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The Dark Side of Creativity Children’s writers are sometimes cruel, and often damaged. And, as AS Byatt put it crisply when talking about her 2009 novel The Children’s Book: “Writing children’s books isn’t good for the writer’s own children.” Think of Christopher Milne, raging at having been Christopher Robin; Vivian Burnett, dragging Little Lord Fauntleroy behind him; Alastair Grahame, lying down on train tracks. The Trapped Protagonist This is fertile material, as Byatt recognised, for a grown-up book. The American author Melissa Albert, herself a very successful children’s writer, has made it the theme of her first adult novel. The Children’s protagonist is Guinevere Sharpe, who as a grown woman is trapped by a very public version of her childhood. Her mother, Edith, a sort of JK Rowling/Enid Blyton composite, wrote an era-defining run of children’s portal fantasies called the Ninth City series, in which Guin and her older brother Ennis appeared as the named protagonists. The Unraveling of a Family Their marriage turns toxic. Edith is remote and frosty. The loving and boisterous Llewellyn is stricken by an unspecified illness and the light starts to go out of him. And the children, devoted to each other and freed from the necessity of formal schooling, are left to their own devices. Meanwhile, there’s something very spooky about their old wooden house. Occult artefacts surface. Its inhabitants have disturbing dreams. Edith shows up one day with a missing finger. Unraveling the Mystery In the present tense of the novel, meanwhile, Edith and Llewellyn have died in a fire that consumed the house; the sixth and last book in the Ninth City series never got written; and Guin and Ennis, once so close, have been on nonspeakers for two decades. A conceptual artist who builds uncanny installations, Ennis has always refused to talk about his childhood and the Ninth City books – but just as Guin is publicising her memoir, he announces a new show called Mother. The Cost of Creativity What we know about the Ninth City series – that in its universe there’s a vampiric figure called the Architect who steals the dreams of children to build constantly shifting fantasy worlds – casts an ominous shadow over Guin’s story. You get a hunch Albert is saying something here about the creative process, and the cost of it. Edith is a brilliant children’s writer – but she’s not quite right. A Complex but Flawed Novel That bumper crop of mysteries is also a slight weakness of this very readable and intriguing book. There’s simply so much going on that the force of the story dissipates: Edith never comes fully into focus; Guin’s crumbling relationship with her fiance, Hank, though acutely described, struggles to carry the weight it wants to; the ending is a little rushed.

The Punk Revolution That Changed Music ForeverFifty years ago this week, the Sex Pistols played their first Manchester gig at the city's Lesser Free Trade Hall. This relatively small event, attended by only a few dozen people, marked the beginning of a summer that would forever change British rock music. By the end of 1976, the music landscape had been completely transformed with the live debuts of the Clash, the Damned, and Buzzcocks, the arrival of fanzine Sniffin' Glue, and the first British gig by the Ramones. This punk explosion would ultimately obliterate everything that came immediately before it from the collective memory.The Forgotten Music Landscape of Pre-Punk BritainThe musical world that punk entered into has been largely forgotten in the shadow of its revolutionary impact. Reading the weekly music papers from 1976 reveals a deeply different landscape than what we imagine today. While familiar names like Elton John, Paul McCartney, Queen, the Who, and the Rolling Stones dominated, they were discussed in terms that now seem alien. An NME cover asked "Is Your Fave Rave Rock Star Old Enough To Be Your Father?" beneath the headline "All The People On This Page Will Be 30 Or Over During The Next Year - How Will They Live With It?" - a question that seems quaint given these artists' continued relevance decades later.The Economics of a Pre-Punk Music IndustryThe financial aspects of the pre-punk music industry present striking contrasts to today's market. The Rolling Stones' spring tour tickets that caused public hand-wringing in 1976 cost £3, equivalent to approximately £30 in today's money. This stands in stark contrast to the Stones' 2022 Hyde Park performance, where getting close to the stage would have cost £186. The industry was also experiencing different economic pressures, with Bruce Springsteen's UK promotion attempts being dismissed as "desperate hype around underwhelming music," while Nils Lofgren was being hyped as "one of the biggest stars in the world" based on his second solo album.The Cultural Shift That Punk RepresentedPunk's emergence represented a profound cultural shift in music and society. The movement wasn't just musical but ideological, challenging the perceived irrelevance of mainstream rock. As Mick Farren wrote in NME, rock had "lost its guts" and was "on an unalterable course to a neo-Las Vegas" because artists were "totally insulated from the real world." Punk's raw energy, DIY ethos, and anti-establishment stance provided a direct counterpoint to this perceived artistic complacency. The movement's impact extended beyond music, influencing fashion, politics, and youth culture in ways that continue to resonate.The Legacy of Punk and Its Forgotten VictimsAs we look back on punk's legacy, it's important to acknowledge the artists and bands who were effectively erased by its meteoric rise. The music press of 1976 was filled with names now largely forgotten: the Jess Roden Band, Nasty Pop, the Cate Brothers, and Elephunt. There was also a peculiar vogue for bands mixing music and comedy, such as Alberto y Lost Trios Paranoias and Supercharge, who apparently reduced audiences to stitches with their impersonations of popular acts. These artists and countless others represent the rich, diverse musical ecosystem that punk's revolution temporarily obscured, though some have since been rediscovered by music historians and crate diggers.

