Latest news with #Macmillan
Vogue
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Vogue
Susan Choi on the Sprawling Stories Behind Her New Novel, Flashlight
Susan Choi is known for writing novels that mine enormous richness from highly specific settings, whether a high school-level theater program in 2019's Trust Exercise, a sexually charged campus environment in 2013's My Education, or a life on the run from the FBI in 2003's American Woman. But her latest book, Flashlight—out now from Macmillan Publishers—is perhaps her most ambitious effort yet. In Flashlight, a Korean national named Serk (formerly Seok) leaves the Japan of his youth to build a new life in the United States. What follows is a chronicle of four generations' worth of his family life—the precision and emotional resonance of Choi's sentences proving endlessly dazzling. This week, Vogue spoke to Choi about how winning the National Book Award in 2019 affected (or didn't affect, as the case may be) the process of writing Flashlight, digging into historical research about Korean-Japanese relations, and her preoccupation with abduction stories. The conversation has been edited and condensed. Vogue: What did the craft process of writing this book look like for you? Susan Choi: Oh, gosh, the process was so…I don't want to say chaotic, because I think that that gives an impression of a lot of energy and movement and this was much more slow, meandering, confused, you know, like a blindfolded person trying to navigate a very complicated obstacle course. I mean, I really struggled with this book. I feel like it evolved in a lot of disconnected bursts of writing that then required me to go back and go in circles. It was a composition process kind of like no other. Honestly, it was more like the first book I ever wrote than my sixth book. I just felt like I'd never written a book before. How did it feel to embark on a new project after winning the 2019 National Book Award in Fiction for Trust Exercise? I have to say, it wasn't really on my mind, and I'm so grateful for that. I definitely am someone who I would have thought would be really prone to finding that really stressful, but it was very hard to even connect those two facts in my mind. It feels so strange to say this, but it was partly thanks to COVID; like, COVID was such a huge rupture in our shared reality and in my individual reality, and this book really kind of grew out of COVID. I published the short story that now forms the very opening pages of the book during COVID—that was something that I had been working on during quarantine in 2020—and then started growing the rest of the book out of that. I just wasn't really thinking much about 2019, or the National Book Award, or the fact that this book, if it even ever came to exist, would follow the previous book. There was a big gap that separated those two realities, and I think it wasn't until this book was really close to being finished that I was like, Oh, this is the follow-up to that, and in the experience of any outsider to my life, this will be the next thing that comes after that other thing. I'm really glad I didn't think about that much before, because it feels very strange. I don't want to preoccupy myself about: Is this a good follow-up? Is it a weird follow-up? Is it a bad follow-up? It just is, and I can't change it now.
Spectator
a day ago
- Politics
- Spectator
Don't write off Kemi Badenoch
In the great game of musical chairs that is British politics, it's impossible to foresee which contestant will be left with nowhere to sit when the music stops. Keir Starmer won a landslide victory last July, but has since behaved like a child who has allowed the excitement to go to his head. He agreed immediately to cut the universal winter fuel payment, which made the government look ready to risk short-term unpopularity in pursuit of serious long-term goals. Yet when the unpopularity arrived, he abandoned the measure and with it any claim to long-term thought. As a contributor to one of Lord Ashcroft's focus groups said this week: 'He made himself look bad doing it, but he's made himself look even worse going back on it.' Who now believes Rachel Reeves has what it takes to get a grip on public spending? But Starmer, who assures us he will always do what is in the national interest, has left Reeves in place. Kemi Badenoch has been Tory leader only since November, yet already there are elements in the press that say she should go. The parliamentary lobby knows how to cover a Tory leadership crisis. It has had plenty of practice in recent years, but this exhilarating sport goes back through the fall of Thatcher in 1990, the collapse of Macmillan in 1963, the overthrow of Chamberlain in 1940 and the abandonment of Lloyd George in 1922 to the destruction of Peel in 1846. In the midst of life a Tory leader is in death, but it would be absurd to defenestrate Badenoch after seven months.
