Former home secretary says awe must not change our leadera as Tories reel from local and mayoral election results

• Labour triumphs in London and West Midlands
• Keir Starmer: Itas time to end the UKas divisions a Labour is for all
• Full mayoral and council results for England

In his interview on Sky News Mark Harper, the transport secretary, ducked a question about whether the party should shift to the right, as Suella Braverman is advocating, or to the centre, as Andy Street proposes. (See 7.55am.)

Asked if he agreed with that Street said, Harper replied:

What he is talking about there is what I just said. He is talking about you focus on the priorities of the British people, that is what you do.

We are going to stick to focusing on the priorities that the prime minister set out, which are the governmentas priorities, the prime ministeras priorities but they are also the priorities of the British people.

Keir Starmer says the prime minister has no option but to call a general election

Rishi Sunak was dealt a series of shattering blows last night as Labour won a knife-edge battle to seize the West Midlands mayoralty from the Conservatives and Sadiq Khan trounced his Tory rival in London to secure a third term.

The results, along with decisive victories for Labouras Andy Burnham in Greater Manchester, Steve Rotheram in Liverpool and Tracy Brabin in West Yorkshire, left Labour in charge of most of Englandas mayoralties.

Running as a apseudo-independenta in a region in which Labour faced its own hurdles was not enough to keep Tory mayor in office

After a nail-biting finale, Andy Street has become the most high-profile victim of tanking Tory support in Mayas elections.

With the Conservatives shedding seats across the country on Friday, all eyes were on the West Midlands on Saturday to see if he could cling on by sheer will of personality a or aBrand Andya as he calls it.

Britain has turned out in force to vote for change. Whenever the Tories go to the country, we will be ready to provide it

Rishi Sunak might have been too scared to put his name on the ballot this week, but voters sent him a clear message in the local elections anyway. Across the country, people turned out to vote for change a from the manufacturing heartlands of Derby to industrial Redditch and Thurrock in Essex. In Aldershot, home of the British army, Labour won Rushmoor borough council, ending 24 years of Tory rule. Ten more police and crime commissioners a which, as a former chief prosecutor, makes me incredibly proud. And in York and North Yorkshire, the first Labour mayor, in the prime ministeras back garden.

Victories in traditional Tory territory across the country are important to me. Itas not just about the numbers, though of course they matter: itas the choice of the electorate to turn their back on 14 years of decline and division, and embrace national renewal with Labour.

Protests around Israel call on PM to accept a deal for return of hostages; hopes for deal rise as militant group continues indirect talks on new Israeli proposal

Israeli strikes early on Saturday on Gaza killed at least six people, officials said. Three bodies were recovered from the rubble of a building in Rafah and taken to Yousef al-Najjar hospital.

A strike in the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza also killed three people, according to hospital officials.

We need to bring them back. We need to bring all the hostages back, the live ones, the dead ones. We got to bring them back. We got to switch this government. This has got to end.

Longer sentences and court backlogs push 25% of prisoners in England and Wales into shared cells, adding to drug-use and violence

The scale of the prison overcrowding crisis has been laid bare by figures revealing that a quarter of prisoners in England and Wales have been sharing cells designed for one person with at least one other inmate.

According to the Ministry of Justice (MoJ), 11,018 cells intended for single use were being shared by two prisoners, with a further 18 such cells shared by three inmates. The overall prison population a which has ballooned over recent decades because of longer sentences and court backlogs a stood at about 88,000 when the statistics were originally compiled in late February.

Union leader Sharon Graham says Keir Starmer risks alimping into Downing Streeta

Labouras biggest union backer has warned it may divert election funding earmarked for the party, amid claims that Keir Starmer is diluting plans to overhaul workersa rights.

In an interview with the Observer, Uniteas general secretary, Sharon Graham, said the Labour leader risked alimping into Downing Streeta if he backed down in the face of intense lobbying from businesses.

As more NHS trusts in England report budget deficits health leaders warn that waiting lists will rise

Hospitals are being forced to cut medical staff, threatening their ability to care for patients, senior health leaders have warned.

NHS trusts are reporting budget deficits after the chancellor Jeremy Hunt gave Englandas health service APS2.5bn extra funding, which only covers inflation and pay increases.

Lost documents prevented victims from finding out the truth, official inquiry told

Disastrous failures that caused the contaminated blood scandal were denied by ministers for decades after officials destroyed, lost and blocked access to key documents, memos submitted to the official inquiry reveal.