Breathing Earth's Ancient PastMore than 2bn years ago, during the Paleoproterozoic era, the Earth's atmosphere began to fill with free oxygen, enabling the rise of aerobic life and, ultimately, humans. This Great Oxidation Event is now being experienced firsthand by visitors to the Museum of Old and New Art (Mona) in Tasmania, where French-Swiss conceptual artist Julian Charrière has created an extraordinary installation that allows people to inhale oxygen that has been trapped in iron ore since that ancient time.When Charrière came up with the concept for what would become 'Breathe,' Mona's owner David Walsh not only approved the project but created a bespoke space for it, recognizing the unique intersection of science, art, and human experience that the installation represents.The Science Behind the Ancient OxygenThe installation is a marvel of scientific ingenuity and artistic vision. Charrière has sourced ancient iron ore from Australia's Pilbara region, which is processed daily in an on-site laboratory. The water is extracted from the ore using specialized machinery, then put through a Hofmann apparatus—a piece of scientific equipment that electrolyzes water—to liberate the trapped oxygen molecules.This pure, ancient oxygen is then released into a specially designed room where visitors can breathe it in, creating a direct connection to the beginning of life on Earth. As Charrière explains: 'I want people to get all the way back to the beginning of the earth. It's like a time machine.' The installation is designed as a solitary experience, with visitors accessing a vault-like corridor reminiscent of a mining drift, flanked by raw sandstone and lined with deep red rocks from the Pilbara.The Immense Timescale of the InstallationThe timescale involved in 'Breathe' is almost incomprehensible. The oxygen visitors inhale has been trapped in iron ore for over 2.4 billion years—since the Great Oxidation Event that transformed Earth's atmosphere and enabled the development of complex life forms. This installation literally connects each visitor to the primordial beginnings of our planet's atmosphere.As visitors walk through the tunnel, the temperature drops as they approach a high-ceilinged cylindrical room, an underground windowless tower where lighting depends on the amount of sun that can be reflected through a small opening above. Walking over tiles made of polished ancient tiger ore, they circle a floor-to-ceiling clear glass tube that houses the Hofmann apparatus. It is here, at a small opening, that visitors have their closest access to Charrière's pure, ancient oxygen.Redefining the Art-Science Experience'Breathe' represents a groundbreaking fusion of scientific methodology and artistic expression, challenging traditional boundaries between disciplines. The installation creates a profound personal experience that connects visitors not just to art, but to the very essence of life on Earth.What makes this installation particularly powerful is its claim that each visitor is the first human being to ever inhale that specific oxygen. As Charrière explains: 'You are breathing something which is so pure and has not been touched by any being before you... And the beauty of the piece is you will carry it until you die. You're going to become a small part of this installation and you become a big part of the great oxygen cycle, and you will only finally free this oxygen once... once you're going in the other world.'This installation is part of a broader trend in contemporary art that incorporates scientific processes and concepts, creating works that are both intellectually stimulating and viscerally impactful.The Future of Scientific Art Installations'Breathe' is opening alongside Charrière's major new exhibition 'Hard Core,' which showcases both the ambition and scientific curiosity of the Berlin-based artist. Individual elements of 'Hard Core' have been exhibited elsewhere in the world, including at the Venice Biennale, but the full exhibition finds its perfect home at Mona, with its exposed rock, industrial aesthetic, and fusion of science with art.As museums and galleries continue to seek innovative ways to engage audiences, installations like 'Breathe' point to a future where art and science are not just displayed together but are fundamentally intertwined in the creative process. This approach has the potential to create more immersive, educational, and thought-provoking experiences that challenge visitors to see the world—and their place in it—in new ways.Charrière's work demonstrates how art can make abstract scientific concepts tangible and personal, creating connections across vast stretches of time and space. As our understanding of the universe expands, art installations like 'Breathe' will play an increasingly important role in helping us process and relate to these profound concepts.