Metro
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Metro
Jessie J 'going to disappear for a bit' after being diagnosed with breast cancer
To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Jessie J has revealed she was diagnosed with 'early breast cancer' a few months ago. The 37-year-old singer is best known for hits including Price Tag, Domino and Bang Bang, as well as appearing on The Voice UK, The Voice Australia and The Voice Kids UK. However, Jessie – real name Jessica Ellen Cornish – has revealed she's about to 'disappear' for a bit after being diagnosed with cancer. Posting a video on Instagram, Jessie explained she received the health news just before the release of her song No Secrets in April. 'Before No Secrets came out, I was diagnosed with early breast cancer,' she explained. 'I'm highlighting the word early. Cancer sucks in any form but I'm holding on to the word early.' Jessie went on to share that she's been 'in and out of tests' in the months since and wanted to share the update with her fans to try and be 'open' about what she's currently dealing with. 'I just wanted to be open and share it because selfishly, I do not talk about it enough,' she went on. 'I'm not processing it because I'm working so hard. I also know how much sharing in the past has helped me with other people giving me their love and support, and also their own stories. 'I'm an open book. It breaks my heart that so many people are going through so much. Similar and worse.' Jessie then spoke about facing a 'weird topic and weird situation' in regards to undergoing surgery on her breasts. She then joked: 'I'm getting to keep my nipples … that's good. It's a very dramatic way to get a boob job!. More Trending The singer explained that she will 'disappear for a bit after Summertime Ball to have my surgery. And I will come back with massive boobs and more music.' She added: 'You know what, to get diagnosed with this as I'm putting out a song called No Secrets right before a song called Living My Best Life, which was all pre-planned before I found out about this, I mean you can't make it up.' Next week Jessie is due to play at Capital's Summertime Ball 2025, which will be held at London's Wembley Stadium on Sunday June 15. Last year Jessie welcomed her first child, a son with professional basketball player Chanan Colman. If you or someone you care about has been diagnosed with cancer, Macmillan can offer support and information. You can contact their helpline on 0808 808 00 00 (7 days a week from 8am to 8pm), use their webchat service, or visit their site for more information. Got a story? If you've got a celebrity story, video or pictures get in touch with the entertainment team by emailing us celebtips@ calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our Submit Stuff page – we'd love to hear from you. MORE: Atomic Kitten singer Liz McClarnon, 44, pregnant with first child after two miscarriages MORE: SXSW London: Everything you can expect from festival's inaugural week in the Capital MORE: 70,000,000-year-old dinosaur could unlock key cancer discoveries
Tatler Asia
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Tatler Asia
7 inspiring wellness books for a grounded, mindful life
2. 'One Simple Thing' by Eddie Stern Above 'One Simple Thing' (Photo: Macmillan) Eddie Stern's approach to yoga is disarmingly pragmatic. Rather than chasing enlightenment, he focuses on what daily breathwork and movement actually do to the nervous system. Backed by contemporary science and decades of teaching experience, he explains how simple, consistent practices can improve heart rate variability, reduce stress and support mental health. The book is structured around small, digestible insights, making it accessible even to those sceptical of wellness culture. 3. 'How to Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy' by Jenny Odell Above 'How to Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy' (Photo: Melville House Publishing) At first glance, Odell's book is a critique of tech culture, but it also functions as a meditation on presence, ecology and the politics of attention. A visual artist and Stanford lecturer, Odell examines how capitalism monetises distraction and encourages constant output, making genuine stillness feel transgressive. Drawing on thinkers like Thoreau and Audre Lorde, she proposes that doing 'nothing' isn't about disengagement, but about re-engaging with place, time and community. More than a call to unplug, this is a rigorous and imaginative guide to reclaiming depth in a shallow world. 4. 'Wintering: The Power of Rest and Retreat in Difficult Times' by Katherine May Above 'Wintering: The Power of Rest and Retreat in Difficult Times' (Photo: Rider) Katherine May uses the metaphor of winter to explore periods of retreat, grief and transformation. Interweaving personal experience with mythology, literature and natural cycles, she argues that rest is not indulgent but necessary. The book tracks her own 'wintering' through illness, burnout and caretaking, and finds insight in everything from Nordic bathing rituals to beekeeping. What sets this apart from more commercial wellness books is its refusal to frame struggle as a problem to be solved. Instead, it offers an elegant reframing: winter is not the end, but a vital season in its own right. 5. 