Creator
Emma Brockes
A book should wear its talent on its (jacket) sleeve
Good titles are hard to find but they make all the difference, writes Emma Brockes.
Hand to Mouth: The brutal truth about being poor in the US
Poverty means bad jobs, credit and housing. But even worse is the assumption you aren’t trying hard enough, as Linda Tirado’s angry memoir proves.
Sleeping at work now has a name
Napping cops have inspired an addition to the workplace lexicon, the term "cooping".
Zero Dark Thirty: Counting the human cost
Kathryn Bigelow, director of Zero Dark Thirty, which some say endorses torture, defends her movie.
The Hoff takes chest hair and cheesiness to new heights
The ‘Baywatch’ and ‘Knight Rider’ star talks frankly about how he has come to terms with the semi-ironic fame he achieved in the past decade.
‘For me, all writing is a process of discovery’
Nadine Gordimer speaks to Emma Brockes about the urge to write, what will happen when Mandela dies, and being a white African.
Life’s indivisible explosions
Marilynne Robinson, who has just won the Orange Prize, shuns big clichéd adventures and chooses to focus on the small, quiet dramas.
‘What happens in war happens’
Photographs of Abu Ghraib abuses shocked the world. Seven were charged, but the face of the scandal will always be Lynndie England.
Nelson and Naomi
Naomi Campbell refers to Nelson Mandela, as is the custom among famous young women who have met him at least twice, as ”granddad”. Emma Brockes talks to Ms Campbell, currently in…
The flipside of funny
Emma Brockes delves into the dark side of legendary director, actor and writer Woody Allen.
Chomsky: As flaky as the next man
Noam Chomsky (76) has been voted the world’s top public intellectual by London-based Prospect magazine. But he has no interest in that. He believes that there is a misconception…
No forgiveness
Despite Salman Rushdie’s reputation as someone who, when he isn’t out partying, makes statements about partying, his is not a brash presence, writes Emma Brockes, who spoke to…
A butterfly mind in a diving bell body
Stephen Hawking’s book A Brief History of Time clung to the bestseller lists for 237 weeks. He has now published a new, more accessible version of the book. In a rare interview…
China’s modest billionaire
I visit Timothy Chan on the day China’s rich list is published and he, a baby-faced 31-year-old, appears at number two. He is chairperson of Shanda Entertainment, a computer…
Granddaddy Funk
No one knows how old he is. Brown says he is in his early 70s; it is whispered abroad that he may be nearer to 80. But the original sex machine is still packing them in — and…