Iconicon by John Grindrod review – Britain transformed
From Thatcher to Brexit – a history of the country through some pretty good buildings and a vast number of awful ones
Astral peaks: music, books, art and more about the majesty of space
From beautiful celestial metaphors to a virtual simulacrum of an entire galaxy, our critics suggest popular culture inspired by the wonders of astronomy
‘I couldn’t face the resentment and rage’: can artistic couples have successful relationships?
From Ted Hughes and Sylvia Plath to Philip Roth and Claire Bloom – novelist Charlotte Mendelson on the seething envy within famous partnerships
Top 10 books about suffering artists
From Max Porter’s vision of Francis Bacon’s last days to Heather Clark’s fresh look at Sylvia Plath, these works complicate our understanding of the links between pain and art
Three things with Jane Caro: ‘It’s not the 80s and it never will be again’
In our weekly interview about objects, the writer and commentator tells us about her bag of essentials, and the earrings she amassed in the 80s
How Shirley Hughes explored the dramas of children’s lives in a changing world
The author and illustrator behind the Alfie and Dogger series thrilled parents and grandparents as well as the young, writes former children’s laureate Michael Rosen
Patrick Radden Keefe on exposing the Sackler family’s links to the opioid crisis
The journalist tracked the billionaire arts philanthropists’ role in the OxyContin scandal in his gripping bestseller. He talks about why the bad guys are still getting away with it
Unseen JRR Tolkien paintings, photographs and video clips released
Estate of Lord of the Rings author also publishes unseen draft manuscripts and letters on its website
The Guardian view on Jan Pieńkowski: funny, frightening, brilliant
Editorial: The artist understood that children can be scared by books – safely
Jan Pieńkowski obituary
Illustrator and creator of the Meg and Mog children’s books, who also used pop-up and paper cut-outs to thrilling effect
On my radar: Akala’s cultural highlights
The rapper, presenter and author on the album he’s listening to a lot, Idris Elba’s mean side, and the enduring power of Tupac
Kurt Schwitters’ unknown portrait sitter identified as wartime German spy
Historian finds that one of the subjects the artist painted while he was detained by the British alongside other refugees who had fled the Nazis was Ludwig Warschauer, who later confessed to espionage
A rainforest cries: music, art, books and more to help you deal with climate anxiety
From Noname’s new single to Bruegel’s vision of a lost world, our critics offer up culture for processing the impending crisis
‘Adults are banning books, but they’re not asking our opinions’: meet the teens of the Banned Book Club
Conservatives are pushing to ban books from school libraries. At a time of crisis, a group of Pennsylvania teenagers are fighting back
Well-dressed and distressed: why sad young women are the latest book cover trend
Their lives are tough. Their clothes are stylish. Their faces are hidden. The cover girls of today’s book have a lot in common – but are they here to stay?