Culture

Victor Hugo’s Unrevealed Talent Comes Alive in New London Exhibit
Victor Hugo’s Unrevealed Talent Comes Alive in New London Exhibit

French writer Victor Hugo is famous for penning The Hunchback of Notre-Dame and Les Misérables, but less known is his work as an illustrator — now the subject of a new exhibition in London. Astonishing Things: The Drawings of Victor Hugo, which opened at the Royal Academy of Arts on Friday, traces Hugo's passion for illustration, 140 years ...

“Snoopy in Style”: A 75-Year Journey from Comic Icon to Fashion Legend
“Snoopy in Style”: A 75-Year Journey from Comic Icon to Fashion Legend

A new exhibition, Snoopy in Style, opened on March 22 in Paris, highlighting the emergence of Snoopy as a fashion icon. The beloved black-and-white beagle, known for his role in Charles Schulz’s Peanuts comic strip, has been embraced by a wide range of designers, from streetwear brands to high-fashion couture houses. Hosted at the Hôtel du ...

Carly Simon and the Secret Behind 'You're So Vain'
StoryCarly Simon and the Secret Behind 'You're So Vain'

November 1972. You're So Vain hits the airwaves and instantly captivates listeners. Its catchy rhythm, sharp lyrics and especially that iconic chorus—“You're so vain, you probably think this song is about you”—catapult Carly Simon to the top of the charts. By January 1973, the song is a number-one hit in the United States, Canada, ...

Séries Mania Opens with Lynch Tribute and Premieres
Séries Mania Opens with Lynch Tribute and Premieres

Europe’s biggest event of its kind, the international Séries Mania festival, opened Friday evening in Lille (northern France) with a tribute to David Lynch and a deep dive into Napoleonic-era French gastronomy via the series Carême. Before the screenings, numerous celebrities walked the purple carpet, including actress Mélanie Doutey, singer ...

Marcin Patrzałek: Proving His Guitar Genius Is No Trick
Marcin Patrzałek: Proving His Guitar Genius Is No Trick

Traditionally, artists take to the stage to connect with their audience. For Marcin Patrzałek, a Polish guitar prodigy, there’s an added drive: to prove that his jaw-dropping technique, which has garnered tens of millions of views on Instagram, is no trick. “It bothers me a bit that people think it’s fake (...) but it’s good that it gets ...

Italian Newspaper Prints Full AI Edition to Test Journalism
Italian Newspaper Prints Full AI Edition to Test Journalism

Il Foglio, a daily broadsheet known for its irreverent tone and a circulation of around 29,000, claims to be the first newspaper globally to print entire editions generated by artificial intelligence. The AI edition, launched on Tuesday, runs alongside its regular publication, featuring four pages, 22 articles, and three editorials. The process ...

Algerian writer Boualem Sansal faces 10-year prison sentence
Algerian writer Boualem Sansal faces 10-year prison sentence

Algerian prosecutors have requested a 10-year prison sentence for French-Algerian writer Boualem Sansal, accused of undermining the country's territorial integrity, local media reported Thursday. Sansal, a prominent figure in North African modern Francophone literature, is known for his criticism of Algerian authorities as well as Islamists. The ...

“A Hymn to Life”: Gisele Pelicot’s Soon-to-be Released Memoir
“A Hymn to Life”: Gisele Pelicot’s Soon-to-be Released Memoir

Gisele Pelicot, a feminist icon for her outspoken stance during her ex-husband's trial for letting strangers rape her while drugged, will release her memoirs next year, a publisher said Thursday. A Hymn to Life will be published in 20 languages in January 2026, British publisher the Bodley Head, which is owned by the Penguin group, said in a ...

Motherhood on Screen: Six Iconic Film Portrayals
ChronicleMotherhood on Screen: Six Iconic Film Portrayals

Cinema reveals the richness and complexity of a maternal role that is never fully attained, always in question. On-screen as in life, mothers wonder whether they are “good enough” for the beings most precious to them—their children. Like the Lebanese spring that coincides with their celebration, these maternal figures navigate between ...

Godard's 'Breathless' Script Set to Be Auctioned
Godard's 'Breathless' Script Set to Be Auctioned

The only known script of French director Jean-Luc Godard's New Wave classic "À bout de souffle" (Breathless) that includes pages of his handwritten notes is set to be sold at auction in June, Sotheby's said Thursday. The script comes from the estate of the film's producer, Georges de Beauregard, another pillar of the New Wave movement of the ...

'Novocaine' Tops Box Office Despite Painfully Slow Weekend
'Novocaine' Tops Box Office Despite Painfully Slow Weekend

Novocaine, an action-comedy starring Jack Quaid as a banker who cannot feel pain, topped the North American box office in its debut weekend, industry watcher Exhibitor Relations reported Sunday. However, ticket sales overall were brutally slow. The Paramount film took in an estimated $8.7 million from Friday to Sunday—one of the lowest-grossing ...

Elie Rizkallah Explores Architectural Memory Through Reminiscence
InterviewsElie Rizkallah Explores Architectural Memory Through Reminiscence

Through this exhibition, Elie Rizkallah offers an artistic reinterpretation of 1960s Lebanese architecture. Now based in Paris, the artist draws inspiration from the streets of Beirut, where each building tells a story—a narrative woven between memory and disappearance. He shares his thoughts with This Is Beirut. The idea for this exhibition ...