Issue 306: Maurice Willoughby, Yelena Grigoryeva, Alvin Baltrop, Ibram X Kendi, Toni Morrison, Lil Nas X, Arad Winwin, and more...

Left &
Found

Body image
For queer men of colour, pressure to have a perfect body is about race too. "Not only will my torso never look like Marky Mark’s, it will never be white, either."

Shame
Sexual abuse against gay men brings unique stigma and harm.

LGBT murders trebled over Stonewall’s 50th anniversary.

Sexuality
It's complicated, new study on genes and sexual orientation concludes.

Genetics: diversity is destiny. "Same sex attraction isn’t genetic. It’s human."

"Gay gene" theories belong in the past – now we know sexuality is far more fluid. "Gender norms imprison us all, dictating our behaviour for fear of abuse – and that extends to who we sleep or fall in love with."

The shocking way newspapers wrote about the n0w-debunked "gay gene" in 1993.

Queer teens now: how this 16-year-old navigated coming out to unsupportive parents. "Tristan Bowen's story counters the idea that all queer teens have it easier today — yet despite his mom and stepfather's intolerant views, he's got a bright future ahead."

The current state of coming out. "Four recent stories show the continuing tribulations of living your truth."

Gay men’s obsession with masculinity is hurting their mental health. "Researchers are tallying the consequences of gay culture's fixation on masculinity. The costs are higher than you might think."

Rubbish
Men don’t recycle to avoid looking gay.

So, how can a man be too straight to recycle?

Slavery
Five things people still get wrong about slavery.

400 years since slavery: a timeline of American history. "In 1619, a ship with 20 captives landed at Point Comfort in Virginia, ushering in the era of American slavery."

Slavery in America reminds us: Trump is far from an aberration. "The president’s white supremacist ideas have been part of America since the beginning."

How we think about the term "enslaved" matters. "400 years ago, the first Africans who came to America were not ‘enslaved’, they were indentured – and this makes a crucial difference when we think about the meanings of our past."

Do idyllic southern plantations really tell the story of slavery? "In these memorials to southern splendor, much of the history being told is devoid of the atrocities of slavery."

Bodies
We’ve worried about overpopulation for centuries. And we’ve always been wrong.

Are we doing enough to prevent human extinction? "Journalist Bryan Walsh explains why the threat of extinction is bigger than you think — and why we need to prepare now."

Friends 
22 percent of millennials say they have “no friends”. 

Hurt locker
Snowflake or tough cookie, you’re just hiding from pain. "A life in which nothing could hurt would be one in which nothing could matter."

There's a reason the future is more troubling than the past. "Bear this in mind as you follow the news in the coming months: no matter how terrible reality is, it can’t be as infinitely bad as you feared."

The Box
Can too much bad TV lead to populism? "Every hour you’re sitting in front of a rubbish cartoon is an hour you’re not reading or exploring the physical world."

White looks. "Should white critics cover black culture? Only if they’re able to own their whiteness."

Whiteness
Whiteness on the couch. "Clinical psychologist Natasha Stovall looks at the vast spectrum of white people problems, and why we never talk about them in therapy."

Innocence lost
What did you do before the internet? "People born in the late 1970s are the last to have grown up without the internet. Social scientists call them the Last of the Innocents. Leah McLaren ponders a time when our attention was allowed to wander."

Hobbies
When did we lose interest in hobbies? "Remember hobbies? It’s what people had before we became personal brands, primed to earn above all else."

$$$
Is wealth immoral?

How to be more frugal (without seeming like a cheapskate). "Frugal people still enjoy spending money. They just want to maximize that money to reduce stress."

Human behaviour
From lizarding to lingering: how we really behave in public spaces.

Desire
How desire can warp our view of the world. "Can we trust our own eyes? The science of 'motivated seeing' says not always."

Won’t you be my neighbour
An anti-hate pop culture syllabus. "Media and entertainment grounded in empathy are a critical part of a saner culture — and we can all help by actively producing, seeking, and supporting it."

The wind
What does it mean to be moved? "We can all remember a time when the wind touched us when we needed touching, pushed us along when we were unsure."


US
News 

Las Vegas 
Last year, Wendell Melton killed his 14-year-old gay son Giovanni. Now he has had his bail reduced and been given house arrest - against Giovannni's mother’s wishes. “Giovanni was abused physically and mentally and spiritually for many, many years," Sonja Jones, Giovanni’s former foster mom said. "[Wendell] hated the fact that his son was gay. I’m sure that inside of his mind, he would rather have a dead son than a gay son.”

Arizona
Republican politician claims "harmful" homosexuality kills gay men by age 42.

