SwayBlog

Country diaryPlantsWenlock Edge, Shropshire: Lichen growth chronicles climatic change and the bluey-green lobes could be read like historical documents In the trash under trees battered by storms lie sticks covered with what looks like flaky aluminium. This stuff is shield lichen, Parmelia sulcata, which is still alive, even though the branches it grew on are now rotting on the ground. Shield lichen is a foliose lichen, the ones that form leafy lobes called thalli.

Health & wellbeingWe all know what a sweet tooth is, but some people also hanker for salt. Here’s what to do if you can’t stop dreaming of crisps Is there any such thing as a “salt tooth”? We are familiar with a sweet tooth, and sugar cravings, along with the negative effects of those. We are broadly aware of the downsides of too much salt, including high blood pressure, which puts pressure on the blood vessels, the heart and the kidneys.

GermanyEmpty, slow, morbid - why I love GermanyMy wife and I were recently having dinner with a Swedish friend in Brooklyn. As well as us two Germans - I'm here as a foreign correspondent for Der Spiegel magazine - there was a Frenchman and a Brit. We often find ourselves in NYC among Europeans, perhaps because they relax at parties - unlike our American friends, who knock back a couple of alcoholic drinks and then just drink water.

Carol Rumens's poem of the weekAlfred TennysonA sharply anguished lament for the poet’s beloved friend and inspiration Arthur Hallam Break, Break, Break Break, break, break, On thy cold gray stones, O Sea! And I would that my tongue could utter The thoughts that arise in me. O, well for the fisherman’s boy, That he shouts with his sister at play! O, well for the sailor lad, That he sings in his boat on the bay!

Observer critics' review of 2023RadioReviewCatherine Carr cut straight to the case with one simple question, a true crime podcast solved a murder, and breakfast radio had never been warmer Read the Observer critics’ review of 2023 in full 1. Where Are You Going? Loftus Media Catherine Carr asks punters all over the world: where are you going? The resulting chats – intimate, funny, anonymous – plus atmospheric sound, made this a 2023 must-hear.

Shaun Tan's Cicada: a meditation on belonging and bullying – in pictures Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share via Email In his latest picture book, acclaimed Australian illustrator, writer and film-maker Shaun Tan explores the ponderous themes of migrant workers and workplace bullying through the voice of a hardworking insect who has toiled away, unappreciated and without promotion, alongside humans in a grey office block for 17 years.

Esera Tuaolo hid his homosexuality throughout his career in American football, but is now relieved that he can tell the truth about himself and his family. Picture in your mind a scene of familial bliss and it will look very like life in Esera Tuaolo's suburban home near Minneapolis. In the sun-splashed kitchen a grandmother prepares breakfast. The racket of playful kids spills out of the downstairs nursery. One parent is standing at the mirror, getting ready to go to work, the other sits on the couch, smiling as he contemplates what could be the dumbest question in the history of journalism.

Top 10sFictionFinding your way without the social template of romantic love is a tough challenge, but writers from Deborah Levy to Hanya Yanagihara offer clues to how it can be done For most of us, the idea of romantic love has lost hardly any of its allure. It continues to be the focus of our collective fantasies. It is, perhaps, the most essential component of what most people understand happiness to be.

Around the world in 300 dates: Metallica’s black album tour – in pictures Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share via Email Metallica’s self-titled 1991 album, known to fans as ‘the black album’, helped turn the rock band into global stars. Photographer Ross Halfin accompanied them on an epic tour Main image: Photograph: Ross Halfin Thu 20 Jan 2022 02.00 EST Kirk Hammett at a soundcheck in Copenhagen – the first show of the tour‘I’m good at reading people,’ says Halfin.