The Guide #187: The Pitt, the medical drama that’s the best show you can’t watch

Forget Severance, Adolescence, even The White Lotus – the most talked-about show so far this year in the US has concerned the life-and-death dealings of an inner-city emergency room and a doctor that looks suspiciously like John Carter MD.No, time hasn’t turned back to 1994 (however much we might wish it would). We’re not talking about ER here, but The Pitt, a strikingly similar medical drama starring Carter himself, Noah Wyle, but that for legal reasons we probably shouldn’t describe as a spin-off. Since its debut in January, The Pitt has become a slow-burn sensation in the states, thanks to its realism, accuracy and timeliness, but most of all it’s high-concept, high-stakes conceit: the show takes place in real-time, across one, gruelling 15 hour shift in a Pittsburgh emergency department. So it’s not just ER, then, but ER meets 24

Stephen Colbert on potential alien life: ‘Take us to your leader, we don’t have one anymore’

Late-night hosts spoke about the Easter weekend, potential alien life and Donald Trump’s recent meeting with the Italian prime minister.On The Late Show, Stephen Colbert pointed out that this year’s Easter Sunday also falls on 4/20, the unofficial holiday for weed enthusiasts.He joked that it would be “the Sunday he is risen and you is high”.This week saw Trump meet with the rightwing Italian prime minister, Giorgia Meloni. Some had hoped she might “ease the tariff tension” as she is often referred to as a “Trump whisperer”

Messages from the past: Salisbury Cathedral launches graffiti tours

You don’t notice them at first. The eyes tend to be drawn to the grander wonders – the altars, the stained glass, the pillars and flowing arches. But once the marks carved into the stonework of Salisbury Cathedral by centuries of pilgrims, churchgoers and mischief-makers are pointed out, they begin to pop out all over the place.A “graffiti tour” of the great Wiltshire church is being launched in May with guides pointing out what feel like whispered messages from the past.There are thousands of marks, from initials of people long-forgotten to images of animals and flowers and “protection marks” thought to keep evil at bay

Stephen Colbert: ‘People from overseas are frightened to come here’

Late-night hosts spoke about the most recent developments in the Trump administration including his ongoing deportation attempts.On The Late Show, Stephen Colbert said that visits to the US had gone down 11% in recent months and that Las Vegas had reportedly seen an $18m drop as a result.“People from overseas are frightened to come here,” he said before then referencing a Guardian report that shows that there has been the biggest drop in Australian tourists since Covid.He joked: “Do you know how bad things have to be to scare off Australians?”Meanwhile, Trump has been “ignoring court orders left and right” including refusing to stop planes filled with people being deported to El Salvador and since “stonewalling the judge” who ordered them to stop.He is now claiming there is probable cause to hold the administration in criminal contempt

Fyre festival 2 ‘postponed’ just weeks before it was scheduled to start

Fyre festival 2 has been “postponed”, according to messages sent to ticket holders, just weeks before it was scheduled to start.However, festival organizers told the Guardian that the festival is “still on” and they are currently “vetting new locations and will announce our host destination soon”.The event, advertised as a luxury music festival, was supposed to take place in Mexico from 30 May to 2 June. It was intended as an improved follow-up to the failed first Fyre festival in 2017, which experienced problems with security, food, accommodation, medical services and artist relations, resulting in the festival being indefinitely postponed and eventually cancelled.“The event has been postponed and a new date will be announced

Stephen Colbert: ‘We’re not on our way to a dictatorship, we’re on the ship’

Late-night hosts looked at Donald Trump’s recent dictatorial behaviour, including his attempt to bully Harvard University into following his demands.On The Late Show, Stephen Colbert spoke about the alleged “administrative error” that saw Kilmar Ábrego García snatched off the streets by Ice and sent to a prison in El Salvador despite no proof of criminal activity.The supreme court ordered Trump to facilitate his return but the administration has defied the ruling. “These are court orders not court suggestions!” Colbert said.He said that they “made that mistake on purpose” and Trump has since been “publicly mulling the idea of sending American citizens to rot” in the same prison