'Midnight Chicken' by Ella Risbridger Above 'Midnight Chicken' (Credit: Bloomsbury Publishing) Described by its author as 'a cookbook for people who don't cook', this is a deeply personal and unconventional work. Risbridger began writing during a depressive episode, using recipes as a way to mark time and stay tethered to life. The food—roast chicken at midnight, peach salad, lentil soup—is simple and forgiving, but never joyless. It's the opposite of aspirational cuisine. Instead, it makes a case for kitchen rituals as a quiet, domestic form of survival. As a wellness book, it's disguised as a cookbook but functions as a manual for coming back to yourself. 6. 'Losing Eden' by Lucy Jones Above 'Losing Eden' (Credit: Penguin) In Losing Eden , Lucy Jones explores what happens to the human psyche when it becomes disconnected from the natural world. Drawing on a wide range of studies, from neuroscience and developmental psychology to epidemiology, she links time in nature to lower rates of anxiety, depression and addiction. The book is meticulously researched yet accessible, enriched with Jones's personal reflections on pregnancy, urban life and the climate crisis. It doesn't romanticise the outdoors, but it does challenge the idea that mental health can be separated from environmental health. It's a clear, compelling argument for ecological sanity. 7. 'The Age of Magical Overthinking' by Amanda Montell Above 'The Age of Magical Overthinking' (Photo: Thorsons) Montell's latest book dissects the mental habits that thrive in the uncertainty of modern life—catastrophising, pattern-seeking, superstition and reveals how they're often more emotional survival strategies than flaws in logic. Using a blend of cultural criticism, neuroscience and personal anecdote, she examines the effects of hyper-individualism, algorithmic influence and cultural instability on the human mind. This is one of the few wellness books that deals with cognition not by offering mindfulness exercises, but by investigating the cultural conditions that fuel anxiety. These wellness books don't offer polished solutions or lifestyle upgrades. What they provide instead is a deeper inquiry into how we relate to the world around us and within us. Whether it's through food, movement, language or the land itself, each book invites a shift in attention from performance to awareness. In a culture obsessed with doing better, they suggest that living well might be something quieter, and older, than we've been told. NOW READ 5 alternative wellness influencers debunking beauty myths 7 honest books on ageing that are good for the soul From Sylvia Plath to Donna Tartt: 5 trending books you'll find in every It Girl's tote bag
The Sun
3 days ago
- General
- The Sun
Cancer patients risk dying because of ‘RUBBISH they read on social media', top doctors warn
CANCER patients are refusing medical treatment because of rubbish they read online, top doctors warn. People are becoming incurable and even dying as a result of misinformation on social media. A study led by the University of Bologna found that almost all cancer -related videos on YouTube and TikTok – between 88 and 100 per cent – contain incorrect information. The NHS, top UK charities and global experts warn the problem is out of control, killing patients who have cancer and terrifying those trying to stay healthy. Professor Richard Simcock, NHS doctor and chief medical officer at Macmillan Cancer Support, said: 'I recently saw two young women who have declined all proven medical treatments for cancer and are instead pursuing unproven and radical diets, promoted on social media. 'As a doctor, I want to be able to use the best available therapies to help people with cancer. 'A person is perfectly entitled to decline but when they do that on the basis of information which is frankly untrue or badly interpreted it makes me very sad.' Polling by Macmillan has found that 59 per cent of Brits – more than 30million people – believe myths or misconceptions about the disease. For example experts say patients are being sucked in by influencers' claims that low-carb diets can battle cancer, recommendations for unproven drugs, and a belief that negative thoughts can cause relapse. Internet users have also been convinced of false or unproven cancer risks such as from deodorants, mobile phones, underwired bras and dairy, they added. They also accuse search engines and artificial intelligence of regurgitating false information. Professor Stephen Powis, NHS England's medical director, said: 'Social media can provide a supportive community but we're also seeing an alarmingly high level of misinformation on some of these platforms. 'I would urge people to be sceptical of any 'miracle cures' and to use trusted, credible sources like the NHS website. 'These fairy tales aren't just misleading, they can be harmful.' Dr Julie Gralow, president of the American Society for Clinical Oncology, said: 'Several patients of mine wanted an all-natural treatment approach and found clinics online. 'In some cases they died within nine months. 'It's tragic and we wonder what we could have done differently but in the end we can't force anybody to do anything.' About 400,000 people develop cancer in the UK each year and 50 per cent survive for 10 years or more after diagnosis. Matthew Hobbs, of Prostate Cancer UK, added: 'Sadly there are a lot of poor sources of information out there. 'Sometimes they are deliberately pushing unproven treatments or ideas, other times it is well meant advice but lacking expertise and full understanding of all the facts.' Retired breast surgeon Dr Liz O'Riordan said: 'We need to get more doctors talking to patients on social media and explaining things to them.' 1