Texas
Tracy Single is the 15th trans woman of colour to be murdered this year - her boyfriend, Joshua Dominic Bourgeois, has been charged.

Gay club owner facing boycott after announcing Republican run for Congress.

Florida 
Gary Bowles, who killed six gay men, executed by lethal injection.

Pulse survivors headline "ex-gay Freedom March" ten minutes from nightclub. 

Transgender woman "Kiki" Fantroy murdered, the 13th documented homicide of a transgender woman this year.

Georgia
Three arrested over alleged "hate-motivated" murder of gay social worker Ronald Trey Peters.

Missouri
Black children are being killed in St. Louis. Their deaths are going unsolved. "At least a dozen black children have been shot and killed in the city since April. Their deaths are part of a larger problem."

Kentucky 
School principal who fought to ban books over "homosexual content" arrested for lewd photos of children.

Indiana
Teen attacked in locker room for being gay.

Iowa
Bigot fined for burning LGBT library books. 

Minnesota
Man says restaurant bouncer brutally beat him after he kissed his boyfriend.

Pennsylvania 
Maurice Willoughby dies by suicide after being bullied for dating a transgender woman.

She claims the 20-year-old threatened to kill both of them before overdosing.

How his death unveils the tragic dangers of toxic masculinity. "After being bullied for his loving relationship with a trans woman, celebrities and activists are speaking out."

Catholic priest arrested for stealing $100k from church to pay his Grindr hookups.

The day Philadelphia bombed its own people. "An oral history of a 1985 police bombing that changed the city forever."

New York
Catholic priest arrested for funneling parish money to men on Grindr. "The monsignor also is accused of using the money to pay for a beach house at the Jersey Shore."

Anti-New York white supremacist hate is rising, NYPD says.

Washington D.C.
Gay men arrested for cruising "reminiscent of Stonewall".

California
Gay Instagram "influencer" blasted after posting photo with "beach bro" Aaron Schock.

Gay son of "straight pride" event organiser speaks out against it.

Christian megachurch accused of glamourising conversion therapy in shock ads.

DTLA PROUD Festival, in pictures.

West Hollywood 
Is gentrification making it less gay?

Virginia 
Restaurant pays $40k in pact over gay server's harassment. 

Alaska
The rat spill. "A tiny Alaskan island faces a threat as deadly as an oil spill — rats."

Don Lemon 
CNN anchor sued for alleged sexual assault following unsuccessful extortion attempt. 

Gamal Palmer
On being black, gay, and Jewish in America.

Bang
Stop blaming mental illness for mass shootings.

Brian Sims
End corporate support for anti-LGBT politicians. "The Zero for Zeros campaign calls on companies to cease donating to the "worst of the worst" members of Congress."

Stephen Ross
Equinox was already evil. "Any protest of Trump is good, including a boycott of the luxury gym. But don’t forget that it was built as a monument to classism and corrupt body politics."

tRump
Gay Republican group endorses Trump for re-election.

It’s legal to fire employees for being gay, Trump decrees.

Cuckold Trump shunted aside as Justin Trudeau and Melania make out.

Trump cancels visit to Denmark after PM says "Greenland is not for sale".

Trump has made 12,019 false or misleading claims over 928 days. (Image)

Trump to bulldoze "Endangered Species Act with devastating regulatory rollback.

Why do so many working class Americans feel politics is pointless?

The Family: inside the sinister sect that has infected western democracy. "A disturbing new Netflix documentary shows how a rightwing Christian organisation has for decades secretly swayed US politics ... all the way to the top."

Ads
America’s DIY phone farmers. "Ordinary Americans are using armies of phones to generate cash to buy food, diapers, and beer through ad fraud."

Watch
Police killings: the families left behind. "Tamir Rice, Terence Crutcher and Ramarley Graham were all killed by police officers. The Guardian meets the women, men and children who lived with them, raised them, called them brother or father or son, and hears how they now live with the grief of their loss."

Manson Family murders
Their complicated legacy, explained. "The Manson Family murders weren’t a countercultural revolt. They were about power, entitlement, and Hollywood."

How the Manson family became a pop culture trope. "It’s an American horror story."

The evolving mythology of the Manson girls. "The so-called Manson girls are pop culture fixtures. But we’re just starting to understand them."

How the Manson murders changed Hollywood.


UK
News 

London 
Police hunt five suspects in "abhorrent" homophobic pepper spray attack in London.

Four teens face court after attacking lesbian couple on London bus.

Backstreet, the capital’s longest-running gay leather bar, saved from developers by letter-writing campaign.


