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The ObserverFictionReviewThe American writer is completely committed to the comic, controversial voice of a prison leaver in this energetic, touching novel “Y’all females is all the same,” says one character to another in this book. But there’s no one quite like Carlotta Mercedes, the transgender Black Colombian heroine – no, star – of the second novel by James Hannaham, an American writer who won the PEN/Faulkner award for his first novel, Delicious Foods (2015).

Pop and rockInterviewJudy Collins on Stephen Stills: ‘I said, it's such a beautiful song, but it's not winning me back’Jim FarberThe singer-songwriter’s romance and breakup with Stills inspired classic songs including Suite: Judy Blue Eyes. Almost 50 years on, they are releasing an album and touring together Nearly five decades ago, Judy Collins and Stephen Stills sparked a romance that was passionate and volatile enough to enter rock’n’roll lore. Their private connection became public after Stills, rejected by Collins, put his pining into classic songs such as Suite: Judy Blue Eyes and Helplessly Hoping, both of which turned up on the first Crosby Stills and Nash album in 1969.

MusicalsObituaryBarbara Cook obituarySinger, actor and Broadway star who reinvented herself on the cabaret circuitThere are few musical theatre careers that divide as sharply into two parts as did that of Barbara Cook, who has died aged 89. She was a fine lyrical soprano on Broadway in the 1950s and 60s, only to succumb to alcoholism, depression and obesity in the 70s, before returning in triumph as the pre-eminent cabaret singer of the late 20th century, albeit one whose status was cultish rather than flagrantly popular.

Memories of home: ‘Chamin is served in a great pot in the centre of the table.’ Photograph: Ola O'Smit/The GuardianMemories of home: ‘Chamin is served in a great pot in the centre of the table.’ Photograph: Ola O'Smit/The GuardianA taste of homeLife and styleA lush Middle Eastern stew transports our guest to a bubbling pot in Jerusalem, where mum is cooking up a Sabbath treat Chamin, or cholent, as the Ashkenazi call it, is a really slow-cooked stew.

Notes & TheoriesNeuroscienceDjango Unchained and the racist science of phrenologyPhrenology really was used to justify slavery, as portrayed in Django Unchained. But it was also used to justify abolition"Why don't they kill us?" asks Calvin Candie, the southern slave owner in Quentin Tarantino's Django Unchained. He wants to know why the African slaves he brutalises do not rise up and take revenge. Before long, he has the skull of a recently deceased slave on the dinner table.

The ObserverIsrael-Gaza warUsually full of tourists, Manger Square is now sad and empty, and a nativity baby Jesus lies nearby in rubble Israel-Gaza war – live updates At Bethlehem’s Lutheran Evangelical church, the nativity scene looks very different this Christmas. Instead of a cot in a hay-filled manger, the baby doll has been wrapped in the famous black and white keffiyeh associated with Palestine, and lies among broken breeze blocks and paving slabs.

MadagascarMadagascar chameleon spends most of its life as eggA bizarre species of chameleon that spends most of its short life as an egg has been discovered by conservationists in Madagascar. The unusual reptile, known as Labord's chameleon, develops inside an egg for up to nine months, but after hatching lives only a few months longer, during which it rapidly matures, mates and dies. Because the chameleons hatch at the same time, the population is the same age, apart from a very brief period when adults are still alive after laying their eggs.

Banksy This article is more than 4 years oldSotheby’s pulls ‘stolen’ Banksy sculpture The Drinker from auctionThis article is more than 4 years oldLast-minute move follows claim by artist Andy Link that he is rightful owner A Banksy sculpture called The Drinker, a comic riff on Rodin’s The Thinker, has been withdrawn at the last minute from a major London auction – two days after an allegation it was stolen.

OpinionTaylor Swift This article is more than 1 year oldWas Taylor Swift wrong to use the word ‘fat’ in a video? That’s how I used to feel whenever I weighed myselfThis article is more than 1 year oldArwa MahdawiSome very vocal people were outraged by the video for the new single Anti-Hero. But when you’re dealing with eating disorders, sometimes there’s no escaping the f-word Want to watch Taylor Swift magically lose fat overnight?