Warren Lakin obituary

My friend Warren Lakin, who has died of a respiratory tract infection aged 71, for many years promoted live shows and tours by comedians, singers, poets and public speakers, latterly with Lakin McCarthy Productions, the company he ran with Mike McCarthy. Among the performers he worked with were Barry Cryer, Susan Calman, Andy Hamilton, Robin Ince, Ruby Wax, Jon Ronson and – most notably – his partner Linda Smith.Warren met Linda in the early 1980s when they were founder members of the leftwing Sheffield Popular Theatre, which, as well as producing plays, also staged the cabaret nights in which Linda performed her first standup routines.Warren was with Linda throughout her comedy career and her time as a Radio 4 stalwart. After her death in 2006, he curated her legacy with the same kind of energy that made him such a successful promoter

AI, Salman Rushdie and Elon Musk: the most anticipated documentaries of 2026

The landscape for nonfiction cinema is swift, fragile and constantly in flux in these absurd times; films we discuss now may not be released, and films we discuss a year from now may not even be the germ of an idea yet. But between the usual stable of celebrity retrospectives, music documentaries and the ongoing work to record the atrocities in Gaza, the documentary slate for 2026 already seems both full and promising. From the assassination attempt on Salman Rushdie to AI, a Billie Jean King retrospective to Elon Musk, here are 10 of the most hotly anticipated documentaries in 2026.In recent years, the Sundance film festival has become the premier destination for buzzy and/or prestige documentaries – three of the last five Oscar wins have gone to films that premiered in Utah, and the festival is now routinely alight with major celebrity retrospectives. Potentially combining both at the festival this year is Knife: The Attempted Murder of Salman Rushdie, film-maker Alex Gibney’s nonfiction adaptation of the writer’s bestselling memoir, which detailed the 2022 onstage assassination attempt that cost him his vision in one eye

Stephen Colbert on ICE killing of Minnesota woman: ‘A senseless yet entirely predictable tragedy’

Late-night hosts expressed outrage over the fatal shooting of Renee Nicole Good by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE) officer in Minneapolis.Stephen Colbert opened Thursday’s Late Show on a somber note, following the killing of Good, a 37-year-old mother of three, by an ICE agent in Minneapolis on Wednesday morning. “It’s a senseless yet entirely predictable tragedy,” said Colbert. “And our hearts go out to Renee Good’s loved ones, friends and the community where it happened.“By now we’ve all seen the video,” he continued, referring to multiple videos shot by witnesses which show Good’s car appearing to turn away from the officer, who then fires shots into the side of her vehicle as she drove

Almost 50 writers boycott Adelaide festival after it dumps pro-Palestine academic Randa Abdel-Fattah

The Adelaide festival has pulled down part of its website as dozens of speakers said they were boycotting writers’ week, after Palestinian Australian author Randa Abdel-Fattah was dumped from the lineup with the board citing “cultural sensitivity” concerns in the wake of the Bondi terror attack.The page promoting the schedule of authors, journalists, academics and commentators was “unpublished” on Friday following widespread condemnation of the board’s decision to remove Abdel-Fattah.“In respect of the wishes of the writers who have recently indicated their withdrawal from the writers’ week 2026 program, we have temporarily unpublished the list of participants and events while we work through changes to the website,” the festival posted online.By Friday afternoon, 47 participants had withdrawn, with more believed to be coordinating their exit announcements with fellow speakers.Writers Helen Garner, Chloe Hooper and Sarah Krasnostein, Miles Franklin winner Michelle de Kretser, authors Drusilla Modjeska and Melissa Lucashenko along with Stella award-winning poet Evelyn Araluen were boycotting the event

Seth Meyers on Trump officials justifying Venezuela assault: ‘Lamest dorks on the planet’

Late-night hosts mocked the Trump administration’s bullish rhetoric on Greenland after the surprise takeover of Nicolás Maduro’s regime in Venezuela.“If you were wondering how the rest of the world feels about Trump claiming he has unilateral power to attack a sovereign nation and kidnap its leader, it turns out they’re not exactly thrilled,” said Seth Meyers on Wednesday’s Late Night, five days after the Trump administration deposed Maduro and brought the Venezuelan president and his wife to New York to face federal drug-trafficking charges.Top UN officials warned that the shock military intervention most likely violated international law and constituted a dangerous precedent.“So there’s deep concern within the international community over Trump’s claim that the US now runs Venezuela,” Meyers explained. “This a fraught moment that requires sophisticated diplomacy from a seasoned and experienced statesman

Singer-songwriter Bill Callahan: ‘I’m not a craftsman – I’m more of a drunk professor who likes coincidence and mistakes’

Preceding the release of My Days of 58, the Americana legend once known as Smog discusses his Yorkshire youth, why Spotify is like the mafia and the bleak state of AIWe got married to [Smog’s] Our Anniversary. When you write songs, do you think about how listeners might carry them into their own lives, or do the songs stop being yours after they are done? VanearleWhen I wrote [2019’s] Watch Me Get Married, I thought maybe people would have that as their wedding song. But mostly it’s inconceivable what people are gonna do with a song. I don’t think about it too much because there are 100,000 places where it’s gonna live. Have I ever heard about any inappropriate uses of songs? I think having Our Anniversary as a wedding song is a little surprising, but maybe they’re realists