UK’s first-ever permanent rainbow crossing unveiled.

Jonathan Cutbill, the co-founder of pioneering LGBT bookshop Gay’s the Word, is dead. He was 82. 

Enid Blyton 
Enid Blyton commemorative coin blocked because author had racist, sexist and homophobic views. 

Manchester
Three queer people of colour share their damning accounts of racial profiling and bias at Manchester Pride.

Sheffield 
LGBT-only halls were called a ghetto – but a year on, they're thriving. "It was a controversial decision for the university to open the flats, but it’s helped residents gain the confidence to mingle."

Norwich 
Bus driver suspended for refusing to drive bus with rainbow number. "Norwich passenger complains after driver says bus ‘promotes homosexuality’."

Brighton
Brighton Pride, in pictures.

London 
Notting Hill carnival 2019 day one, in pictures. More pictures here.

Sixty years of the Notting Hill carnival, in pictures. "From the first indoor celebration in 1959 to the international event of the present day, carnival has been bringing music, dancing and Caribbean culture to the streets of west London for six decades."

Crowd control: street photographer Shane Taylor’s images of London.

Lost in time
Leeds' lost buildings, in pictures.


World
News 

Argentina 
Should a notorious Buenos Aires slum become an official neighbourhood? "Turning Villa 31 into a barrio will bring greater stability and prosperity, say city authorities, but the plan is stirring deep resentments about ownership and identity."

Australia 
The Family: raised in a doomsday cult, I entered the real world at 15. "For the first 15 years of his life, Ben Shenton lived in a doomsday cult that thought the world would soon end. Instead the police arrived one day and plunged him into a new and unfamiliar world… the real one."

Angus & Robertson removes "gay cure" books and apologises to LGBT community.

Watch
Is Christianity at odds with sexuality?

Police association wrongly implies HIV can be spread by saliva.

Lights dim, but Australia's LGBT media fights on. "Radio and print outlets say some companies splash the rainbow flag during pride month, but don’t splash cash afterwards."

Brazil
Bolsonaro slashes funding for LGBT films and screenplays.

Canada
Montreal fashion designer and boyfriend brutally attacked by three men for being gay.

China
Looking back at the horrifying one child policy. "Director Nanfu Wang discusses her shocking, award-winning new documentary and the dangers she faced while making it."

Germany
Remembering the Berlin Wall, in pictures. "The order for work to start on building the Berlin Wall was issued on 13 August 1961. East German guards sealed the border, preventing an exodus to the west. Barbed wire was gradually replaced with the concrete barrier, which remained until 9 November 1989."

Israel
Three men arrested for attempt to murder gay younger brother in family "honour killing".

Life in Tel Aviv's bohemian bus station, in pictures. "Opened in 1993 with hopes of rejuvenating one of Tel Aviv’s poorest neighbourhoods, the central bus station is now an eclectic mix of commerce and culture."

Italy
The "poetry of concrete" and the tragedy of a broken bridge. "It's one year since part of a motorway bridge outside Genoa collapsed, as cars and lorries sped across it. Dozens fell off the edge, tumbling 45m to the ground below, resulting in 43 deaths. Here, seven of those closely affected tell their stories."

Kenya 
Policing Africa's largest slum. "As Kenya waits to hear if a police officer will be charged over the death of 23-year-old Carilton Maina, alleged unlawful killings in Kenya continue, leaving poor communities wondering if those charged with protecting them are simply killing with impunity."

Joy, despair and determination: Kibera, in pictures. "Despite its poverty, Kibera is a vibrant place where people survive in testing conditions, both physical and mental. These images by four photographers born and bred there capture the spirit of Africa’s largest slum."

Watch
Are Kenya's police getting away with murder?

Netherlands
Male sex workers take over Amsterdam’s Red Light District windows for Pride.

Poland 
15-year-old boy holding crucifix blocks LGBT march.

Russia
Suspect arrested in murder of LGBT rights activist 
Yelena Grigoryeva.

Zambia
Police storm a man’s house because he was having gay sex.


Ghetto
Romance

Poppers
This drug gave me mind-blowing sex but then ruined my life.

Emojis
People who use emojis have more sex.


Medicine
Ball

Priapism
Gay man speaks out after late night hookup left him with life-threatening, ten day erection.

PrEP 
Australian poster campaign claims bareback sex with PrEP is better than a condom. 

Silicosis
The next asbestos? What you need to know about silica. "Silicosis, caused by dust particles from making stone benchtops, can kill. What’s being done?"

Head games 
Navigating borderline personality disorder as a gay man

Back it up 
How to prevent back pain. "Forget so-called ‘good’ posture, generally keeping active is much more important, advises a chiropractor."