The Encounter with the 'Queen of Trees' I breathe in the bluebells as a blackcap sings. At the crescendo, a flash of yellow breaks up the blue – a brimstone butterfly flies up to my face, then moves back, approaches, then draws back, repeating the fluttered action until I follow. A Moment of Connection in the Forest Together, we weave through fresh-scented firs before my companion flits away and I realise that I have come further into the forest than intended. My feet start to throb and the wind, as the sky grows overcast, brings a chill. I see the leaves of a vaulted canopy stir overhead and feel the softest carpet of fallen catkins underfoot. Although the threat of rain urges me forwards, a tree, an imposing common beech, makes me stay. The Majesty of the Common Beech Looking up through the domed crown, I think of the beech’s moniker as the queen of British trees. The long-living, high‑growing beech can grow over 40 metres tall and – with age, perhaps spanning multiple centuries – provide habitats for deadwood specialists like wood‑boring insects and hole‑nesting birds. This tree’s girth speaks of a long life that I find myself imagining; how many winds have run through the leaves, how many birds have been held in the branches, how many foot‑sore humans have found relief sinking into fallen catkins? A Shared Moment with a Tawny Owlet Thinking myself alone, it takes a confused moment to disentangle my eyes from another’s, to realise that – deep in the tree’s crevice – a tawny owlet is watching me. My eyes take small circuits around the white patches of the bird’s face: first the beak, then over the left eye, the right, then back again. I blink. It blinks. I blink. It blinks. We are reaching some kind of accord. A Peaceful Goodbye I move back a little and wait. Every now and then, its eyes meet mine. It blinks. I blink. It would be easy to fall asleep, as no doubt it was before my approach. But I know that I cannot stay. As I edge away, I mutter thanks to the brimstone for taking me on a different route, for leading me to this sheltering beech and the secrets that it keeps.

The Climate Policy Reversal in Blue States Democratic-led states are eroding their climate policies, as red states are scaling up their clean energy deployment. California on Friday scaled back its cap-and-invest program, offering more than $3bn in free pollution allowances to polluting companies. Earlier the same week, New York weakened its groundbreaking climate law, delaying a plan to regulate carbon from 2024 until 2028 and reducing emissions-slashing targets. Rhode Island's governor, meanwhile, is attempting to roll back aggressive clean-energy programs. The Economic Justification vs. Climate Imperative The moves come as Donald Trump's administration withdraws clean energy incentives and energy savings programs, and as energy prices spike across the country amid trade disruptions stemming from the US-Israeli war on Iran. Proponents have said the changes are necessary to suppress electricity costs, but climate advocates say that view is short-sighted and misguided. "Using affordability as a cudgel to weaken climate policy is a major error that will not solve either crisis, ultimately amplifying both," said Johanna Bozuwa, executive director of the Climate and Community Institute, a left-leaning thinktank. "Extreme weather and fossil-fuel dependency directly inflate costs – for food, energy, transportation, housing, and health – across the economy for working people." American Public Opinion on Climate Change Polls show most Americans are concerned about the climate crisis. An annual poll from Gallup, published in April, shows that 44% of American adults say they worry "a great deal" about global warming – one of the highest levels of concern since 1989, when the poll was first conducted, behind only 2020 and 2017. About 65% of registered voters in the US also think global heating is driving up the cost of living, according to a report published in December by Yale University and George Mason University. Red States Lead Clean Energy Buildout In contrast to many Democratic-led jurisdictions, red states have tended to dominate renewable energy deployment in recent years. In terms of growth of utility-scale renewables, states that voted for Donald Trump in the 2024 presidential election made up eight of the top 10 in the year to March, according to Energy Information Administration data. Indiana tops the list of states with the most clean energy capacity growth in that timeframe, followed by Kentucky and Utah. More broadly, though, it is Texas that has emerged as the country's leading clean energy superpower, despite its strong ties to the oil and gas industry and unsuccessful attempts within the Republican-led legislature to curb the growth