In an interview, the basketball star reveals her humiliation — and friendships — in Russian prison, and her path to recovery.
By J Wortham
On the March afternoon when I met Brittney Griner in Phoenix, the wildflowers were in peak efflorescence, California poppies and violet cones of lupine exploding everywhere. Griner was in bloom too. She was practicing with some local ballers brought in by her W.N.B.A. team, the Mercury, to prepare its players for the start of the season in May. On the court, Griner was loose, confident, trading jokes with the other players between runs.
American investors are gobbling up the storied teams of the English Premier League — and changing the stadium experience in ways that soccer fans resent.
The Week In Art Podcast (May 3, 2024): After years of decreasing public funding, the lingering effects of the Covid pandemic and enduring questions around the ethics of corporate sponsorship, UK museums are facing unprecedented financial pressures.
Some commentators are suggesting that the time has come to abandon the policy of free admission to museums that is viewed by many as key to the cultural fabric of the UK. Among those arguing for charging is the critic and broadcaster Ben Lewis, who joins Ben Luke to discuss the issue.
This week, the British Museum opened the exhibition Michelangelo: the Last Decades. It focuses on the period after 1534, when Michelangelo left his native Florence for Rome, never to return, and embarked on many of his most ambitious projects. We take a tour of the show with its curator, Sarah Vowles.
And this episode’s Work of the Week is Maria Blanchard’s Girl at Her First Communion (1914). The painting features in a new exhibition at the Museo Picasso in Málaga. Its curator, José Lebrero Stals, tells us more about this underappreciated Spanish artist, who was at the heart of the Parisian avant garde in the 1910s and 20s.
Michelangelo: the Last Decades, British Museum, until 28 July.
‘Science Magazine – May 2, 2024: The new issue features ‘Superspreading Seeds’ – Influencers spread health messages across remote villages; making sense of evidence on early childhood education; Brain and muscle clocks cooperate to resist aging…
National Geographic Traveller Magazine (May 2, 2024): The latest issueExplore 17 unique ways to get out and about in Paris as it celebrates its Olympic year with the June 2024 issue. Plus, take a look beyond the resorts of Phuket, go on a wild adventure in Albania and discover the long-flourishing desert community of Scottsdale, Arizona.
From sailing its scenic waterways to cooling off in open-air pools or stepping back in time on a historical walking tour, there’s no shortage of ways to enjoy Paris as it welcomes the warmer weather. One of Europe’s most majestic and storied capitals, with plans to turn it into one of continent’s greenest well underway, this is a city best explored outdoors.
Also inside this issue:
Phuket: Divine gastronomy and spirited religious festivals define Thailand’s largest island Albania: Home to Europe’s first wild river national park, this adventure hub is the Balkans’ best-kept secret Algeria: Slip into a landscape of ochre citadels, nomadic peoples and volcanic plateaus Scottish Isles: Experience the nation’s wave-rattled northern and western fringes with these daring itineraries Valletta: Whether on a church ceiling or in a subterranean necropolis, art can be found all over the Maltese capital Scottsdale: This Arizona city’s past, present and future are bound to the mountains and the desert Northern Lanzarote: Forget the beach resorts — this island’s northern reaches are ripe for adventure Mumbai: In this vast city, a love of street food is as immovable as the streets themselves Santiago: Hang behind in the Chilean capital to discover museums, street art and characterful hotels
Times Literary Supplement (May 1, 2024): The latest issue features ‘Making it New’ – A.E. Stallings on the innovative classicism of Anne Carson’s poetry; Salman Rushdie’s memoir of survival; Politics and performance and more…
Tufts Health & Nutrition Letter (APRIL 30, 2024): The new issue features Vitamin Supplements – Yes, of No?; A large analysis clarifies the concerns about ultra-processed foods, and more….
Kate Green and Agnes Stamp take a geological tour of our islands to dig out what makes them special; granite country, chalk downland, The Fens, Wealden clay, Welsh slate, Yorkshire mill-stone grit, The Highlands and Cotswold limestone
Matthew Rice sketches the myriad architectural styles
Mark Diacono rubs the soil between his fingers
Victoria Marston wraps her tongue around dialects
Harry Pearson downs a pint or three of local ale
And finally, the ultimate quiz
Et in Arcadia ego
For Constable, the countryside was a lover, for Samuel Palmer, it offered an escape from the real world and for Paul Nash it held an inescapable lure. Michael Prodger examines the effect of British landscapes on art
The Duchess of Marlborough’s favourite painting
The ceramicist chooses an evocation of her childhood
Let us now praise the Nanny State
We should embrace Mary Poppins-esque common sense, believes Carla Carlisle
The legacy
Kate Green salutes the 10th Duke of Beaufort on the eve of the Badminton Horse Trials that set British riders on their gallop to three-day-eventing victory
Cometh the ice men
Don’t cast those jumpers out just yet, advises Lia Leendertz
Interiors
Get ready for the warmer weather with Amelia Thorpe’s pick of outdoor furniture
London Life
Royal photographs
All you need to know about cloth, cheese and Trafalgar Square
Jack Watkins tells the tale of Covent Garden
Adam Hay-Nicholls relishes the roar of engines in Savile Row
Up hill and down dale
Kathryn Bradley-Hole finds that formality is leavened by verve and personality in the gardens of Dalemain at Penrith, Cumbria, where the blue poppies bloom
Kitchen garden cook
Melanie Johnson gathers bunches of fresh watercress
Native herbs
Unmistakeable in scent, versatile in use, wild garlic is a forager’s dream, but don’t let dairy cows graze it, warns Ian Morton
Travel
Mark Hedges escapes to our nearest paradise, the Isles of Scilly
Tom Parker Bowles feasts on a proper club sandwich
Pamela Goodman dares to swim the Dordogne
The good stuff
Hetty Lintell takes her time choosing the latest wonderful watches unveiled in Geneva
News, Views and Reviews For The Intellectually Curious
National Geographic Traveller Magazine (May 2, 2024): The latest issue 
Boomers Daily 