Top Lifestyle News
Kenji Morimoto’s gochujang corn fritters and oyster mushrooms with butter bean mash – recipes
Snacks never tasted so good: spicy corn fritters with a lime pickle-spiked yoghurt, and king oyster mushrooms laced with blackberries, pomegranate molasses and soyKing oyster mushrooms are quite the centrepiece: relatively meaty and receptive to big flavours. Paired with a vibrant glaze spiked with sweet blackberries, tart pomegranate molasses and savoury soy sauce, every bite balances the richness with sharp, fruity acidity. But first some tangy, fresh fritters, celebrating fresh corn with an earthy base of gochujang, which works brilliantly against the lime pickle yoghurt. Creamy, crisp and the perfect treat. Continue reading...
‘My body is on fire!’: my perilous, painful, perfect month of pilates
A growing number of men, including singers Shaggy and Harry Styles, are taking up pilates. When I realised I could no longer touch my toes, I decided to try it outI realised something needed to change when I nearly toppled over trying to tie my shoelaces. I was on a busy high street, with people rushing past holding shopping bags, when I saw my open shoelace spooled on the ground. I bent down to deal with it and felt gravity move against me. Only a quick flail of my arms stopped me from faceplanting. When I raised myself back upright, I felt a sharp pain in my lower back. This can’t be right, I thought.Bracing my foot on a bin to finally fix my shoelace, it dawned on me. I’d become rusty. My core strength was nonexistent, as was my flexibility. Years behind a desk had taken a toll, not helped by an after-work routine of watching TV or playing video games on the sofa. But after getting home and doing some research (yes, from my sofa), I found a potential remedy: pilates. Continue reading...
Are you embracing low-tech ways to enjoy music and movies?
Perhaps you’ve ditched algorithmically curated playlists for vinyl and enjoy DVDs rather than streamingAre you turning your back on hi-tech forms of entertainment to escape algorithmically curated content?Perhaps you are enjoying listening to vinyl rather than the constant flow of music playlists. Or maybe you have ditched streaming services to watch DVDs instead. Continue reading...
Why you should quit and not look back: ‘Saying yes to everything is saying no to what matters’
In her new book, The Case For Quitting: The Surprising Benefits of Opting Out, Lindsay Crouse discusses the costs and traps of never giving up – and how she set herself freeLindsay Crouse used to define herself as not a quitter.She went to Harvard University, where she learned to become even more high-achieving and ambitious, then landed an assistant job at the New York Times and worked her way up to become an opinion writer and producer. On the weekends, Crouse ran marathons and did endurance sports, clocking new personal bests throughout her thirties. Continue reading...
The secret to making jackfruit curry that actually tastes of something | Kitchen aide
Jackfruit is a blank canvas that absorbs flavour brilliantly – it’s all about seasoning it generously and giving it enough time for the aromatics and spices to do their workI’ve just made yet another disappointing jackfruit curry. Any tips for making it more flavourful?Sally, by email“The trick with jackfruit is not to rush it,” says Eroshan Meewella, founder of Sri Lankan street-food joint Adoh! in central London. “It absorbs flavour brilliantly – spice, curry leaves, coconut milk, tamarind – so you just need to give it time.” Don’t be shy with those flavours, either, because, as Sally has discovered, jackfruit is something of a blank canvas. Sanjana Modha, author of Modern Masala, suggests treating it a bit as you would tofu: “You really have to build flavour around it. Think of jackfruit as a sponge that’s going to absorb your masala. And I cannot emphasise enough how you’ll need more onions than you think.” And she ain’t kidding: for a curry to feed four to six, Modha uses “at least” four large onions. “You must spend time caramelising them properly, so start by getting those onions really golden by frying them with a couple of cinnamon sticks, cloves and cardamom pods.” That will take a good 45 minutes. “Then add ginger, garlic and chillies – don’t be afraid to season generously with all your ground spices.” You’ll want some acidity, too: “Lemon, lime or tamarind towards the end to balance everything.”On to the jackfruit itself, which Luke Larsson, head chef at Khao Bird in London, always uses fresh from an Asian supermarket: “It’s just a hundred times better [than tinned], and it’s such a delicious fruit when fresh.” Modha, meanwhile, tends to go for tinned young green jackfruit in brine: “Drain and rinse it really well, then pat it completely dry using kitchen towel.” She fries it first in neutral oil (rapeseed, sunflower), until golden and slightly caramelised: “This gives it much more flavour, then I marinate it in ground spices and a spoonful of mustard oil for a few hours, or even overnight, before adding it to my curry.”Got a culinary dilemma? Email [email protected] Continue reading...