of wind and solar. Texas leads the country in wind energy production, followed by fellow red states Iowa, Oklahoma and Kansas, and in March overtook California in utility-scale solar, too. The Paradox of Climate Leadership Meanwhile, the states scaling back their emissions-cutting policies have long called themselves climate leaders. When Governor Gavin Newsom of California extended his state's cap-and-invest program last year, he said: "We're doubling down on our best tool to combat Trump's assaults on clean air … by making polluters pay for projects that support our most impacted communities." The changes could end up giving more money to the fossil fuel producers and distributors who have been increasing consumers' energy prices amid the Iran war, said Bahram Fazeli, Policy Director with Communities for a Better Environment, a grassroots organization in California. "There's no reason to think that giving them more free allowances will actually help motivate them to lower gas prices more," he said. Long-Term Economic Implications New York advocates are also skeptical about whether the weakening of the 2019 Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act – which the state touted as among the strongest climate laws the country – will deliver long-term benefits. The state legislature last week reached a deal with Governor Kathy Hochul to remove a 2030 mandate to cut planet-warming pollution by 40% from 1990 levels, instead including language to aim for a 60% by 2040 if it is "feasible and cost effective" to do so. "Even though you might see bill savings initially, that's going to come at the cost of locked-in, higher energy costs in the future, as the grid has to procure more energy that would otherwise have been saved," Anna Johnson, a senior policy manager State at American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy, told Baltimore's NPR affiliate WYPR; she estimates that the moves could ultimately increase households' electricity costs by $592m. The True Cost of Inaction The climate crisis itself also costs for working people, said Mar Zepeda Salazar, legislative director of the national environmental justice coalition Climate Justice Alliance. "You can lower costs on paper by weakening protections, but the bill still comes due," she said. "It just shows up in emergency rooms, insurance premiums, utility bills, lost wages, and disaster recovery – that families pay, not industry."

The Biofuel Demand SurgeDemand for biofuels is likely to leap by nearly a third this year as countries seek alternatives to expensive oil. The US, Indonesia, Brazil, Thailand and others have opted to increase biofuel use as the price of oil has jumped to nearly $100 a barrel after the US-Israeli attacks on Iran and the closure of the strait of Hormuz.Projected Growth and Environmental ConcernsIf oil supplies remain constrained, demand for biofuels could increase by 70% by 2030, according to estimates from the Transport & Environment (T&E;) thinktank. Biofuels, from oil-bearing crops and grains, currently supply about 4% of the world's transport energy demand. Expanding biofuel production without competing with food crops for land and fertiliser would be difficult to achieve, and reaching 20% of global road fuel from biofuels would require an area the size of South Africa.The Food Security ImpactThe expansion of biofuels comes at a time when fertilizer supply has been constrained by the war and prices have soared, leading to rises in the price of staple foods for some of the poorest people in many parts of the world. Biofuels compete with food crops for land, while globally about one in every 20 tonnes of fertiliser is used to produce crops for fuel. In some countries it is a lot more: a tenth of fertiliser use in the US is for biofuels, and a fifth in Indonesia.Historical Precedents and Future ProjectionsThough it is not possible to say exactly how far the expansion of biofuels could lift food prices, experts suggest it could be significant. In the food crises of 2007-08, the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization estimated that biofuel use contributed between 40% and 70% of the increase in maize and soya bean prices. The US is already forecasting that food prices will rise this year by between 2.2% and 4.7%, largely owing to the impacts of the war in Iran.Sustainable AlternativesEncouraging the switch to electric vehicles could reduce demand for biofuels, as generating renewable energy is a far more efficient use of land than growing crops for fuel. Solar panels covering just 3% of the land currently used for biofuel production would generate the same amount of energy, and because of the higher efficiency of electric vehicles, that would be enough to power a third of the global car fleet.