Body parts
Will this be the last generation to have bodies that are familiar to us? "Jawbone shaving, gene therapy cosmetics, robotics ... What will our bodies be like in the future."

Alcoholism
Distress tolerance: the body broken by alcohol. "The more you drink, the more you become defined by the drink, the more you look like a drink and smell like a drink and behave like a drink. In a blackout, this effect reaches its apex — you leave your body completely, and the drink is finally left to move unaccompanied through the world."

For years, alcohol was my only comfort. Then it nearly killed me.

Chasing drinks with lies, and lies with drinks. "When there were no clues, I had no story — none of my own anyhow. My life belonged to witnesses, unwilling participants who might know the things that I did not. This is the scariest part of being a blackout drinker: not the inability to remember, the fear that someone else does. The worst thing you can do to a blackout drinker is tell them the truth." (April 2018)


Planet
Earth

Rainforest
The Amazon rainforest’s worst-case scenario is uncomfortably near. "Wildfires and deforestation are pushing the Amazon rainforest toward a dieback scenario: an irreversible cycle of collapse."

Life on thin ice
Greenland’s melting has been adopted by the world as its own problem. But for the islanders grieving their dissolving world, the crisis is personal, and dangerous.

Plastic fantastic
Do plastic bag taxes or bans curb waste? 400 cities and states tried it out.

Suburbia
Why so many suburbs look the same
.

Cities
The air conditioning trap: how cold air is heating the world. "The warmer it gets, the more we use air conditioning. The more we use air conditioning, the warmer it gets. Is there any way out of this trap?"

Suburb in the sky: how Jakartans built an entire village on top of a mall. "Depending who you ask, Cosmo Park is an ingenious urban oasis or an ill-conceived dystopia."

From autobahn anomaly to motorway marvel: Berlin's roadside grandstands. "An ambitious and unusual renovation project plans to transform former racetrack grandstands overlooking a motorway by 2021."

Where Manhattan’s grid came from. "It’s iconic. But you might not realise why it’s there."

Cooling goo sidewalks and other strange new weapons in the war on urban heat. "Los Angeles faces a doubling of its extreme heat days but has fresh ideas to keep residents cool - and tackle the inequality of who suffers."

Below
The world's most spectacular caves. "A cave complex recently reopened on the north Kent coast joins an array of interesting, awe-inspiring and historic grottos from Iceland to New Zealand."

Space
The greatest threat to life on Earth may come from space.


The White
Heat of This Revolution

Cyberattack 
How a cyberattack could wreak destruction comparable to a nuclear weapon. 

Obsolete
We're stockpiling millions of old gadgets in our drawers.

Duped
Been duped on Facebook and Amazon’s platforms? Well, you’re not alone. "Allowing third parties access to the online giants is as risky as it is profitable."

Tumblr
Verizon sells Tumblr to owner of Wordpress.

WordPress could give Tumblr the thing it needs most: stability. "WordPress’s bargain-basement buyout just might save Tumblr — even though it’s keeping the adult content ban."

Risk 
Grindr, Romeo, and Recon put users at risk by exposing precise location data. 

IMDb 
IMDb changes names policy after transgender protest. "The film website now allows users to remove birth names, revising earlier policy after feedback from LGBT groups."

SonicFox
Queer furry raises thousands for LGBT youth by playing Mortal Kombat for 72 hours.

Explainer
Here’s how Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, and 8chan handle white supremacist content.


Betta Work

Doctor who?
I'm a medical student, and I'm gay. Work would be simpler if I were heterosexual. "Does the pledge for doctors to be honest include our sexuality? If I tell the truth, I risk losing patient trust to homophobia."

The Tube
I wonder if I've saved a woman from suicide: my job on the London Underground. "People expect me to know about every form of transport, but the best part of my job is helping tourists understand the tube."

Unite
I was skeptical of unions. Then I joined one.


I Own
51% Of This Company! 

No Logo at 20
Have we lost the battle against the total branding of our lives? "It was the bestseller that brilliantly critiqued the political power of the ‘superbrands’ and shot Naomi Klein to fame. Two decades on, we ask her, how does it stand up in our world of tech giants and personal brands?"

Retail
Visitors to Manhattan are finding that several retail landmarks are fading fast.

Barneys New York 
files for bankruptcy. "Luxury chain made famous by Sex and the City has debts of up to $500m."

Cheap hoodies in shabby stores: UK department store House of Fraser after a year of Ashley. "Mike Ashley claimed great ambitions for the store chain, but its image has slipped from smart to decidedly dowdy in the 12 months since he bought it."

