Cripes! Spotty becomes Scotty as the Beano reflects modern thought
New name for James Scott Cameron of the Bash Street Kids follows Fatty’s name change to Freddy in May
From Bill Clinton to Robert Peston: celebrity crime fiction on trial
After you’ve written your memoir, publishers these days want anyone famous to write crime novels. We put 10 of the most well-known in the dock
The secret history of Sesame Street: ‘It was utopian – it’s part of who we all are’
In 1970, David Attie was sent to photograph the birth of the kids’ landmark TV show as part of a cold war propaganda drive by the US government. But these newly found images are just one part of the programme’s radical history
Mark Huband obituary
Foreign correspondent respected for his work in west Africa and the Middle East who went on to write books and poems
Chris Cuomo’s upcoming book pulled by HarperCollins following dismissal by CNN
The publisher cancelled the book days after he was fired for assisting his brother during sexual misconduct investigation
Christmas in Genovia: what exactly does Hollywood think Europe is?
Netflix and Disney set their festive films in a made-up mishmash of France, Switzerland, Romania and everything in between. Is real Europe so hard to love?
The big idea: are we really so polarised?
In many democracies the political chasm seems wider than ever. But emotion, not policies, may be what actually divides us
Jon Ronson and Adam Curtis on the culture wars: ‘How has this happened? Where is the escape hatch?’
As Ronson’s BBC podcast Things Fell Apart begins, the documentary-makers and old friends discuss conspiracy theories, the problem of ‘activist journalists’ and what happened to Ceaușescu’s socks
Social media helped me face cancer, says Chocolat author Joanne Harris
Writer tells Lauren Laverne on Desert Island Discs how she felt ‘connected to the world’ when discussing her breast cancer
Too Famous by Michael Wolff review – a sneering apologist for the notorious
In this collection of his essays and columns, the American journalist takes pride in being as ruthless as some of those he writes about – from Jeffrey Epstein to Steve Bannon
Timothée Chalamet’s Wonka: is it so wrong to find him scrumdiddlyumptious?
The actor’s in-costume Instagram post has caused social media users to accuse the film-makers of “making Willy Wonka sexy” – but Wonka-lust is hardly new
The Netflix/Roald Dahl deal is rich with potential spin-offs
Now that Netflix has snapped up the entire works of Roald Dahl, the real job of creating some interesting TV shows can begin. But what might be coming oir way, wonders Eva Wiseman
Let’s not kid ourselves, we are all the Bad Art Friend
Tales of book-world disputes blow up so reliably online that they could be a new genre, subtitled ‘the thrill of being mean’
Robert Richardson obituary
Crime writer who drew on his experience as a Fleet Street journalist to colour his thrillers
Mel Gooding obituary
Writer on art who undertook interviews for the Artists’ Lives oral history project at the British Library