The NAO Report on Royal Property ArrangementsThe National Audit Office (NAO) has released a comprehensive review of royal property arrangements, exposing a complex landscape of financial dealings that differ significantly based on the tenant's role and the property's management status. The report details how the Prince of Wales and Princess of Wales secured a lease on Forest Lodge, while simultaneously revealing how Prince Andrew utilized his lease at Royal Lodge to generate private income through subletting, all while paying a nominal "peppercorn rent" to the Crown Estate.Prince Andrew's Subletting Strategy at Royal LodgeThe most contentious finding involves Prince Andrew's tenure at Royal Lodge, the Windsor estate he occupied until recently. Despite paying a nominal rent, the report confirms he sublet three cottages on the property. Sources indicate these sublets were likely structured to cover maintenance and staff costs rather than generate significant profit, but the lack of public figures on rental income versus expenses has fueled public criticism.Lease Terms: Andrew paid a £1m premium and £7.5m on refurbishments under a 75-year lease.Current Status: Following eviction by King Charles, he has moved to Marsh Farm on the Sandringham Estate.Potential Compensation: He could be entitled to between £301,967.66 and £488,342.21 if he surrenders the lease early, though the Crown Estate claims dilapidations may negate this.The Financial Breakdown of Royal LeasesThe report highlights a tiered system of rent payments across the royal family, distinguishing between properties managed by the Crown Estate and those managed by the Royal Household. For working royals, "adjusted rent" is often applied to account for security vetting requirements.Prince William and Catherine: Pay £307,200 annually for Forest Lodge, with no upfront premium, though they are responsible for internal refurbishments.Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie: Pay "adjusted rents" ranging from 60% to 68% of open market value for their palaces, which the report notes covers the costs met by the Sovereign Grant.Prince Edward: Pays a peppercorn rent for Bagshot Park and previously generated income by renting out the stable block.Transparency and Public Perception in the MonarchyThe disparity in rent arrangements has triggered a political response, with Norman Baker criticizing the arrangements as an "insult to injury." The report reveals that while the Crown Estate applies standard commercial practices, the Royal Household manages properties at no cost to tenants who perform official duties. The public outcry following the revelation of Andrew's peppercorn rent has prompted the Commons public accounts committee to launch an inquiry into these property arrangements.Future Outlook: Reforming Royal Property ManagementWith the Commons inquiry underway, the monarchy faces increasing pressure to standardize its property management practices. The NAO's findings suggest that while current arrangements are legally defensible and often financially neutral for the taxpayer, the perception of favoritism and lack of transparency regarding private income generation from royal assets remains a significant vulnerability for the institution.