Several batches of files involving the work of a blood safety advisory committee were shredded as the government faced the threat of legal action, documents show. Patients who were given contaminated blood when they were children have also told the infected blood inquiry how their hospital medical files were destroyed or initially withheld.

Centre-right politicians must resist urge to copy or work with far right, Spainas environment minister says

The future of the EU is being jeopardised by people stirring up social tensions for short-term political gain, Spainas environment minister has said ahead of next monthas European parliamentary elections.

Teresa Ribera, who is heading the list for the ruling Spanish Socialist Workersa party in Juneas poll, said the European project is at risk of aan implosiona.

The UK regulator has been criticised by grieving families and internet abuse survivors for failing to engage with them

Bereaved parents and abuse survivors who have endured years of apreventable, life-changing harma linked to social media say they have been denied a voice in official discussions about holding tech firms to account.

Mariano Janin, whose Adaughter Mia, 14, killed herself after online bullying, and the parents of Oliver Stephens, 13, who was murdered after a dispute on social media, are among those who have accused Ofcom of excluding them from a Aconsultation process for tackling online harms.

Union to campaign against single-phrase Ofsted judgments, threatening possible strike action

Headteachers in England are to launch a campaign for the abolition of ainhumane and unreliablea single-phrase school inspection judgments, threatening legal challenges and possible strike action if the government refuses reforms.

Delegates to the National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT) annual conference committed the union ato explore all campaign, legal and industrial routes to secure necessary changes to inspection to safeguard leadersa lives,a after the suicide last year of the headteacher Ruth Perry.

Firms said food and plant checks and Latin names causing costly delays with lorries waiting hours in first week of post-EU regime

Of all the effects of Brexit, probably the least anticipated was that flower exporters and customs officials would have to learn Latin.

But that is one of the problems that confronted British businesses in the first week after the government introduced physical checks on some food and plants from the EU.

His constantly evolving works have been hailed as landmarks of the minimalist and post-painterly abstraction art movements

Frank Stella, a painter, sculptor and printmaker whose constantly evolving works are hailed as landmarks of the minimalist and post-painterly abstraction art movements, died on Saturday at his home in Manhattan. He was 87.

Gallery owner Jeffrey Deitch, who spoke with Stellaas family, confirmed his death to the Associated Press. Stellaas wife, Harriet McGurk, told the New York Times that he died of lymphoma.

I travelled the UK interviewing teenage boys. I found openness, thoughtfulness, honesty and vulnerability on topics from sex to pornography, feelings and isolation

It was two separate conversations that made me think properly about what life might be like as a boy these days. The first was about a 13-year-old, the son of a friend, who said he had been rounded on for making a small (and, he thought, complimentary) comment about a girlas haircut.

He told his mother that the girlas friends were outraged: aOh my God, you canat say that about someoneas appearance. Thatas so bad. You canat talk about a girl like that!a

Rapper says sport, music and gaming venture in south London is aimed at widening opportunities for young black community

Stormzy has won three Brit awards, headlined Glastonbury, persuaded Usain Bolt and JosA(c) Mourinho to star in a music video, and bought AFC Croydon Athletic with the former Crystal Palace player Wilfried Zaha.

His skills on the pitch, however, are not up to much. aIam shit at football. I was never going to be a footballer,a he said. aBut maybe if I knew how to be a pundit [Iad have gone down that road]. Maybe if I knew how to be a data analyst or all the intricate jobs behind the scenes that people might not know about.a

The Georgian governmentas bid to pass Russia-style law has met spirited opposition, mostly from young people keen to lean towards Europe

The finale of Beethovenas arevolutionarya fifth symphony was met with deafening applause at the National Opera and Ballet Theatre in Tbilisi last Thursday night. The cheers grew into a powerful expression of solidarity with the protests outside on Rustaveli Avenue.

People hung EU flags from the theatreas balconies and shouted, aNo to the Russian Law! Europe! Georgia [Sa-kar-tve-lo]!a

aFormerly best known as The Crownas Prince Charles, the aBritish actor ais starring as a cocky US tennis pro in Guadagninoas new hit film. But, he says, he was happiest living off grid in a van for his next film, La Chimera

What makes a movie star? Josh OaConnor, the 33-year-old British actor best known until, well, last week as the thin-skinned, tight-lipped Prince Charles in seasons three and four of The Crown, has been mulling over this question of late. Earlier this year he completed a drama set in the first world war called The History of Sound, with Paul Mescal. aPaulas a friend, and to watch him work was amazing,a says OaConnor. aI really canat underplay how brilliant he is. Paul has that movie-star quality, whatever that is. I wish I could articulate it, but heas just graceful about it all.a

