the lower right) of the Pleiades. You can use two closely spaced stars, 13 and 14 Tauri, to help point your way. This pair of 6th-magnitude suns sits 4.5° south of the Pleiades. Separated by some 21’, they are situated in an east-west line, with slightly dimmer 14 Tau marking the easternmost point. This morning, Uranus is 2.7° east of 14 Tau. Shining at magnitude 5.7, Uranus spans 4”, showing off a tiny disk through a telescope. It may appear as a slightly blue-gray, “flat”-looking star.

    After plowing through the Pleiades, the Moon passes 5° due north of Uranus later today, at 4 P.M. EDT.

    Sunrise: 6:13 A.M.
    Sunset: 7:55 P.M.
    Moonrise: 11:58 P.M.
    Moonset: 2:48 P.M.
    Moon Phase: Waning crescent (44%)
    *Times for sunrise, sunset, moonrise, and moonset are given in local time from 40° N 90° W. The Moon’s illumination is given at 12 P.M. local time from the same location.

    For a look ahead at more upcoming sky events, check out our full Sky This Week column. 

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  • Alien: Earth to Materialists: the week in rave reviews | Culture

    Alien: Earth to Materialists: the week in rave reviews | Culture

    TV

    If you only watch one, make it …

    Alien: Earth

    Disney+; available now

    Sydney Chandler as Wendy in Alien: Earth. Photograph: Patrick Brown/FX

    Summed up in a sentence Ridley Scott’s terrifying space franchise finally gets its TV version: set on Earth.

    What our reviewer said “These aliens are the classic nightmare fuel updated and sharpened and, when they strike, they leave behind the sort of oddly beautiful tableaux of torn corpses we haven’t seen since Hannibal.” Jack Seale

    Read the full review

    Further reading ‘It’s the best monster ever invented’: Noah Hawley on bringing Ridley Scott’s Alien to TV


    Pick of the rest

    And Just Like That

    Now; available now

    Sarah Jessica Parker bids farewell to Carrie in And Just Like That. Photograph: HBO

    Summed up in a sentence We finally bid to Carrie Bradshaw and co as their midlife spin-off draws to a close in a cacophony of self-discovery … and plumbing problems.

    What our reviewer said “The weirdest reboot of them all ended with a whimper, as though the anaesthetic was finally wearing off and we were all collectively coming to.” Hannah J Davies

    Read the full review

    Fit for TV: The Reality of The Biggest Loser

    Netflix; available now

    Summed up in a sentence The horrific 00s US weight-loss reality show gets a documentary probing – and does not emerge well.

    What our reviewer said “The stories it tells are powerful enough to stick in the memory, as warnings from recent history.” Phil Harrison

    Read the full review

    Further reading ‘We are obsessed with weight’: Bob Harper on life as a trainer on The Biggest Loser

    In Flight

    Sky Documentaries; available now

    Summed up in a sentence Katherine Kelly stars in this bleak thriller about a flight attendant forced to smuggle drugs to ensure the safety of her imprisoned adult son.

    What our reviewer said “The claustrophobic nature of it all, the endangerment of hapless innocents and the reminder of the evil that spreads untrammelled across space and history are a cluster of superb selling points.” Lucy Mangan

    Read the full review


    You may have missed …

    My Mom Jayne

    Sky Documentaries; available now

    Mariska Hargitay’s documentary about her mother Jayne Mansfield, My Mom Jayne. Photograph: Museo Nazionale del Cinema/HBO

    Summed up in a sentence A touching, beautiful and sad biopic of film star Jayne Mansfield, created by the daughter who lost her mother to a car crash aged three.

    What our reviewer said “My Mom Jayne is tender rather than schmaltzy, compassionate rather than hagiographic and an evident labour of love for all involved.” Lucy Mangan

    Read the full review


    Film

    If you only watch one, make it …

    Materialists

    In cinemas now

    Dakota Johnson and Pedro Pascal in Materialists. Photograph: AP

    Summed up in a sentence Dakota Johnson is torn between wealthy new suitor Pedro Pascal and broke ex Chris Evans in Celine Song’s anti-capitalist romcom.