The Return of Mira Murati to the Public StageMira Murati, former CTO of OpenAI and current CEO of Thinking Machines Lab, has made her first major media appearance in approximately 18 months, sitting down with Bloomberg in San Francisco. This rare public appearance comes as Murati's company, which has been operating largely in the background, seeks to establish its presence in an increasingly competitive AI landscape.Thinking Machines' New Approach: Interaction ModelsDuring the interview, Murati previewed what Thinking Machines is calling "interaction models," described as a fundamentally different kind of AI interface. Unlike the traditional turn-based, prompt-and-response dynamic common in most AI products today, the company's models are designed to process continuous streams of audio, text, and video in 200-millisecond intervals. This approach aims to capture the nuances of human communication—including interruptions, mid-thought corrections, and pauses—in something closer to real time.Murati emphasized that this approach aligns with her lab's core thesis that the path to powerful AI runs through closer human collaboration, not around it. She was careful to frame it as a first step rather than a finished product, declining to specify a release date.The Competitive AI LandscapeThe timing of Murati's public return is strategic. While Thinking Machines has spent the past year and a half operating in the background—raising capital, hiring researchers, and shipping one product, Tinker (an API for fine-tuning open-source AI models)—its competitors have grown more omnipresent. OpenAI, where Murati spent six years as CTO, remains constantly in the news cycle. Anthropic has gained significant momentum, and Elon Musk's xAI has been folded into SpaceX ahead of what is expected to be a massive public offering.In this environment, Murati acknowledged that staying heads down has diminishing returns, and at some point, a company must make noise to remind the market it exists.Reflections on OpenAI's Leadership CrisisMurati also addressed the chaotic week in November 2023 when OpenAI's board fired Sam Altman, and she became interim CEO—an event referred to internally as "the blip." She expressed clarity about her decisions during that period, stating that protecting the mission and team guided her choices even as the situation appeared to be unraveling externally. Murati claimed the company would have "imploded" without her involvement during those five days and their immediate aftermath.In retrospect, she acknowledged she would have pushed harder for more information, a better transition plan, and more transparency. When asked if she still trusts her former boss, she sidestepped the question, instead focusing on her broader concern about the concentration of consequential decisions in too few hands across the industry.Talent Challenges and Compensation CultureChang pressed Murati on the departures of several high-profile researchers from Thinking Machines in recent months, a subject Murati has largely avoided in public. She explained that building a frontier AI lab from scratch compresses years of normal organizational volatility into months. Regarding compensation—the nine-figure packages that have become standard in the AI talent war—Murati suggested it isn't usually the whole story behind talent decisions."When I wake up in the morning, I am not thinking about how to kill the competitor," Murati quipped, drawing audience laughter and highlighting her competitive approach to building rather than destroying.The Future of AI and Human AgencyWhen asked about the future of AI and its impact on humanity, Murati pushed back on both inevitable dystopia and inevitable utopia scenarios. She argued that neither outcome is predetermined and that the current period will determine which direction things go. However, she warned that if humans "take their hands off the wheel too soon," the future will look very different, and not better.Born in Albania and speaking with a slight Eastern European accent, Murati emphasized the importance of maintaining human agency in AI development, reflecting on concerns about mass job displacement and potential misuse of AI for harmful purposes like creating chemical weapons.

President William Ruto Defends Controversial US Ebola Treatment CenterAmid a wave of street demonstrations in Nairobi, President William Ruto publicly supported the US‑backed Ebola facility, arguing that the centre is a critical component of Kenya’s readiness for future outbreaks. He framed the protests as a misunderstanding of the centre’s purpose and warned that abandoning the project would jeopardise regional health security.Escalating Unrest: Casualties and Protest DynamicsProtests erupted outside the facility on June 3, 2026, driven by concerns over sovereignty and alleged lack of community consultation.Security forces responded with tear gas and baton charges; reports indicate several deaths and dozens of injuries, though official numbers remain unconfirmed.Demonstrators cited fears of a permanent foreign medical enclave and demanded the centre’s closure.Financial Stakes: US Aid and Kenyan Health Budget ImplicationsThe Ebola centre is financed through a $150 million US grant earmarked for disease surveillance and treatment infrastructure. Kenya’s health ministry allocated an additional 5 % of its annual health budget to integrate the facility into the national response framework. Disruption of the project could jeopardise future bilateral health funding and stall planned upgrades to other disease‑control labs.Regional Repercussions: Trust in International Health PartnershipsKenya’s handling of the protests is being watched by neighboring states that rely on similar US‑funded health initiatives. A perceived crackdown could erode public confidence in foreign‑backed programs, prompting governments to reassess partnership terms, increase local stakeholder engagement, or seek alternative financing sources.Looking Ahead: Potential Policy Shifts and Security MeasuresAnalysts anticipate that the government will adopt a dual strategy: reinforcing security around the facility while launching a community‑outreach campaign to explain its benefits. In the longer term, Kenya may negotiate greater local oversight of foreign‑funded health projects to mitigate backlash and ensure smoother implementation of future pandemic‑preparedness efforts.