BlinkDash

Word of Mouth blogFoodEven the BBC pronounces 'restaurateur' incorrectly, and contestants on The Taste seem unable to say 'cardamom'. Which food solecisms wind you up – and which words do you struggle to pronounce?A red-faced BBC was recently forced to amend the trailer for its new series The Restaurant Man, after complaints that the voiceover mispronounced the word "restaurateur" by inserting an errant "n". The complaints were not made by aurally assaulted viewers, but the show's own presenter Russell Norman, who finds this common solecism all too depressing.
Hannah Giles in Washington DC in 2009. Photograph: Win McNamee/Getty ImagesHannah Giles in Washington DC in 2009. Photograph: Win McNamee/Getty ImagesUS news This article is more than 1 month oldProject Veritas chief resigns over alleged ‘evidence of past illegality’ This article is more than 1 month oldHannah Giles quits rightwing muckraker and says non-profit has become ‘an unsalvageable mess’ The chief executive of the rightwing muckraker Project Veritas resigned on Monday, saying the non-profit had become “an unsalvageable mess” and alleging “past illegality” and “past financial improprieties” at the group founded by the political provocateur James O’Keefe.
Book of the dayFictionReviewA mysterious death in a small-town family restaurant kickstarts a darkly comic tale of rivalry Lan Samantha Chang’s third novel begins by bringing history to the table: “For thirty-five years, everyone supported Leo Chao’s restaurant.” The Wisconsin eatery is a family affair. Everyone assumes it will eventually be peacefully handed down to one of Leo’s three sons – but they overlook just how fraught and bloody inheritance can be.
OpinionSocial mobility This article is more than 4 years oldThe Guardian view on social immobility: time to rebalanceThis article is more than 4 years oldEditorialAs a new report shows elite jobs are still dominated by the privately educated, it’s clear an approach focused on justice, not only mobility, is needed“For old progressives, reducing snapshot income inequality is the ultimate goal. For new progressives, reducing the barriers to mobility is.” So said deputy prime minister Nick Clegg in 2010.
MoviesReviewShopworn concept improved by up-and-coming actor Odessa A’zion, who is insanely watchable in director Jerren Lauder’s American gothic tale Director Jerren Lauder has levelled up his directing skills considerably since his debut feature, Stay Out of the F**king Attic from 2020. Sure, the jump-scares, body-hopping demons and gore-letting represent the usual dime-store theatrics you expect from low-budget scare-’em-ups. But there’s a lot more finesse here in the telling of the backstory, as well as an unsettling moody soundtrack by Sanford Parker, and a sense of menace lurking around every corner in the bland suburban setting; together it evokes indie “elevated horror” features such as It Follows.
Life and styleA genius explainsDaniel Tammet is an autistic savant. He can perform mind-boggling mathematical calculations at breakneck speeds. But unlike other savants, who can perform similar feats, Tammet can describe how he does it. He speaks seven languages and is even devising his own language. Now scientists are asking whether his exceptional abilities are the key to unlock the secrets of autism. Interview by Richard JohnsonDaniel Tammet is talking. As he talks, he studies my shirt and counts the stitches.
Alex Murdaugh This article is more than 4 months oldAlex Murdaugh’s only surviving son says calling father psychopath is ‘fair’This article is more than 4 months oldBuster Murdaugh, 29, also said he doubts his father murdered his mother Margaret and brother Paul The only surviving son of convicted double murderer Alex Murdaugh acknowledged that calling his father a psychopath is a “fair assessment” but said he still doubts he killed his wife and son, according to a new documentary series.
Gabriel Hanot speaks to an assembled crowd during the 1942/43 season. Photograph: L'Equipe/OffsideGabriel Hanot speaks to an assembled crowd during the 1942/43 season. Photograph: L'Equipe/OffsideFranceGabriel Hanot: the France coach who called for his own headGabriel Hanot was a player, a coach, a prisoner of war, a journalist and a pioneer who remains oddly neglected in France The following is an extract from Issue Seventeen of the Blizzard, which is out this week.
Book of the dayPolitics booksReviewNo decent person could disagree with the radio host’s account of political failure in Britain. But what does he think needs to be done about it? Some books are peculiarly review-proof. I don’t mean that whatever one says will have no effect on their success, though in the case of James O’Brien’s How They Broke Britain, which comprises an extended “charge sheet” of the nine men and one woman its author believes set the UK on a course of unnecessary decline, this is indubitably the case.