Coca-Cola 
Coca-Cola defends ad campaign featuring gay couples after lawmaker calls for boycott. 

Funko Pop
How aggressively cute toys for adults became a $686 million business. "8,000-plus characters, 29 Conan O’Brien dolls alone: inside the Funko Pop Vinyl phenomenon."

Wayfair 
The internet’s massive online furniture store, explained. "As the e-commerce home decor giant Wayfair deals with issues raised by its recent employee walkout and opens its first-ever store, one question remains: How does it even work?"


Arena 

Drugs in sport
Why 2012 London Olympics drug cheats are still being caught. "Retrospective testing means athletes cannot breathe easily for a decade, but the system is flawed."

Conrad Avondale Mainwaring
44 years. 41 allegations. Now the past is catching up. "For more than 40 years, a former Olympian allegedly has been molesting boys and young men. Now, they’re speaking out."

Ryan Russell
NFL veteran comes out in moving essay.

Odell Beckham Jr. 
NFL star defends sexual orientation after being mocked for calvin klein underwear shoot.

Israel Folau 
Israel Folau sues Rugby Australia for $10 million over firing for homophobic remarks. 

Onside 
How Premier League footballers got woke. "Once renowned for luxury lifestyles and bad behaviour, players are speaking out on big issues from mental health to politics."

Interview 
Michael Johnson was released from prison 25 years early after a ‘fundamentally unfair’ trial. Now he wants to help others


Art
Skool

Mapplethorpe
The aftermath of Robert Mapplethorpe's censorship war. "Thirty years ago, the acclaimed photographer challenged the nation's censorship laws. Now a new podcast is examining how far we've come."

Alvin Baltrop
Remembering New York's forgotten queer photographer. "The Bronx-born photographer captured gay culture on the outskirts in 70s Manhattan and his work is finally receiving the attention it deserves."

Blake
Heavenly visions of hell: Alan Moore on the sublime art of William Blake. "Blake’s Lambeth home was also the scene of the spiritual apparitions captured in a major new Tate exhibition, writes the graphic novelist."

Nothing like the rain
Rain Room offers art lovers – and Instagrammers – the perfect storm. "It is, quite literally, an immersive experience. Just don’t expect to get wet."

Architecture
From bombs to Benidorm: how fascism disfigured the face of Spain. "As dictator, Franco built a cemetery with slave labour and orphanages for his murdered enemies’ children. Then Spain discovered tourism – and the lager louts flew in."

Left To Rot
The new global effort to preserve lost monuments. "From a railway run by children in Ljubljana to brutalist monuments in the Balkans, the Nonument Group maps abandoned 20th-century architecture."

Gallery 
Boys and birds - the photography of Walter Jenkel, in pictures


Word! 
  
Proust 
Marcel Proust’s secret gay stories, dating from the 1890s, will finally be published

Val McDermid 
Britain's ten most outstanding LGBT writers. "The bestselling crime writer has nominated her favourite queer and trans authors and poets as part of a showcase celebrating the best in British writing."

Reviews
The Gay Metropolis
. If we can survive Aids, we can survive Trump. "Charles Kaiser’s update of his seminal history is suffused with belief in civil rights, progress and essential human decency."

Men Touching
, by Henry Alley. "This is a book that will pull you into its world and the lives of the people in it. You’ll be sorry to see them go by its end, and if you’re new to this author’s work, you will now be an admirer of it."

Pagan Light: Dreams of Freedom and Beauty in Capri
, by Jamie James. "Just beneath a decorous surface, Jamie James has given us a 2000-year chronicle of depravity, joy, and anguish on a tiny limestone island."

The Island of No Secrets and Other Stories
, by Lou Dellaguzzo. "The cinematic crispness of the storytelling is overmatched only by the ultimate hopefulness of a writer who’s been lucky in love."

The Stonewall Riots: A Documentary History
, by Marc Stein. "Surprisingly, given its subject, The Stonewall Riots does not always provide a dramatic reading experience—the book’s primary aim is to inform, so it can be dry."

How to...

Interview
Talking to Ibram X Kendi: the most extreme racists say, "I’m the least racist person anywhere in the world". "Bestselling author of new book, How to be an Antiracist, says being an antiracist is not as simple as describing yourself as ‘not racist’."

Watch
Owen Jones talks to Ibram X Kendi.

Dorothy West
Whatever happened to author Dorothy West? "Writing alongside Zora Neale Hurston and Langston Hughes, West was the last surviving member of the Harlem Renaissance. Diana Evans asks: why were her books overlooked for so long?"