    What our reviewer said “Unlike Johnson’s Lucy – who tells her clients she can’t just magically produce ideal mates or, like Dr Frankenstein, build them – Song can effectively do exactly this in her imaginary world, and place Lucy with an ideal man.” Peter Bradshaw

    Read the full review

    Further reading The heart triumphs over all things: why ‘anti-capitalist romcom’ Materialists isn’t just a fantasy


    Pick of the rest

    Motherboard

    In cinemas now

    Victoria Mapplebeck’s Motherboard. Photograph: First Person Films

    Summed up in a sentence Smartphone self-portrait of family life in which documentary-maker Victoria Mapplebeck stitches 20 years’ worth of footage into a home video love letter to her son.

    What our reviewer said “It is confessional, and hyperlocal in its 4K-rendered detail; it is a richly satisfying, humane, sympathetic study at the end of which I felt I knew Victoria and her son as well as if they lived next door.” Peter Bradshaw

    Read the full review

    Together

    In cinemas now

    Summed up in a sentence Real-life husband and wife Dave Franco and Alison Brie play a couple put to the ultimate test in a slickly made codependent-relationship body horror.

    What our reviewer said “There’s something refreshingly blunt about what Together is trying to say about the dangers of codependency, a film too busy having fun to waste time writing a self-satisfied dissertation.” Benjamin Lee

    Read the full review

    Further reading ‘We’re in a healthy relationship!’ Alison Brie and Dave Franco on gruesome body horror Together

    Oslo Stories Trilogy: Love

    In cinemas now

    Summed up in a sentence Grownup relationship drama, the second film of Dag Johan Haugerud’s absorbing trilogy, in which a doctor wonders if her gay colleague’s approach to dating would work for her.

    What our reviewer said “A gracefully grownup and breezy relationships drama that explores modern dating with wit and wisdom.” Peter Bradshaw

    Read the full review


    Now streaming …

    Eight Postcards from Utopia

    Mubi; available now

    Capitalism at large in Eight Postcards from Utopia. Photograph: © Saga Film

    Summed up in a sentence Mosaic of moments compiled by award-winning auteur Rade Jude from 1990s Romanian TV ads frantically flogging everything from sausages to laxatives, showing the country’s newfound passion for capitalism.

    What our reviewer said “Sometimes Jude and co-director Christian Ferencz-Flatz take out the audio entirely so we can just focus on the eerie garish images in silence. Freeze-frames show us the quasi-porn ecstatic closing of eyes at the moment of taste.” Peter Bradshaw

    Read the full review


    Books

    If you only read one, make it …

    Frankly by Nicola Sturgeon

    Reviewd by Libby Brooks

    Summed up in a sentence Scotland’s former leader reflects on her time in power.

    What our reviewer said “There are moments of bracing honesty. She reveals she came close to having a breakdown after giving evidence at the UK Covid inquiry, and a lengthy passage on her pregnancy loss is almost unbearably intimate.”

    Read the full review

    Further reading Salmond, independence strategy and sexism: what we’ve learned from Nicola Sturgeon’s book


    Pick of the rest

    Illustration: HarperVoyager

    Katabasis by RF Kuang

    Reviewed by Beejay Silcox

    Summed up in a sentence An infernal twist on the campus farce: David Lodge with demons.

    What our reviewer said “A tale of poets and storytellers, thinkers and theorists, art-makers and cultural sorcerers. This is a novel that believes in ideas – just not the cages we build for them.”

    Read the full review

    Further reading Rebecca F Kuang: ‘I like to write to my friends in the style of Joan Didion’

    The Adversary by Michael Crummey

    Reviewed by Erica Wagner

    Summed up in a sentence A prize-winning take on a biblical tale, set in 1800s Newfoundland.

    What our reviewer said “Crummey is a wise and unsparing writer whose understanding of human foibles retains a scrap of empathy even for his blackest creations. The bloody denouement is well earned.”

    Read the full review

    Chasing the Dark: Encounters With the Supernatural by Ben Machell

    Reviewed by Dorian Lynskey

    Summed up in a sentence The adventures of 20th-century ghostbuster Tony Cornell.

    What our reviewer said “This elegantly thrilling yarn encompasses the broad history of paranormal research in the UK.”

