Drag artists warn of rising tide of bigotry as they pay tribute to The Vivienne

Drag artists are under unprecedented pressure as they are “more visible, but also more debated” than ever before, performers have said, as they paid tribute to The Vivienne.The international drag community came together in London for RuPaul’s DragCon UK over the weekend, its first large gathering since the Welsh performer’s death.The Vivienne, real name James Lee Williams, won the inaugural season of RuPaul’s Drag Race UK in 2019 and had since forged a career on the stage, appearing in UK tours of the Wizard of Oz and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. Williams died earlier this month at the age of 32. A cause of death is yet to be established

John Rumsby obituary

My friend John Rumsby, a museum curator, who has died from cancer aged 75, brought an appreciation of social history to the community where he lived and worked. Collections manager at Kirklees Museums, West Yorkshire, before his retirement on health grounds in 2007, he continued to publish meticulously researched articles and books on military history, local history and numismatics.Born in Plaistow, east London, John was one of the three sons of Eva (nee Harvey), and Ken, a solicitor’s clerk. He attended Stratford grammar school and, from an early age, dragged his family to castles, churches and other places that interested him.John studied archaeology and geography at Southampton University (1968-71)

‘Our computer sampler cost more than a house!’: how the Korgis made Everybody’s Got to Learn Sometime

We’d had a Top 20 single in the UK with If I Had You and were recording our second Korgis album, Dumb Waiters. I was living in Bath and had a piano in the flat that I couldn’t really play – I am a guitarist and bass player. But regardless, I battled away at the ivories every day trying to come up with interesting chord sequences.Basically, I was trying to write a rock ballad that I thought might get us on the radio in the US as I was convinced that the Korgis could have a future there. One Sunday morning, I went to the piano and the first thing I came up with was the opening chords to what became the “change your heart” verse section

Simon Schama: ‘Britain is a much more tolerant place now. I’m Mr Sunshine on this’

The historian on taking the social pulse of the nation in his new TV series, why we’re such word addicts, and his fear that the needle in the US is moving towards redSimon Schama, 79, is a writer, television presenter and professor of history and art history at Columbia University in New York. His bestselling, prize-winning books include The Embarrassment of Riches, about the Dutch Golden Age, and Citizens, a study of the French Revolution. His television series for the BBC include A History of Britain, Simon Schama’s Power of Art, and The Story of the Jews. His new series, Simon Schama’s The Story of Us, traces the history of postwar Britain in an effort to locate the origins of the current culture wars and to celebrate the art that has united us in the past.How did you begin thinking about this series?Well, I live most of my time in America, but I come back here often and it always pierces me

On my radar: Siobhan Finneran’s cultural highlights

The actor on the band she can’t wait to see, the best place to meet friends for food in Manchester, and performance poetry that made her laugh and cryBorn in Manchester in 1966, actor Siobhan Finneran’s first major role was as Rita in the 1987 film Rita, Sue and Bob Too. Her extensive TV work includes Happy Valley, Alma’s Not Normal and Downton Abbey, for which the cast won the 2012 Screen Actors Guild award for outstanding performance by an ensemble in a drama series. Finneran has starred in films such as Clio Barnard’s The Selfish Giant and Daniel Kokotajlo’s Apostasy, and her latest role is in the shipwreck thriller The Damned, in cinemas now. She lives in Saddleworth, Greater Manchester, and has two children.After the Party, Channel 4A mate recommended this, but I had to go out for a walk after two episodes because it made me so anxious

From Maria to Franz Ferdinand: a complete guide to this week’s entertainment in the UK

MariaOut now Directed by Pablo Larraín and written by Steven Knight, the same writer-director team behind the Diana, Princess of Wales biopic Spencer, this look at the life of opera singer Maria Callas stars Angelina Jolie and focuses on the period during which the star lived out of the public eye in Paris in the 1970s.BabygirlOut now A married mother of two with a hotshot job puts it all on the line for an all-consuming sizzling affair with a younger colleague in this erotic thriller starring Nicole Kidman and rising British star Harris Dickinson. Directed by Halina Reijn (of the excellent Bodies Bodies Bodies).CompanionOut now Jack Quaid is a standout among the current clutch of young-ish actors making names for themselves in genres such as horror and comedy. And so he should be, with Dennis Quaid and Meg Ryan for parents