Toni Morrison
Toni Morrison, the author, is dead. She was 88.

Toni Morrison: obituary.

Toni Morrison: a life, in pictures.

Toni Morrison: a life, in quotes.

Toni Morrison: farewell to America's greatest writer – we all owe her so much. "Booker nominated author Chigozie Obioma reflects on losing a ‘literary mother’ and her encouragement for generations of black and African writers to come."

Watch
Toni Morrison talks to Mavis Nicholson in 1988.

James Baldwin: his voice remembered, by Toni Morrison. (December 1987)

On the rag
The month in gay mags. Week 1, week 2, week 3, week 4.


Shouting
At Night 

"Jewface" row 
West End musical accused of cultural appropriation. "Jewish actors and playwrights criticise Falsettos for using non-Jews to play Jewish roles." 


Film
Skool

Kids
Drugs, exploitation, 72-hour shifts: can Hollywood take care of its child stars? "The film Judy tracks the final year of Judy Garland’s life, the quintessential cautionary tale of child stardom. The list of tragic names since suggest things have not improved much – although some directors are trying."

Nashville contra Jaws, 1975. "In their time, Jaws and Nashville were regarded as Watergate films, and both were in production as the Watergate disaster played its final act."

Quads
Posters amassed by "London's greatest film fan" to be auctioned.

This Is Not Berlin
Being queer is about much more than sex. "Hari Sama's new film explores chosen family among art punks in 1980s Mexico City."

End of the Century
A spellbinding trip about the passage of time. "Lucio Castro’s feature debut is an intimate romance that’s unafraid to ask big questions."

Midnight Cowboy 
Homophobic? Maybe. But at least Midnight Cowboy showed me gay men on screen. "The film is 50, and the debate is on about its motives. But growing up, I hankered after images of other gay men, however they were treated."

Joel Schumacher
Veteran director says he’s had sex with 10,000 or 20,000 men: "It’s not [amazing] for a gay male, because it’s available."

Bollywood
Filmmaker Karan Johar shuts down homophobic troll.

Judy
Why fans fear a new Judy Garland biopic just won’t do her justice. "As Renée Zellweger depicts the Wizard of Oz star’s declining years, Garland’s devoted following are torn between excitement and dread."

Keanu Reeves
Keanu Reeves, explained. "Keanu is having a really great year — and personifying what celebrity means in 2019."

The horror... the horror
Apocalypse Now
: Final Cut: Coppola’s surreal Vietnam epic returns. "Why Francis Ford Coppola decided to make a third cut of his masterpiece on its 40th anniversary — and why this version is, in his mind, the best."

Why Francis Ford Coppola couldn’t resist recutting Apocalypse Now — again. "The Oscar winner on the definitive, 182-minute version of his magnum opus—a Vietnam fantasia four decades in the making."

The strained making of Apocalypse Now. "Dead bodies, heart attacks, wild parties, cocaine binges, Marlon Brando's belly and breakdowns. Thirty years on, Robert Sellers revisits the making of Apocalypse Now." (July 2009)

There will never be another war movie like it. "In the 40 years since Francis Ford Coppola's groundbreaking film came out, Hollywood has given up on capturing the depravity of war."

Retro active
Why film-makers are getting stuck in the past. "New movie Bait’s rejection of digital technology could open up new paths to creative expression."

So extra
How the director's cut became Hollywood's best ruse to milk fans dry. "They used to come out years after the original – and be quite different. Now films such as Avengers: Endgame are released in ‘new’ versions weeks after the original – and fans are lapping them up."

Killers Anonymous
Has the Hollywood hitman had its day? "The besuited assassin seems to only exist in films. Perhaps it’s time to put them out of their misery."

sex, lies and videotape at 30
How Steven Soderbergh changed independent cinema. "In 1989, the micro-budget drama took the industry by surprise and changed our concept of what an indie film could achieve."

Natural Born Killers at 25
The problem with Oliver Stone's hit film. "The controversy-courting 1994 road movie about a couple of bloodthirsty killers took the media to task but failed to investigate further."

...the horror
In 1999, two movies changed horror forever. "The Blair Witch Project was an innovator. But The Sixth Sense became one of the biggest horror hits ever."

Reviews
Gaza
. "Human stories in a city under siege."

Judy
. "Zellweger rises to the challenge superbly in a standard-issue heartwarmer that sugarcoats the sadness."

Notorious
. "Ingrid Bergman is magnificent alongside Cary Grant in this brilliantly crafted, lethally elegant thriller."

Watch
Here's the trailers for The Blue Hour; Mr. Leather; Mario; and I Am Patrick Swayze.

