True to type: How we fell in love with our letters
Excerpt: Simon Garfield looks at the history of typefaces, the obsessive care taken over their design – and the role they play in shaping our lives
Insane Clown Posse: And God created controversy
America’s nastiest rappers in shocking revelation – they’ve been evangelical Christians all along
Interview with Don DeLillo: ‘I’m Not Trying to Manipulate Reality—This Is What I See and Hear’
Don DeLillo, in a rare interview, talks about living the American dream, growing old and how an art installation inspired his latest novel, Point Omega
The Stones and the True Story of Exile on Main St.
It’s nearly 40 years since the Rolling Stones fled to the French Riviera and recorded their masterpiece, “Exile on Main St.” On the eve of its relaunch, Sean O’Hagan marvels that the album was made at all…
How food and water are driving a 21st-century African land grab
An Observer investigation reveals how rich countries faced by a global food shortage now farm an area double the size of the UK to guarantee supplies for their citizens
Ten rules for writing fiction
Get an accountant, abstain from sex and similes, cut, rewrite, then cut and rewrite again – if all else fails, pray. Inspired by Elmore Leonard’s 10 Rules of Writing, we asked authors for their personal dos and don’ts
Streaming will never stop downloading
Far from being a cure for the industry’s woes, substituting streams for downloads wastes bandwidth, reduces privacy and slows innovation
Glenn Beck: The Renegade Running the Opposition to Obama
Glenn Beck is a TV host, bestselling author and the most influential voice on the rightwing Fox channel. Now, even some Republicans worry that the extreme and maverick views of Beck and his supporters will make their party unelectable. Is the TV tail wagging the political dog?
The new offenders of standup comedy
Political correctness used to rule comedy, but now comics routinely offend their audiences. How did things get so nasty?