On Safari: Björk and David Attenborough, pictured out of their natural environments

An awkward encounter between broadcaster and pop star resulted in squirm-inducing viewing

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Fiona Maddocks: Her life of Hildegard is both scholarly and very readable

Paperback review: Hildegard of Bingen, By Fiona Maddocks

Every woman needs some turbot liver

Not even the opening of the 2012 Olympics could persuade many viewers to watch the BBC’s 3D broadcast

3D TV? It’s a turn off – BBC ends pilot as viewers fail to switch on

Put away those funny glasses: the BBC has decided to abandon its experiment with 3D after deciding there was insufficient appetite for it among audiences.

Google Doodle celebrates the winter solstice

Artwork by Christoph Niemann knits a combined scarf and glove for the southern hemisphere

Sir David in the BBC ‘s critically acclaimed Frozen Planet series

The future of BBC's blockbuster nature shows such as Frozen Planet and Life under threat

Broadcaster risks losing flagship programs following claims major backer will not renew multi-million pound deal

The Natural History Museum in London

Staff walkouts threaten disruption at museums

Industrial action this week is part of a three month campaign culminating in a national walkout at the end of June

Nostalgia, By Jonathan Buckley

Get beyond the vaguer-than-vague title and this is some book: a minor-key masterpiece of restraint, invention and the fine art of keeping expectations deliberately low, then elegantly surpassing them. Nostalgia is set in the fictitious Tuscany town of Castelluccio, home to expat British painter Gideon Westfall, a successful but defiantly unfashionable exponent of neo-Neo-Classicism .

Bloomsbury gets by without Harry Potter

Academic and business publishing will never have the magical allure of Harry Potter, but entering these markets looks to be paying off for JK Rowling's old publisher, Bloombsury.

The Week in Radio: Early-bird David Attenborough goes down a tweet

Did I awake at two minutes to six on Monday morning – a Bank Holiday, no less – to hear David Attenborough's inaugural Tweet of the Day on Radio 4, so as to bring you a wholly authentic report of the listening experience? Did I heck.

Sir David Attenborough is to present Tweet Of The Day on Radio 4

Sir David Attenborough to bring bird song to Radio 4 with Tweet Of The Day

Fans of Sir David Attenborough are in for a tweet after the veteran broadcaster signed up to present a new series devoted to birdsong.

James Hyslop from Christie's auction house holds a complete sub-fossilised elephant bird egg

Who will shell out for this pre-17th century fossilised bird egg?

A sub-fossilised egg belonging to an extinct Elephant Bird has been put up for auction today.

The theme of the Natural History Museum's Night Safari changes for each event, meaning you can delve deeper into your favourite aspect of natural history

Love among the dino bones: a safari on Valentine's night

Museums at night have a certain romance and none more so than London's Natural History Museum, though romance may not be the most appropriate word when you are standing next to the gigantic dinosaur in the main hall. A drink next to the dinosaur is just the prologue to an imaginative bi-monthly evening that the museum has started. Called Night Safari, it involves small groups going to several rooms where they meet scientists who introduce them to the institution's most cherished animals, from Guy the Gorilla to a killer shark.

Postcard from... Beirut

While Europe is engulfed by its horse-meat scandal, Lebanon is battling its own food crisis: wood shavings in its beloved zaatar manakeesh.

Postcard from... Berlin

I Am Kloot

I Am Kloot, Islington Assembly Hall, London



"This song is about drinking... and disaster," frontman John Bramwell drily announces before launching into the astringent "To the Brink".

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Special report: How my father's face turned up in Robert Capa's lost suitcase

Special report: How my father's face turned up in Robert Capa's lost suitcase

The great war photographer was not one person but two. Their pictures of Spain's civil war, lost for decades, tell a heroic tale
The unmade speech: An alternative draft of history

The unmade speech: An alternative draft of history

Someone, somewhere has to write speeches for world leaders to deliver in the event of disaster. They offer a chilling hint at what could have been
Funny business: Meet the women running comedy

Funny business: Meet the women running comedy

Think comedy’s a man's world? You must be stuck in the 1980s, says Holly Williams
Wilko Johnson: 'You have to live for the minute you're in'

Wilko Johnson: 'You have to live for the minute you're in'

The Dr Feelgood guitarist talks frankly about his terminal illness
Lure of the jingle: Entrepreneurs are giving vintage ice-cream vans a new lease of life

Lure of the jingle

Entrepreneurs are giving vintage ice-cream vans a new lease of life
Who stole the people's own culture?

DJ Taylor: Who stole the people's own culture?

True popular art drives up from the streets, but the commercial world wastes no time in cashing in
Guest List: The IoS Literary Editor suggests some books for your summer holiday

Guest List: IoS Literary Editor suggests some books for your summer holiday

Before you stuff your luggage with this year's Man Booker longlist titles, the case for some varied poolside reading alternatives
What if Edward Snowden had stayed to fight his corner?

Rupert Cornwell: What if Edward Snowden had stayed to fight his corner?

The CIA whistleblower struck a blow for us all, but his 1970s predecessor showed how to win
'A man walks into a bar': Comedian Seann Walsh on the dangers of mixing alcohol and stand-up

Comedian Seann Walsh on alcohol and stand-up

Comedy and booze go together, says Walsh. The trouble is stopping at just the one. So when do the hangovers stop being funny?
From Edinburgh to Hollywood (via the Home Counties): 10 comedic talents blowing up big

Edinburgh to Hollywood: 10 comedic talents blowing up big

Hugh Montgomery profiles the faces to watch, from the sitcom star to the surrealist
'Hello. I have cancer': When comedian Tig Notaro discovered she had a tumour she decided the show must go on

Comedian Tig Notaro: 'Hello. I have cancer'

When Notaro discovered she had a tumour she decided the show must go on
They think it's all ova: Bill Granger's Asia-influenced egg recipes

Bill Granger's Asia-influenced egg recipes

Our chef made his name cooking eggs, but he’s never stopped looking for new ways to serve them
The world wakes up to golf's female big hitters

The world wakes up to golf's female big hitters

With its own Tiger Woods - South Korea's Inbee Park - the women's game has a growing audience
10 athletes ready to take the world by storm in Moscow next week

10 athletes ready to take the world by storm in Moscow next week

Here are the potential stars of the World Championships which begin on Saturday
The Last Word: Luis Suarez and Gareth Bale's art of manipulation

The Last Word: Luis Suarez and Gareth Bale's art of manipulation

Briefings are off the record leading to transfer speculation which is merely a means to an end