    Read the full review

    Alexandrian Sphinx by Peter Jeffreys and Gregory Jusdanis

    Reviewed by Michael Nott

    Summed up in a sentence A biography of the enigmatic queer poet admired by EM Forster and Jackie Onassis.

    What our reviewer said “In this deeply researched and engaging biography, Jeffreys and Jusdanis brilliantly recreate his world – and investigate his place within it.”

    Read the full review

    You may have missed …

    Flesh by David Szalay

    Reviewed by Keiran Goddard

    Summed up in a sentence Longlisted for the Booker prize, this is a brilliantly spare portrait of a man buffeted by forces beyond his control.

    What our reviewer said “A consistently phlegmatic and passive participant in the events of his life, István has something of the existential wayfarer about him.”

    Read the full review


    Albums

    If you only listen to one, make it …

    Cass McCombs: Interior Live Oak

    Out now

    Tear-jerking odes … Cass McCombs. Photograph: Silvia Grav

    Summed up in a sentence With existential lullabies and ritualistic stomps, tear-jerking odes and ballads worthy of Sinatra, US indie’s steadfast storyteller makes a wonderfully unhurried double album his best yet.

    What our reviewer said “The very best of the ballads is Missionary Bell, a song whose melody is so simple and expressive you can scarcely believe it hasn’t always existed.” Ben Beaumont-Thomas

    Read the full review

    Pick of the rest

    Benedicte Maurseth: Mirra

    Out 22 August

    Rustling textures … Benedicte Maurseth. Photograph: Agnete Brun

    Summed up in a sentence With rhythmic repetitions and rustling textures, the Norwegian hardanger fiddle player evokes the traditional music and ecological harmony of her country.

    What our reviewer said “Nysnø Over Reinlav (Fresh Snow Over Reindeer Moss) includes field recordings of 13 animals, including gyrfalcons, whimbrels and wolverines, alongside producer Morten Qvenild’s fluttering piano.” Jude Rogers

    Read the full review

    Rise Against: Ricochet

    Out now

    Summed up in a sentence The punk veterans’ hulking 10th album mixes the blood and guts energy of their early years with high-sheen recording.

    What our reviewer said “Vocalist Tim McIlrath finds the middle ground between Strike Anywhere and Creedence Clearwater Revival more often than you might think possible.” Huw Baines

    Read the full review

    Ravel: Complete Orchestral Works II

    Out now

    Summed up in a sentence Ludovic Morlot creates a shimmering web around soprano Fleur Barron’s lucid vocals in Trois Poèmes, on an album that also showcases Shéhérazade and Don Quichotte.

    What our reviewer said “It is the Mallarmé miniatures that shine most brightly here, with Morlot carefully teasing out the instrumental strands of the accompanying ensemble.” Andrew Clements

    Read the full review

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  • 1. ‘I don’t expect to live a normal life’: how a Leeds teenager woke up with a Chinese bounty on her head

    Chloe Cheung outside Morley town hall, West Yorkshire. Photograph: Christopher Thomond/The Guardian

    “It was Christmas Eve 2024 and 19-year-old Chloe Cheung was lying in bed at home in Leeds when she found out the Chinese authorities had put a bounty on her head. As she scrolled through Instagram looking at festive songs, a stream of messages from old school friends started coming into her phone. Look at the news, they told her.”

    Tom Levitt, writing for our Rights and Freedom series, spoke to Cheung to hear her extraordinary story and why the reward for her capture will follow her “for ever”.

    Read more


  • 2. The world’s swankiest manhole covers? A thrilling tour of the new embankments concealing London’s £4.6bn super sewer

    The new public space to the west of Blackfriars Bridge on the bank of the Thames. Photograph: © Chris Hopkinson

    A sewer isn’t necessarily the first thing you think of when you think of great architecture, but Oliver Wainwright was excited to discover the new series of Thames-side embankments build in the city to to tackle 18m tonnes of rising excrement. Join him on a “stink tower” tour of the UK capital.

    Read more


  • 3. ‘A radical act’: the rich history behind the centuries-long tradition of Black family reunions

    The Harper family having a picnic in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 1971. Photograph: Charles “Teenie” Harris/Getty Images

    Large-scale, often outdoor, family reunions are an important tradition for many Black families in the United States. Reporter Adria R Walker traced the history of the tradition, which can be traced back to the immediate period post emancipation and why, it’s as important as ever today.