Still a thing
Tons of people still rent Netflix dvds, apparently. "The company has mailed its 5 billionth DVD, and we have one question: who is actually ordering DVDs from Netflix?"


The
Box

EastEnders
I headlined the first Eastenders Pride parade episode. "Appearing on a Pride-themed soap ep isn't the most radical, progressive step out there, but it meant everything to my mum."

Top Boy
How Drake rescued the druglords of Top Boy. "It was ‘Britain’s answer to The Wire’. But the gang drama was dead – until the rapper stepped in and pitched it to Netflix. Its stars and writer talk grime, gentrification and Boris Johnson’s Britain."

Ronan Bennett: "Top Boy was special to me... I poured it all into the scripts."

Skins
How Skins went from teen noir to soapy despair. "Once representing British drama at its best, as the storylines got darker it slowly turned into Goodfellas."

Jonathan Creek
How Jonathan Creek went from geek in a duffel coat to boring besuited businessman. "Alan Davies solved improbable crimes with wit and flair. Before, erm, getting a job in advertising."

David Makes Man
Teen TV needs more stories about boys of colour. David Makes Man is a good start. "The series, about an underprivileged boy growing up in Florida, is from the writer of Moonlight."

Watch
Matt Baume: "In the last Culture Cruise video, I talked about how the show All in the Family introduced Beverly LaSalle, presenting a female impersonator as being worthy of love and respect at a time when TV tended to depict queer people as mere punch lines. But Beverly was also one of the first queer characters on television to come back for more than one episode, growing closer to the Bunkers over the course of years... until her storyline took a dark turn.

Twatted 
Karamo Brown deletes his Twitter account after backlash for defending Sean Spicer on Dancing With The Stars

Colton Haynes 
Arrow
actor shares photos of "dark times" during addiction to pills.
 

Pose 
Billy Porter reveals why he has a hard time watching his Pose love scene.

The second season of Pose showed the true power of queer romance. "If the show’s debut season redefined family, this outing showed that queer romance can change (and save) lives."

Dear White People
Lionel is showing the world how gay culture works. "And he does it through a queer lens — a refreshingly rare perspective — in a way that's not corny. (Well, maybe a little.)"

"Drabness incarnate!"
Are we finally suffering from Marvel fatigue? "Just as Netflix axed the last of them, the head of Marvel has revealed they have more series on the way. As if we hadn’t suffered enough slogging through their tired, listless shows."

Styling Hollywood
Jason Bolden and husband Adair Curtis dress celebrities and their homes in new Netflix series.

Styling Hollywood
Netflix's Styling Hollywood is a new kind of gay love story. "Celebrity stylist Jason Bolden and interior designer Adair Curtis talk self-made success and black gay joy."

Queer Eye
Antoni Porowski and Trace Lehnoff split.

Joshua Rush
Joshua Rush, 17-year-old star of Disney series Andi Mack, comes out.

Seinfeld
What’s the deal with Seinfeld fanfiction?

Big Brother
The life and death of Jade Goody changed celebrity culture. "A new Channel 4 documentary about the late Big Brother star is a sobering reminder that the way we treat reality stars has barely changed."

Jade Goody: a scorned celebrity who held a mirror up to bitter Britain. "She was mocked, shamed and then lionised after a very public death. Ten years on, the Big Brother star exists as a lesson in public prejudice – and the prison of the class system."

Watch
The Mystery of Terry Nation's Special Daleks; Josh Snares explores the making of 1967 Doctor Who serial The Faceless Ones; a new episode of Steam Room Stories; and the trailer for Elite season two is here.


Beats,
Rhymes
& Life

Troye Sivan
Troye Sivan rips journalist for asking "wildly invasive, strange, and inappropriate" sexual question.

Lil Nas X
Lil Nas X's Old Town Road leads Billboard Hot 100 for record nineteenth week...

...and he reveals what people have been telling him since he came out as a gay man.

Rammstein
Rammstein band members kiss at Moscow concert to protest Russian homophobia.

Neil Young
His lonely quest to save music. “Neil Young is crankier than a hermit being stung by bees. He hates Spotify. He hates Facebook. He hates Apple. He hates Steve Jobs. He hates what digital technology is doing to music.”
  
Billie Eilish 
The neo-goth, chart-topping teenage pop star, explained

Henri Belolo
Henri Belolo, the music producer, promoter and co-founder of groups such as the Ritchie Family and Village People, is dead. He was 82.

Henri Belolo: obituary.


Meat
Market

Kurt Wild
Gay-for-pay porn star Kurt Wild arrested for threatening to murder his wife in front of their three children.

