Weekend

Marina Hyde: ‘So Russell Brand was baptised in the Thames, and all his sins were washed away. Cheaper than a lawyer, I suppose’; plus Jenny Kleeman meets Raffaella Spone, the woman accused of creating and circulating a damaging ‘deepfake’ video of teenage cheerleaders. The problem? Nothing was fake after all.

Frock horror! The ludicrous spectacle of the Met Gala; reluctant star Josh O’Connor takes the lead in a new film, Challengers; Catherine Carr talks to boys about sex, pornography and feeling isolated and vulnerable; and Philippa Perry responds to a reader who is child-free.

Sofie Hagen loves sex – so why has it been 3,089 days since she’s had any? (1m27s); A flat white can now set you back up to £5.19 – but should we swallow it? (25m13s); and psychotherapist and Observer columnist Philippa Perry addresses a reader’s personal problem (43m51s).

Beware of ‘Tetchy Rishi’ – the prime minister struggles to control his anger during the Rwanda bill press briefing (1m24s); David Harewood on acting, racism and mental health (9m08s); Phil Daoust’s surprisingly simple solution to insomnia hell (24m33s); and Stuart Heritage examines the dangerous fallout from Netflix’s Baby Reindeer (42m29s)

Zoe Williams explores the greatest mystery of modern politics: Liz Truss’ self belief (1m15s), and Charlotte Edwardes delves into the extraordinary inside story of the biggest art fraud in American history (5m53s)

Marina Hyde with her take on Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson’s surreal US presidential bid (1m23s); Emine Saner meets the sociopath who learned to behave – and found happiness (8m05s); why Gen Z has fallen in love with Sex and the City (24m45s); and do our political opponents really hate us? (29m54s).

This week, Marina Hyde discusses the Thames Water crisis after a sewage-plagued boat race (01:27); Simon Hattenstone interviews Nick Cave, who is about to exhibit his ceramic figurines at the Xavier Hufkens gallery, about art, love, politics and the death of his two sons (08:59); and Rachel Dixon investigates bread in Britain and what it tells us about health, wealth and class (28:52)

This week, Marina Hyde discuss the Tories’ attack ad as they bid to unseat Sadiq Khan (01:54); Phil Daoust asks what can he change at 60 to make it to 100 (08:31); and Eva Wiseman interviews Gillian Anderson as she prepares to play Emily Maitlis in a drama about her interview with Prince Andrew (26:25)

If Labour gets into government, the deputy labour leader Angela Rayner will be one of the most powerful women in Britain. ‘Bring it on,’ she says (1m58s); and ‘I was having a much better time as a girl in that parallel life’: why author Lucy Sante transitioned (29m08s)

Should you blame yourself for your bad habits? (1m53s); author and teacher, Michael Donkor, on the dilemma of whether to come out to his pupils (7m50s); and missed connections: four extraordinary stories of couples who found love via small ads (26m05s)