Ian

Posted by Hollie Richardson, Ali Catterall, Jack Seale, Graeme Virtue and Simon Wardell

https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2025/nov/14/tv-tonight-david-olusogas-epic-series-about-the-british-empire

The historian heads to Australia to unearth the fallout of the American revolution. Plus: the mother of medieval smackdowns. Here’s what to watch this evening

9pm, BBC Two
By the 1770s, Britain was transporting 45,000 Africans into slavery every year. David Olusoga visits Bunce Island, where captured Africans were sold, to continue his epic series about the empire’s legacy. The fallout of the American revolution then takes him to Australia – which, of course, had already been home to natives for at least 40,000 years, including the Tasmanian Truganini. Hollie Richardson

https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2025/nov/14/tv-tonight-david-olusogas-epic-series-about-the-british-empire

Posted by Melanie Wilkinson

https://www.theguardian.com/fashion/gallery/2025/nov/14/what-to-wear-knee-high-boots

Anchoring your look around a pair of statement boots is a winning winter formula. These styling tips will make getting dressed a doddle

https://www.theguardian.com/fashion/gallery/2025/nov/14/what-to-wear-knee-high-boots

Posted by Benjamina Ebuehi

https://www.theguardian.com/food/2025/nov/14/apple-brown-butter-and-oat-loaf-recipe-benjamina-ebuehi

A wholesome, versatile cake that’s perfect for the colder months, be it for breakfast or for pudding

I adore a good loaf cake. There’s something about them that’s just inherently cosy and wholesome, and this one in particular is perfect for the colder months, not least because it’s simple and sturdy in the very best way. It’d be right at home with a coffee for breakfast, as well as gently warmed in a pan with butter and served with hot custard on a rainy evening. A real all-rounder.

https://www.theguardian.com/food/2025/nov/14/apple-brown-butter-and-oat-loaf-recipe-benjamina-ebuehi

Posted by Keith Stuart

https://www.theguardian.com/games/2025/nov/14/call-of-duty-black-ops-7-review-playstation-xbox-pc

Activision; PlayStation 4/5, Xbox, PC
With a deafening onslaught of massive shootout set-pieces in exotic locations, an evolving campaign mode and excellent multiplayer offerings, this maximalist instalment of crazed carnage is a hoot

It seems like an anachronism now, in this age of live service “forever games”, that the annual release of a new Call of Duty title is still considered a major event. But here is Black Ops 7, a year after its direct predecessor, and another breathless bombard of military shooting action. This time it is set in a dystopian 2035 where a global arms manufacturer named the Guild claims to be the only answer to an apocalyptic new terrorist threat – but are things as clearcut as they seem?

The answer, of course, is a loudly yelled “noooo!” Black Ops is the paranoid, conspiracy-obsessed cousin to the Modern Warfare strand of Call of Duty games, a series inspired by 70s thrillers such as The Parallax View and The China Syndrome, and infused with ’Nam era concerns about rogue CIA agents and bizarre psy-ops. The campaign mode, which represents just a quarter of the offering this year, is a hallucinogenic romp through socio-political talking points such as psychopathic corporations, hybrid warfare, robotics and tech oligarchies. The result is a deafening onslaught of massive shootout set-pieces in exotic locations, as the four lead characters – members of a supercharged spec-ops outfit – are exposed to a psychotropic drug that makes them relive their worst nightmares. Luckily, they do so with advanced weaponry, cool gadgets and enough buddy banter to destabilise a medium-sized rogue nation. It is chaotic, relentless and stupidly pleasurable, especially if you play in co-operative mode with three equally irresponsible pals.

https://www.theguardian.com/games/2025/nov/14/call-of-duty-black-ops-7-review-playstation-xbox-pc

Posted by David Barnett

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025/nov/14/demonic-wind-in-the-willows-jumper-banned-from-westminster-abbey

Woman told to remove or cover up garment featuring 1908 illustration of Pan lest it offend worshippers

The Wind in the Willows is one of the most beloved books of British children’s literature, but while most people think of the jolly adventures of Toad, Mole and Rat, Kenneth Grahame’s 1908 story has a darker side.

And it was a step too far for the Beadle security guards at Westminster Abbey, who told a visitor wearing a sweatshirt with an illustration from the book that she had to take it off because it was “an image of the devil”.

