This week's curated reads from The Guardian include a profile of Palestinian pop artist Saint Levant, analysis of Australia's budget cuts affecting people with disabilities, a satirical take on economic policy debates, a tinned tomato taste test, and a chat with comedian Alan Davies.
Five Great Reads: a tinned tomato taste test and a chat with Alan Davies ood morning. I’m back with some juicy reads from around the Guardian this week: something to curl up with over a cup of coffee, mug of soup or … tin of tomatoes?
And next time, my wonderful colleague Emma Elsworthy will be taking the reins – enjoy.
‘At a time when Palestine had produced a tragically galvanising moment for Arabs, Saint Levant emerged as the region’s first bona fide commercial Palestinian pop artist. ’Saint Levant’s detractors say he shouldn’t make pop in times of war and destruction. But millions of fans say he has given them permission to celebrate their culture and cause.
Saint Levant is a play on Saint Laurent – the icon of western style, Malik notes, Arabised in homage to the Middle East’s Levant region.
“The few Palestinian artists who had made it big before him had done so through rousing political anthems,” Malik observes, explaining the “now canonical songs of yearning and lament” produced by older generations of Arab artists. “A singer who was of Palestine, but broke with the sobriety of expression about it, was a shock to the system in a way that was invigorating and scandalising. ”‘Australians with disabilities copped the biggest cuts in the budget.
Yet conservative media’s heart bleeds only for the wealthy. ’“Nation Realising Our Politicians Have Zero Fucken Clue How To Debate Economic Policy After 20 Years Of Culture Wars,” read a recent headline on satirical news site the Betoota Advocate. Tackling an unexpected dentist’s bill, Guardian columnist Greg Jericho .
“As I paid the bill, not for the first time did I realise how fortunate I was to be able to do so but also just how screwed the debate over the budget is. ”Australians with disabilities were hit by the biggest cuts, he points out – “while the wealthiest in society lose some tax breaks and they are apparently the group most deserving of our concern.
What a society of ghouls we are if we let that be the truth. ”Photograph: Sarah Lee/The Guardian Panel show mainstay and Jonathan Creek star Alan Davies is such a constant feature of peaceful British telly that he starts to feel like a family member.
However – like most family members, I suppose – he’s had his share of dark days.
“I want to be famous because of the events of my childhood and I can’t tolerate being famous because of the events of my childhood. ” – Alan DaviesDavies tells Wollaston he found Bessel van der Kolk’s The Body Keeps the Score helpful. If you could count the number of times this book gets mentioned in interviews it would be, I imagine … very high.
Trying to pick your favourite Jilly Cooper novel is like trying to pick your favourite pet – something, incidentally, the author and most of her characters would flatly refuse to do. But Zoe Williams has done her valiant bestFood writer Nick Jordan goes through a lot of tinned tomatoes, but he’d never given much thought to which he chose, or why.
Considering the number of people likely to be in the same boat, he realised the stakes were high:his team of six reviewers tasted 26 cans of diced, chopped or pulped tomato – all blind, and all twice: straight but heated through, and cooked into a sauce. I won’t spoil it, but instead leave you with a comment overheard in the newsroom.
“He took a story where nothing happened, and created … a masterpiece. ”While we’re ranking things, John Fordham dug into the remarkable catalogue of Sonny Rollins after the jazz great’s death this week, and pulled out If it’s raining when you get this , they make for good listening. Have a lovely weekend.
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