It was a small family bookshop, on a peaceful back street in a small town on the fringes of London. I treated it as my own personal library, and I would sit there for hours on end, often on the floor, usually not buying anything. I loved that bookshop, so naturally I had to go and betray it.

Pep Guardiola's glorious reign as Barcelona manager will end tonight with the Copa del Rey final against Athletic Bilbao at the Vicente Calderon Stadium in Madrid. Victory would mean Guardiola ending his four-year tenure at the Nou Camp with his 14th trophy – the perfect end to the best spell at a European club side for a generation. This date has been marked since, one month ago, the former Barça midfielder announced he would step down.

Do we need poetry? Last week, appearing on a Radio 4 programme, I praised the poets for making our lives bearable with their words, for adding meaning to our world. Another of the guests, a hard-working businessman wearing a gold watch, attacked me for promoting poetry, and therefore idleness: "People need food!" he raved. "You can't eat poetry!"

Alain de Botton has addressed love, happiness and religion. Now he wants to investigate pornography in the belief it can be turned into a moral and noble industry.

Fêted photographer has died aged 79. Adrian Hamilton pays tribute

When the facts get in the way of a good story

Matilda Battersby meets the new philosophy clubs

School meals campaigner Jamie Oliver has warned the Education Secretary, Michael Gove, he is endangering the health of millions of children.

Jamie Oliver has warned Michael Gove, the Education Secretary, that his school meals policies are endangering children's health.

Studying philosophy equips you with an adaptable mind and vital life skills, writes Russ Thorne

How anyone recovered from serious illness in the 1600s is beyond me. According to Thomas Wright, diagnosis consisted of urine-sniffing and treatments included leeching, belly rubs and (most useless of all) abstinence from alcohol. William Harvey (1578-1657), the subject of Wright's book, was responsible for helping to bring about a world in which these so-called cures would be exposed as quackery.