Brilliant: Hattie Morahan in Anatomy of a Suicide. Photograph: Tristram Kenton for the Observer When sadness runs through a family, is it inherited? Alice Birchs skewering Anatomy of a Suicide suggests something more complicated. A sort of hypnotism. A transfixing of one generation by another. A daughter who finds her mothers life compelling may vacate her own existence. Three generations of women enact their histories from the 1970s to the 2040s side by side. They are so closely woven together that it is hard to know where one begins and the other ends. Does the suicide of her mother cause the breakdown of a woman when she gives birth? Does that womans drug habit steer her daughter towards becoming a doctor and sterilisation? Words home is one that recurs and gestures echo between them. When a woman speaks of wrists, her mother (who has tried to slit hers) sends her hand pirouetting gracefully in the air. Birchs dialogue is as unswerving as it is in her Lady Macbeth screenplay, but more intricate. The influence of Caryl Churchill is apparent in ellipses and overlaps. But there is individual sharpness. Hurrah for this response to a woman who says she is sorry … Continue reading →

Gianforte proved himself unworthy Montana, I am disappointed that we have just elected another rich man to represent us in Congress. Greg Gianforte proved himself unworthy of our trust the day before the election, yet actions do not appear to matter much anymore. In his victory speech, he said Congress should not get paid until the budget is balanced, he will vote for term limits, and is standing with President Trump to make America great again. To take him at his word then, he will stand with conservative Republicans on health-care legislation that Congress has already exempted themselves from (why would they do that if it is good for us and how is it even allowed under our Constitution?); pass laws that seek to control women and limit their rights; oppress minorities; and disregard science, which will further diminish the health of our planet. Why are we electing people that want to take away what little liberal safety nets exist for the poor, sick and elderly? Dont believe the claims that these efforts are being passed for our national security and economic well-being. How secure is a nation if its own people arent fed, healthy, and have equal access to … Continue reading →

Sunday Puzzle. NPR hide caption On-air challenge: Every answer today is a word that contains part of the human body in the exact middle. Ex. Group of Native Americans, starting with T and ending with E > TRIBE, which contains RIB between the T and the E 1. E ____ Y Mournful poem 2. W ____ Y Tired 3. A ____ G Very sore 4. EL ____ SE Geometrical shape 5. LE ____ ES Beans and peas 6. RE ____ AL Opposing argument in a debate 7. OB ____ TE Out of date 8. RA ____ SS Quality of a harsh voice 9. FLA ____ ESS Showy display Last week's challenge: Consider this sentence: Benjamin, the Greenpeace ombudsman in the panorama, was charmed by the chinchilla fragrance. This sentence contains seven words of seven or more letters. They have something very unusual in common. What is it, and can you think of an eighth word with the same property? Puzzle answer: You can delete some of the interior letters of each of the words to leave the name of a country Benin, Greece, Oman, Panama, Chad, China, and France. Other words with this property include Chipotle (Chile), Indicia (India), Latinos … Continue reading →

By Douglas Anele But despite their remarkable capacity for creative ingenuity and accomplishments, the Igbo as a group, according to Prof. Chinua Achebe, have the deadly flaws of hubris, overweening pride, obsession with material success and irritatingly noisy exhibitionism or showiness which tend toinvite envy from members of other ethnic groups. Yet, those flaws do not justify their being massacred periodically by northerners or treated as second class citizens in their own country. The May riots of 1966, Ironsis gruesome murder and massacre of Ndigbo afterwards led to a radical rethinking of their attitude to the idea of a unified Nigerian nation. The Igbo began to realise that their belief in a strong central authority that provides a level playing field which enables Nigerians from every ethnic group to actualise the ideal of one nation, one citizenship, and one destiny was a delusion. The belated Igbo questioning of One Nigeria was consistent with the memorandum submitted by the northern delegation to the Nigerian ad hoc constitutional conference of September 1966. In it, northern representatives claimed that We have pretended for too long that there are no differences between the peoples of this country. The hard fact which we must honestly … Continue reading →