    Read more


  • 4. ‘We popped the baby in a flowerpot!’ Anne Geddes on the beloved photos that made her famous

    A baby as a toadstool fairy from one of Anne Geddes’ photos. Photograph: Anne Geddes

    It’s almost 30 years since the photographer created Down in the Garden, a series of photographs of babies in and around flora and fauna, some of which will appear in her first ever retrospective in Germany. The Australian told Morwenna Ferrier about the practicalities of photographing twin babies in an upturned cabbage and why her signature work would be difficult to make in the age of AI.

    Read more


  • 5. Ugly, mortifying – and addictive? Tim Dowling’s week in the world’s most divisive shoes

    Tim Dowling wearing the barefoot shoes Photograph: Alicia Canter/The Guardian

    “The overwhelming sensation, however, is one of horrifying self-consciousness – these are very weird-looking shoes. No one comments as I walk down a busy shopping street, and after a while I begin to hope no one has noticed – after all, I don’t tend to notice other people’s shoes when I’m out and about. Then I look down and think: yeah, but I would notice these.”

    Twenty years after they first hit the shelves, five-fingered shoes are having a big fashion moment. But, asked an intrepid Tim Dowling, what is it like to wear them in public?

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  • A collection of World Cup 1970 posters designed by Lance Wyman Photograph: Courtesy Lance Wyman

    Logo design for sport has produced some of the most memorable graphic design in history, notably US designer Lance Wyman’s work for the 1968 Olympics and 1970 World Cup (above) in Mexico. Pablo Maurer spoke to Wyman and contemporary designer Matthew Wolff about the art of sporting graphics – and why today’s logos and badges may have lost the spark that made them so special.

    Read more

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  • From Materialists to Adam Kay: your complete entertainment guide to the week ahead | Culture

    From Materialists to Adam Kay: your complete entertainment guide to the week ahead | Culture


    Going out: Cinema

    Unmoored
    Out now
    The debut feature from Caroline Ingvarsson, this adaptation of the 2015 novel The Living and the Dead in Winsford by Håkan Nesser demonstrates that cinema still has an appetite for Nordic noir, although this time the psychological suspense unfolds not only in Sweden but also the wilds of Exmoor in the UK.

    Materialists
    Out now
    Those who loved Celine Song’s wistful, romantic Past Lives have been waiting eagerly for her follow-up, and here it is. Starring Chris Evans, Dakota Johnson and man of the moment Pedro Pascal, it follows a trio of New Yorkers caught in a love triangle.

    Together
    Out now
    Following a buzzy premiere at Sundance, this body horror sees a school teacher and a would-be musician (played by real life couple Dave Franco and Alison Brie) move to a remote rural area, where a very literal form of togetherness awaits them.

    Aaaaaaaah!
    BFI Southbank, London, 20 August
    Steve Oram’s Aaaaaaaah! is one of the great cult films of the 21st century, and to celebrate its 10th anniversary, it’s screening at the BFI, with a cast and crew Q&A. Filmed in an ape language without captions, the cast, including Julian Barratt, Julian Rhind-Tutt and Toyah Willcox, give it their all to create a work of bizarre, low-budget brilliance. Catherine Bray


    Going out: Gigs

    Feast thing’s first … the Waeve. Photograph: Kalpesh Lathigra

    Big Feastival
    22 to 24 August, Kingham, nr Chipping Norton
    Occasional Blur bassist Alex James opens the gates of his farm again for more music and Michelin-starred chefs. Doing the singing while others scoff their street food will be the likes of Nelly Furtado, Mabel and Travis, while James’s old pal Graham Coxon will also be there with his project the Waeve. Michael Cragg

    Enhypen
    The O2, London, 22 August; AO Arena, Manchester, 25 August
    The seven-man K-pop juggernaut arrive in the UK as part of their year-long world tour in support of last year’s Romance: Untold album (the best-selling K-pop of 2024, fact fans). Expect songs from that, alongside this year’s slinky English-language single, Loose. MC