Using AI to ‘talk to animals’ might make us feel clever – but what, if anything, does it do for them?
As animal behaviorists increasingly use AI in their research, they grapple with how to wield the technology responsiblyI’m sitting in a small boat in Shark Bay, Australia, eavesdropping on a conversation between some of Earth’s most intelligent beings. The motor is off, the turquoise sea is glassy, and Stephanie King and I are motionless, transfixed by the whistles, clicks and squeezy, whirring noises made by the dolphins swimming below us.If anyone could tell me what these big-brained social mammals are saying, it would be her. Based at the University of Bristol, she co-leads Shark Bay Dolphin Research, one of the longest-running wild dolphin research projects in the world. She has spent thousands of hours watching and listening to this population. Continue reading...
A sea of hands, a giant ‘lifesaver-saurus’ and a melting robot: Queensland’s SWELL sculpture festival 2026 – in pictures
The beach becomes a giant art gallery each year as SWELL sculpture festival takes over Currumbin in Queensland’s south-east. Almost 100 large-scale artworks are on display during the free, 10-day outdoor exhibition, now in its 24th year. Among the artists is invited guest Patricia Piccinini, whose bronze sculpture Salute to the Sun ‘is a chimera, seamlessly moving between deer, tree, fungus, human and motorcycle’. The works are on display until Sunday 20 SeptemberSculpture by the Sea 2025: from troubled waters to Bondi beach – in pictures‘They become part of people’s identity’: how Australia fell in love with the Skywhales Continue reading...
‘A critical moment’: concern UK is not up to speed in acting on AI risks
Andy Burnham’s focus on immediate domestic problems leads some to fear issue has dropped off government’s radar Towards the end of Keir Starmer’s time in office, his senior ministers, alarmed by the latest developments in artificial intelligence, began drawing up plans for a new AI safety law.They ordered a review of existing legislation to see what powers they already had, according to those briefed on the plans, and were exploring whether they could force the world’s most advanced technology companies to submit their products for safety testing before launching them. Continue reading...
‘I pay a lot more for fewer and fewer items’: five US shoppers on their food budgets
Guardian readers share how much they spend on food and the changes they’ve had to made in response to rising pricesWhile campaigning for re-election in 2024, Donald Trump stood in front of a table full of groceries – bags of flour, cartons of eggs, cooking oil – and told voters he would bring down the price of groceries “starting on day one” of his second term in the White House.Over two years later, US consumers have yet to enjoy lower prices. In fact, due to supply chain issues, jostling over tariffs, wars in Ukraine and Iran, severe cuts in Snap (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) benefits, and the climate crisis, more than half of Americans say they’re struggling to afford groceries. Continue reading...
Are you cleaning your cat litter box correctly?
How often should you clean your cat’s litter box? Plus three other tips for peak cat cleanlinessThroughout history, people have revered cats. Ancient Egyptians worshipped feline deities. In Norse mythology, the Viking goddess Freya rode around in a sled pulled by two cats. And my father regularly takes his cat on walks around town in a little bubble backpack so she can see the sights.As anyone who has lived with a cat knows, we serve them and not the other way around. This includes the messy and malodorous task of tending their litter box. Continue reading...
Go with the flow: do you need to filter US tap water?
Experts share best practices for considering water filters – whether you’re drinking municipally treated water or relying on a wellAmericans have a lot of questions about their drinking water. How is it treated? What’s in it? Most importantly, is it safe?“I’ve even been out to eat where people overhear me talking about my work and come over to ask me a question about their tap water,” said Kimberly Parker, an environmental engineer who studies chemical contaminants in drinking water at Washington University in St Louis. Continue reading...
‘It’s about controlling your entire body’: how to start doing handstands
Handstands display a mastery of one’s physical form that I have never quite felt – and they look cool. Experts share their advice for building up strength and practicingMy aspirations in life are modest: I want to write, spend time with my loved ones, and someday find a lipstick that flatters my skintone. But perhaps my greatest ambition is this: I want to be able to do a handstand.Why? It turns the world upside down. It seems fun. It displays a mastery of one’s physical form that I have never quite felt. And it looks cool! Maybe it has to do with that one time in third grade when all my friends could do a handstand and I couldn’t, but that’s for me and my therapist to sort out later. Continue reading...