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025/nov/14/demonic-wind-in-the-willows-jumper-banned-from-westminster-abbey

Posted by Miranda Bryant Nordic correspondent

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/nov/14/the-uk-wants-to-emulate-denmarks-hardline-asylum-model-but-what-does-it-actually-look-like

Denmark has slashed asylum numbers by granting only short-term status and by targeting ‘ghettoes’, which critics say has damaged the country’s values

Of all the measures introduced to deter people from seeking asylum in Denmark over the last decade, it is the impermanence of refugees’ status that is often cited as the most effective.

Before 2015, refugees in Denmark were initially allowed to stay for between five and seven years, after which their residence permits would automatically become permanent. But 10 years ago, when more than a million people arrived in Europe fleeing conflict and repression, largely from Syria, Afghanistan, Iraq and Eritrea, the Danish government dramatically changed the rules.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/nov/14/the-uk-wants-to-emulate-denmarks-hardline-asylum-model-but-what-does-it-actually-look-like

Posted by Joshua Olusanya

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2025/nov/14/experience-i-played-the-trumpet-for-25-hours-straight

I couldn’t repeat a song, and improvisation wasn’t allowed. I needed a very long set list.

The first time I picked up the trumpet was 15 years ago. Before that, I had tried the drums and the clarinet. They didn’t quite stick. But when I blew my first note on the trumpet, it resonated with me in a way nothing else had. From that moment, I knew: this was my instrument.

Since then, I’ve dedicated myself to music. I now teach students at the American International School of Abuja, Nigeria, and share my love for the trumpet with others. I’ve seen first-hand how little recognition musicians and musicologists receive. Music demands so much time, discipline, money, and years of study – yet it is so undervalued. I’d like to change that.

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2025/nov/14/experience-i-played-the-trumpet-for-25-hours-straight

Posted by Lucy Mangan

https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2025/nov/14/malice-review-david-duchovny-jack-whitehall-amazon-prime

The X-Files star is at his charismatic best as a ruthless multimillionaire who hires Jack Whitehall as a sinister nanny. It’s like The White Lotus meets The Talented Mr Ripley

I can’t say I had “Jack Whitehall stars with David ‘The X Files/ Californication’ Duchovny in glossy TV thriller” on my 2025 bingo card, but here we are, and a good time with it can be had by all. Alongside, perhaps, a smidge of national pride to see the daft lad from Fresh Meat, Bad Education and Travels With My Father all grown up and holding his own.

The glossy thriller in question is Malice, in which Whitehall plays Adam, a tutor promoted to manny (male nanny, for those not au fait with rich people’s terms), who is bent – for reasons as yet unknown – on ruining high-rolling businessman Jamie Tanner (Duchovny). Whether he has it in for the rest of the Tanner family and friends, or they are just doomed to be collateral damage, is not clear, but that doesn’t spoil the machiavellian fun.

https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2025/nov/14/malice-review-david-duchovny-jack-whitehall-amazon-prime

Posted by Xan Brooks

https://www.theguardian.com/film/2025/nov/14/joel-edgerton-clint-bentley-interview-train-of-dreams

The actor and the director of Train Dreams – a quietly powerful tale of a logger in 1900s Idaho – on the slog of getting it made, the joy of motel living and why human-made things will always beat AI

America was built by men like Robert Grainier, the stoical lumberjack at the heart of Train Dreams. Grainier cuts the trees and tames the forest and lays the ground for railroads and towns. Technically, then, Train Dreams is a western. But he never once ropes a steer, shoots a bandit or circles the wagons ahead of a Comanche attack on the plains. The small print tells a different kind of story.

It was a hard film to pitch, admits the actor Joel Edgerton: an uphill struggle; plenty of studio trepidation. “You go into the meeting and say: ‘Well, it’s a movie about a guy who’s not really making choices for himself. He’s kind of pushed around by life.’”

https://www.theguardian.com/film/2025/nov/14/joel-edgerton-clint-bentley-interview-train-of-dreams

Posted by Presented by Helen Pidd with Aditya Chakrabortty

https://www.theguardian.com/news/audio/2025/nov/14/the-surprising-truth-about-reform-voters-podcast

The biggest survey of Reform voters to date reveals unexpected views. Aditya Chakrabortty reports

There are certain stereotypes about who Reform UK voters are: people who want “the old England” back, who think the country is going to the dogs and are obsessed with immigration.

But now the anti-racism charity Hope Not Hate has asked 11,000 people who said they were going to vote for Reform why that is – and the answers may surprise you. The Guardian columnist Aditya Chakrabortty says the results suggest an unwieldy coalition of voters who could be won back by other parties.

https://www.theguardian.com/news/audio/2025/nov/14/the-surprising-truth-about-reform-voters-podcast