    Chris Montague/Ant Law Quartet
    Vortex Jazz Club, London, 22 August
    In the 2020s, two formidable young jazz guitarists separately surfaced on the UK scene: Chris Montague in pianist Kit Downes’s powerful Troyka trio, and Ant Law as an innovator of contemporary guitar-led fusion. Their combined resources meet on this quartet gig with bassist Conor Chaplin and Jazz Warriors drums legend Mark Mondesir. John Fordham

    Suor Angelica
    Usher Hall, Edinburgh, 16 August; Royal Albert Hall, London, 19 August
    Antonio Pappano conducts the LSO in concert performances of Puccini’s one-act tearjerker, with Carolina López Moreno in the title role. In Edinburgh he precedes it with more Puccini, the Capriccio Sinfonico, and Victor de Sabata’s tone poem Juventus; while at the Albert Hall it’s paired with the “symphonic fantasy” from Richard Strauss’s opera Die Frau ohne Schatten. Andrew Clements


    Going out: Art

    Let that sink in … Aubrey Levinthal’ Sink Stomach, 2025. Photograph: Aubrey Levinthal/Ingleby, Edinburgh/ Neighboring States

    Aubrey Levinthal
    Ingleby Gallery, Edinburgh, to 13 September
    Paintings of everyday life in contemporary Philadelphia by an American artist getting her first significant British exhibition. Levinthal is an introspective, low-key artist who sees the world in misted, ambiguous colours. She likes to look over rooftops, at flowers, or friends in the street. Goes well with festival hangovers.

    Andy Warhol
    Lightbox Gallery, Woking, to 2 November
    Was Warhol the prophet or a symptom of US cultural and political decline? It’s hard not to wonder with Trump taking the nation to new lows. Warhol saw everything coming: cheap celebrity, media shallowness, junk food. But he also saw the soul inside the machine. He shows us America, darkly.

    Makers of Modern Gothic
    V&A South Kensington, London, to 26 October
    Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin was one of Britain’s great idiosyncratic visionaries. This Victorian architect and designer wanted to literally resurrect the middle ages. Pugin’s obsessive study and reinvention of the gothic style can be seen up close in this free display of his drawings, which also looks at his collaborators.

    Francesca Woodman
    Tate Modern, London, ongoing
    This display from the Artist Rooms collection takes you into the eerie world of photographer Francesca Woodman. In her sensual, mysterious black-and-white photographs staged in run-down buildings in Providence, Rhode Island as well as Venice and Rome, Woodman explores her haunted moods and fantasies. An elusive genius. Jonathan Jones


    Going out: Stage

    What’s up, doc? … Adam Kay.

    Breaking Bach
    Usher Hall, Edinburgh, 20 August
    Bach meets hip-hop in this premiere from choreographer Kim Brandstrup and the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment. Bach’s music, including the Double Violin Concerto and third Brandenburg Concerto, is brought to life by professional dancers and the raw talent of students from Acland Burghley School in London. Lyndsey Winship

    Adam Kay
    19 August to 2 October; tour starts Peebles
    First, a tour in support of his murder mystery novel A Particularly Nasty Case, then doctor turned comedian Kay takes his hit 2023 standup show Undoctored on a nationwide jaunt (27 September to 13 February). This Is Going to Hurt fans will know what to expect: gallows humour and medical anecdotes not for the faint-hearted. Rachel Aroesti

    Alice in Wonderland
    Kew Gardens, London, to 31 August
    The Australian Shakespeare Company return to Kew Gardens with a trio of shows – including an interactive and family-friendly take on Lewis Carroll’s deliciously absurd adventure. Dressing up is actively encouraged (for ages 5+). Miriam Gillinson

    Hedda Gabler
    Ustinov Studio, Theatre Royal Bath, to 23 August
    Your last chance to catch Lily Allen in the title role of Ibsen’s fiercely intense classic. Suffocated by her life, can Hedda find a release? Directed by Matthew Dunster and with cast including Imogen Stubbs and Brendan Coyle. MG

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    Staying in: Streaming

    Yes, minister … Hostage. Photograph: Des Willie/Netflix

    Hostage
    Netflix, 21 August
    A Netflix nailbiter of a slightly higher order courtesy of Oscar-nominated screenwriter Matt Charman. Under the shadow of a spate of deadly Channel crossings, an immigration summit between the British prime minister (Suranne Jones) and the French president (Julie Delpy) is interrupted when the former’s husband is abducted by bereaved refugees.

