Alex Taylor

I Write Eulogies, Not Tragedies

After his nan died, this writer discovered an unusual line of part-time student work: peddling paeans from his dorm room, for strangers who couldn’t find the right words of their own.
Louis Staples

Ersatz G.B.

How do Lidl and Aldi get away with their imitation brands? We unpick the Cuthbert & Colin caterpillar wars.
Mark Blacklock

The Beadlean Library

Legendary presenter Jeremy Beadle had a big secret hiding in his Oxfordshire mansion. Watch out, Mark Blacklock’s about… to tell you about a very interesting book collection.
Peter Carlyon

A Shark Tale

Russell Gray is a redoubtable property developer, who has, among other projects, remade Bermondsey. He is also a self-styled anarchist and an arts patron. What keeps him going?
William Rayfet Hunter

No Scrubs

Everyone has a limit to what they can handle, even doctors. One writer tells us what it was like to leave his former profession behind.
Emma Magnus

On Minge Lane

A dispatch from Worcestershire, famous for its sauce – and saucy street names. Emma Magnus hears from the residents who suffer through sniggers when they give out their address.
Ciaran Thapar

Roots Manoeuvres

A dispatch from one of the most singular club nights in Britain, right next to Heathrow Airport.
David Whitehouse

Hold the Phone

On 11 September, 2001, a nurse was texting saucy messages to thousands of strangers across the country. But the nurse was really a 21-year-old man, bored in an office in London. We hear his story.
Leo Robson

The Boys

An extract from Leo Robson’s forthcoming novel.
Georgia Brown

Borstal Boys

A personal history of the borstal in Britain: a century of incarcerated children.