Helix Studios
Gay porn photographer Ryan Gordon files bogus lawsuit against Helix Studios for fraud, defamation, and more.

Paul Wagner
Men.com director Paul Wagner responds to performer Cyrus Stark’s claims of harassment on set: “There was absolutely no harassment”.
  
Donte Thick
Donte Thick faces backlash for saying he won’t work with HIV-positive models who are undetectable. 

ChaosMen
ChaosMen rehires model with confederate flag tattoo, and pairs him with a black model.

Beaux Banks
Beaux Banks criticises director Chi Chi LaRue - and the cast of Scared Stiff 2 - for lack of black models.

Jacen Zhu
Performer Jacen Zhu calls for boycott of Noir Male.

Cameron Dalile
NextDoorStudios seeks new director as Cameron Dalile enters drug rehab after relapsing.

Sean Cody
Sean Cody’s gay porn getaway orgies, ranked from worst to best.

Interview
Talking to Sean Cody’s Jack about his favourite (and least favourite) Sean Cody scenes, being recognised in public, whether he’s straight or gay, and more.

King size
Beaux Banks, Miller Axton and Judas King do it.

Dixon of cock green
Andre Donovan, Andrey Vic, Drew Dixon and Riley Mitchel do it.

William Seed and Drew Dixon do it.

The King and I
Max Arion, Allen King, Rico Marlon and Max Avila do it.

The price is right
Elye Black, Princeton Price, Donte Thick and Zane Williams do it.

Winwin all round
Arad Winwin and Dylan James do it.

Arad Winwin and Robbie Caruso do it.

Arad Winwin and Dakota Payne do it.

Arad Winwin and Michael Boston do it.

Hart to hart
Adrian Hart and Kaleb Stryker do it.

Lover's lane
Pheonix Fellington and Greyson Lane do it
.

Pheonix Fellington and Ashton Summers do it.

Go West
Micah West and Hayden Lee do it.

Franco sense
Devin Franco and Bama Romello do it.

Devin Franco and Jonathan Miranda do it.

Bouna vista
Erik Bouna flaunts it.

Jack in the box
Jack Harrer, Kieran Benning and Tom Rogers do it.

Vadim Farrell and Jerome Exupery do it.

Nils by mouth
Nils Tatum and Bart Cuban do it.

Wood in Harrelson
Niko Vangelis and Steve Harrelson do it.

The Simpsons
Jayden Marcos, Blake Michael and Collin Simpson do it.

Reese's pieces
Aaron Reese and Leon Reddz do it.

Jeffrey stars
Jeffrey Lloyd, Ruslan Angelo and Hunter Smith do it.

Tough as Steel
Dante Martin, Jamie Steel and Anthony Moore do it.

To the max
Max Konnor and Boomer Banks do it.

Dante's peak
Jason Vario and Dante Colle do it.

White Calvins
Calvin Banks and Alam Wernik do it.

Papi!
DeAngelo Jackson and Papi Suave do it.


Hell's
Kitchen 
  
Beef
This is the beginning of the end of the beef industry. "Alt meat isn't going to stay alt for long, and cattle are looking more and more like stranded assets."

Cheesy 
American cheese: does it deserve its bad reputation?


Zoo 

Watch
Dog statues. 

Gallery
The month in wildlife, in pictures: week 1, week 2, week 3, week 4, and week 5.


And
This: 

Chill out!
The ten rules for a perfect fridge – from egg storage to deep cleaning. "How cold should your fridge be? How often does it need to be emptied? And is it safe to keep open tins of food in it? Here is a guide to keeping it cool."


Vloglife 

YouTube
Teen threatens YouTube HQ with gun photo after she gets axed for anti-gay videos.

Louie Castro wants to see more Latinx people and boys in beauty. "The YouTuber and beauty influencer loves bringing his authentic self to the world, and he can’t wait to see more of everyone else."

Hung Vanngo is making beauty industry waves — and he’s doing it from the heart. "The beauty maven’s story is as inspiring as the looks he crafts. He talks to us about the industry’s drive towards inclusivity, discrimination in the queer community, and more."

Watch
Andrew is rough, raw - and uncut! Plus: Walter discusses the Morehouse sex scandal; D'Angelo exposes a Twitter sham; and butch and femme lesbians answer awkward sex questions.


Life's A
Goddamn
Laugh Riot 

Watch
Randy Rainbow skewers Trump's God complex in Cheeto-Christ Stupid-Czar; meet Christine; Michael, Jimmy and Peter discuss kinks; and the best of Jaboukie Young-White.

That's all for this week - please like, follow and share!
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