    Confessions of a Brain Surgeon
    BBC Two & iPlayer, 18 August, 9pm
    In the minds of many – including his own – Henry Marsh was once a superhero: a trailblazing neurosurgeon who pioneered the practice of operating while the patient was conscious. Now retired and dealing with cancer, the 75-year-old looks back on his career as he is confronted by parents who blame him for the death of their son.

    Murder Case: The Vanishing Cyclist
    BBC Two & iPlayer, 17 August, 9pm
    This Scottish true-crime series returns to untangle the tragic fate of 63-year-old grandfather Tony Parsons, who went missing during a charity bike ride through the Highlands. His whereabouts remained a mystery until a local man decided to confess his guilt to a new girlfriend.

    Mudtown
    U&Alibi, 20 August, 9pm
    Filmed back to back in Welsh and English – the former version aired on S4C late last year – this Newport-set drama follows Claire (Gotham’s Erin Richards), a magistrate whose professional duties begin conflicting with her maternal instincts when her teenage daughter falls in with a criminal crowd. The Gold’s Tom Cullen co-stars. RA


    Staying in: Games

    Big fish … Sword of the Sea. Photograph: Giant Squid

    Sword of the Sea
    Out 19 August; PC, PS5
    Explore a desolate world on a hoverboard, pulling tricks while bringing back life to the beautifully drawn landscapes. The latest from Giant Squid, creator of the award-winning exploration game Abzû, promises a cross between 1080° Snowboarding and the seminal PlayStation title Journey.

    Discounty
    Out 21 August; PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S, Switch
    This cosy life sim has you running a supermarket in the faded seaside town of Blomkest, managing your inventory as well as testy relationships with the gossiping locals. The visuals are cute and the story will keep you intrigued as you stack those shelves. Keith Stuart


    Staying in: Albums

    In Flux … Alison Goldfrapp. Photograph: Mat Maitland

    Alison Goldfrapp – Flux
    Out now
    Partly created in Sweden, pop maven Alison Goldfrapp’s second solo album, the follow-up to 2023’s clubbier The Love Invention, reflects the wonders of its birthplace. Songs such as the tactile Strange Things Happen and the laser-guided Sound & Light feel ripe for soundtracking the northern lights, for example.

    Conan Gray – Wishbone
    Out now
    Initially created in secret while Gray was touring 2024’s Found Heaven, Wishbone eschews that record’s 80s-tinged power pop in favour of something quieter. Produced by Dan Nigro (Lorde, Chappell Roan), love lost single Vodka Cranberry gently flutters around a folksy musical backbone.

    Rise Against – Ricochet
    Out now
    Ten albums in, the Chicago punk band haven’t lost any of their power. Ricochet finds the quartet exploring ideas around interconnectedness, with muscular lead single Nod looking at where shared anger needs to be placed, while Prizefighter dissects the band’s relationship with their fanbase.

    Billianne – Modes of Transportation
    Out now
    After going viral in 2021 with her cover of Tina Turner’s The Best, Canadian singer-songwriter Billianne releases her debut album. On the galloping soft-pop of Baby Blue she gives 1989-era Taylor Swift a run for her money, while the cute Crush is a romcom theme song in waiting. MC


    Staying in: Brain food

    Sweet female attitude … The C-Word.

    The C-Word
    Podcast
    Lena Dunham and writer Alissa Bennett’s incisive series about the misunderstood women of history has recently been taken from behind its paywall. Highlights include a deep dive into the life and career of Amy Winehouse.

    Close Reading Poetry
    YouTube
    Harvard academic Dr Adam Walker’s YouTube channel not only analyses work by western canonical poets but also delivers engaging insights into the poeticism of authors such as Tolkien plus country music songwriters.

