A brief history of the diss track – from the Roxanne Wars to Megan Thee Stallion: Released last month, Houston-born rapper Megan Thee Stallion’s hit song Hiss is a textbook diss record. Fans and critics have suggested the track takes aim at multiple artists including Tory Lanez, Nicki Minaj and Drake. Minaj responded with her …
A brief history of drug-fuelled combatants: My friend Luke used to drink a pint of beer before a game of rugby. I don’t know whether he thought that it might reduce pain or improve performance, but the idea of taking drugs before “going into battle” goes back to the beginning of recorded history. Indeed, we …
A brief history of time – as told by a watchmaker: Mikhail Leonov/Shutterstock I once restored a 1950s timepiece for a customer who waxed lyrical about the intricacies of my work – all the while refusing to pay. They baulked when I presented them with the bill we’d previously agreed. Then they garbled on about …
A brief history of Britain’s obsession with the hot water bottle: Last winter, UK retailers reported record sales of water bottles as consumers look to cut their heating costs as the average household energy bills soared. Boiling a kettle to fill a hot water bottle uses less energy than an electric blanket or turning on …
A brief history of goth fashion – from all-black to pastels: Goth is the subculture that never died – or more precisely, perhaps, remains undead. The persistence of the subculture’s style is due to the remarkable richness of the cultural tradition on which it draws, and its malleability – its striking ability to absorb new …
A brief history of abortion – from ancient Egyptian herbs to fighting stigma today: The first recorded evidence of induced abortion is from an ancient Egyptian papyrus. pexels/karolina grabowska You might be forgiven for thinking of abortion as a particularly modern phenomenon. But there’s plenty of evidence to suggest that abortion has been a constant …
A brief history of pregnancy tests – from toads and rabbits to rosewater: Today, knowing if you are pregnant is usually straightforward – you pee on a stick and then wait for the lines to appear. Tests for women to use themselves at home were first marketed in the 1960s. They work by detecting the …
‘I’m just Ken’ – a brief history of Barbie’s boyfriend, from all-American boy to movie star: Ryan Gosling as Ken in the new Barbie movie. Warner Bros. Pictures As first boyfriends go, you could do worse than Ken Carson. Introduced in 1961 by Mattel, the Ken doll was the epitome of the all-American boy next …
A brief history of British lidos – and new hope for their return to glory: Vivacity Lido in Peterborough. Clare Louise Jackson/Shutterstock The oldest outdoor swimming pool in the UK – the Grade II listed Cleveland Pools in Bath which first opened in 1815 – will reopen during the summer of 2023, after significant restoration. …
Putin seriously weakened by brief Wagner Group mutiny — but it was a missed opportunity for Ukraine too: Blink and you could have missed it. Within 36 hours, the challenge mounted against the Kremlin by Yevgeny Prigozhin, the leader of the mercenary private military company the Wagner Group, was over. On Friday June 23 2023, …
A brief history of camp: from minority sensibility to political protest: Early in the first episode of the BBC reality dating show I Kissed A Boy, glamorous pop star Danni Minogue descends a staircase to greet the all-male line-up of contestants. “Probably not the right heels for this,” she admits. “Don’t worry, I’ve got another …
Chow mein and chips: a brief history of the British Chinese takeaway: A Chinese and English takeaway in Claughton village, Birkenhead. Philip Brookes/Shutterstock “I’ve never been so disgusted in my life.” Such was one Twitter user’s response to a recent video showcasing the spoils of a British Chinese takeaway order. “British Chinese” was trending on …
From rags and pads to the sanitary apron: a brief history of period products: Skrypnykov Dmytro/Shutterstock Period blood: it’s not something many people want to talk about. Taboos around menstruation and menstrual blood have been around for centuries. Even today, despite menstrual blood being featured in contemporary art, this basic part of many women’s identities …
A brief history of school meals in the UK: from free milk to Jamie Oliver’s campaign against Turkey Twizzlers: Mashed potato, gravy, custard. When British people hear the words “school dinners”, it’s not always great memories that come to mind. That’s not the case for everyone. Indeed France is known for its gourmet school lunches …
Van Gogh Museum at 50: Vincent van Gogh and the art market – a brief history: Amsterdam's Van Gogh Museum. Shutterstock Amsterdam’s Van Gogh Museum turns 50 in 2023. The museum, dedicated to the art of one of the most famous artists in the world, attracts over two million visitors each year. You can listen …
A brief history of the UK’s Winchcombe meteorite: There was little time for water from the Earth's atmosphere to contaminate the meteorite after it fell. Trustees of the Natural History Museum, Author provided On 28 February 2021, for the first time in 30 years, a meteorite fell in the UK and was later recovered by …
Pikachu to depart: a brief history of the world’s favourite Pokémon: In the run-up to Pokémon Day – an anniversary created to celebrate the first Pokémon video game, released on February 27 1996 – a small but significant piece of news was announced. There is to be a new Pikachu character, named Captain Pikachu. This …
The ‘milf’: a brief cultural history, from Mrs Robinson to Stifler’s mom: The release of reality television series Milf Manor in January 2023 has added to the pantheon of Milfs (“Mothers I’d Like to Fuck”) on screen. But from Stacy’s mum to Stifler’s mum: why is our cultural fascination with and fetishisation of the Milf …