    Rare Earth
    Radio 4, 22 August, 12.04pm
    In a world increasingly struck by fires, floods and other consequences of the climate crisis, what role does insurance play? That is the question posed in this fascinating six-part series, opening with the 2024 LA wildfires. Ammar Kalia

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  • ringbrothers sculpts aston martin restomod with carbon fiber and 3D-printed stainless steel

    ringbrothers sculpts aston martin restomod with carbon fiber and 3D-printed stainless steel

    aston martin DBS ‘octavia’ unveiled at the quail

     

    The Ringbrothers unveils its 1971 Aston Martin DBS ‘Octavia’ at The Quail during Monterey Car Week 2025. The build is a reworking of the British classic in carbon fiber. It marks the Wisconsin-based shop’s first Aston Martin and stands as its most technically demanding car to date, the result of more than 12,000 hours of engineering and fabrication.

     

    designboom visited the display at the Quail to speak with the fabrication team and get a closer look at the ultra-custom one-off. Playfully referencing the British brand’s James Bond connection, the sunny space took on a 007 theme, offering shaken Vesper Martinis to visitors. The drinks were even served from a split Aston Martin body which has been converted into a small bar.

    Ringbrothers unveils the Aston Martin DBS Octavia at during Monterey Car Week 2025 | image © designboom

     

     

    a british classic reimagined by the ringbrothers

     

    The Octavia began with a donor 1971 Aston Martin DBS before undergoing a complete redesign by the Ringbrothers team. ‘The owner of the Octavia owns a few of our cars,’ Ringbrothers fabricator Ryan Fielding tells designboom at the Quail.He came to us and asked for a European muscle car. The first thing we thought of was an ’71 Aston Martin DBS.’

     

    We had one shipped from London. We scanned it and started designing and doing some CAD work with Gary Ragle. Then we started cutting up the original.’

     

    A fully carbon-fiber shell, an integrated structural cage, and a custom Roadster Shop FAST TRACK chassis give the car rigidity and presence. Designer Gary Ragle contributed extensively, shaping the engine bay, cabin layout, and numerous bespoke components to ensure that every surface is intentional.

    ringbrothers aston martin octavia
    the 1971 Aston Martin DBS is reimagined in carbon fiber with a widened stance | image © Ringbrothers

     

     

    inside the ultra-custom restomod

     

    Everything is bespoke,Fielding continues. ‘Other than things like bearings or tires, there isn’t one part that someone can buy. Nothing has ever been made before for any reason other than for this car.’ Even a set of centerlock wheels, fastened by a single central nut, are custom-designed with Ragle Design and HRE Wheels.

     

    All the brightwork, or trim, on the outside is all CNC aluminum, nickel-plated. All the brightwork on the inside of the car is 3D-printed stainless steel, and there is carbon fiber throughout.’

     

    Under the clamshell hood — a hood design which wraps around the side of the fenders — can be found a Ford Performance 5.0-liter V8, topped with a 2.65-liter supercharger, bringing 805 horsepower to the road. To suit the owner’s love of driving even further, the Octavia is backed by a six-speed manual transmission.

    ringbrothers aston martin octavia
    over 12,000 hours of fabrication shaped the car into the team’s most advanced build | image © Ringbrothers

     

     

    The Aston Martin DBS Octavia’s body is finished in Glasurit’s Double-0 Silver, accented by Nuclear Olive Green details. Billet aluminum, stainless-steel elements created through additive manufacturing, and carbon fiber inserts bring a layered richness to the car’s detailing. Even small gestures, like brass-machined door handles, and window switches retained from the original, are integrated into the visual and tactile narrative.

     

    Inside, pleated leather seats are set against a carbon fiber dashboard with 3D-printed stainless accents — especially the sculptural, see-through gearshift which could not have been fabricated any other way. Fielding emphasizes: ‘Everything you see inside this car, short of the steering column, is 3D-printed stainless steel.

     

    True to Ringbrothers’ ethos, the Octavia revels in custom details that signal craft and wit together. The valve covers were machined to hold Aston Martin emblems, altered playfully to read ‘Aston Martini.’ Even the dipstick handle takes the form of a martini glass, another nod to the most famous Aston Martin driver in cinema.

    ringbrothers aston martin octavia
    brightwork is crafted from CNC-milled aluminum and 3D printed stainless steel | image © Ringbrothers

    ringbrothers aston martin octavia
    the car is finished in Double-0 Silver with Nuclear Olive Green accents | image © Ringbrothers

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