Zendaya is another one. OaConnor is currently in cinemas alongside her in Challengers, Luca Guadagninoas critically acclaimed psychosexual tennis romp, which topped the box offices in both the UK and US last weekend. They play two sides of a lascivious love triangle, with Mike Faist as the third, but it is clear that Zendayaas Tashi Duncan is the one pulling the strings. aIave never done premieres like Iave done with Challengers,a says OaConnor. aSo thatas alien to me anyway, but to see how she breezes through them with such class and generosity. Iam a nervous wreck, I donat think Iam helpful to anyone. And Mike as well, weare both a bit like: aWhat the fuck? This is mad!a But sheas just on the nail.

Legacy can be found in the lives you touch and your impact on others

The question I am a 54-year-old woman with a good career and a stable marriage. I live across the globe from my parents, my siblings and their kids and I am child-free. I have reduced contact with them to brief and polite birthday and Christmas messages, which they respond to, but we have no relationship or ongoing contact as such. It is close to estrangement, and I have no desire to try to repair this. I am child-free because I always feared repeating my familyas parenting style and had no sense of my childhood as a positive experience.

I have become preoccupied with the idea of a legacy of a life well lived. I have always placed high value on social contribution and working hard. But, as I increasingly ponder the likelihood of dying alone and without children, I have started to become quite critical about the point of striving in my career, and how and what I should be doing with my time. I feel abeing forgottena is a realistic proposition a and it leads me to wonder whether this is liberating, and I can stop striving, do as I please, or should I strive harder and find a way of leaving my mark, ensuring I have a life that will mean something? Is this just an indulgent existential crisis? Do I need to just get over myself?

Growing up on set put Oscar-winning actor Jennifer Connelly on the fast track to Hollywood fame. But despite her success, one of her lasting regrets was not finishing college a and, she says, itas still on her to-do lista|

Jennifer Connelly is on a Zoom call from her home in Brooklyn, jetlagged after attending Louis Vuittonas pre-fall 2024 show in Shanghai, which does not bode well: she is known to have been reticent in past interviews, and sometimes while working. When she made A Beautiful Mind, the 2001 movie for which she won an Oscar for playing the wife of schizophrenic mathematician John Nash, the co-producer Brian Grazer was unnerved by her reserve. aIt was hard for me to get to know her on the set because Iam so emotional,a he told a writer in 2001. aSheas very serious. Sheas not silly. She doesnat have that buoyancy.a

It is a relief, then, to find Connelly to be thoughtful and lovely and erudite, happy enough to discuss her life and career. I ask if Grazeras description is one shead recognise.

Rose Glassas follow-up to her acclaimed Saint Maud is a scorchingly sexy, darkly violent tale of a gym manageras love affair with a bodybuilder

This may seem an unexpected point to make about an actor who is arguably one of the coolest people on the planet, but the key to Kristen Stewartas mesmerising screen presence is her ordinariness. I donat mean her looks, although as Lou, the manager of a bodybuilding gym in an insalubrious New Mexico backwater, Stewartas natural magnetism is somewhat muted behind a whey powder pallor, an air of defeated weariness and hair that looks as if itas been deep-fried rather than washed.

Rather, itas the unstudied, naturalistic quality of her performances, which are seeded with little glitchy details and gestures a the way she rakes her fingers through her fringe; the moment when she nervously wipes her nose on the sleeve of her T-shirt. Small things, perhaps, but these seemingly unconscious tics humanise her characters. They are recognisable, relatable moments of social awkwardness that anchor her in (or at least near) the real world. Itas a quality that adds to all her performances, but which is particularly invaluable in British director Rose Glassas second picture, the deliciously lurid and thrillingly degenerate outlaw romance Love Lies Bleeding. When the rest of the movie launches itself headlong into outlandish, almost cartoonish excess, Lou is plausibly three-dimensional and grounded. The rooted realism that underpins Stewartas performance offers a necessary balance to some of the more untrammelled impulses in Glassas follow-up to her impressive debut feature, Saint Maud (2020).

With a famed pie maker on board, the new aBritish brasseriea in Paris ought to be glorious. Instead, itas a huge disappointment

Public House, 21 rue Daunou, 75002 Paris, France (+33 1 77 37 87 93; publichouseparis.fr). Starters a!8.50-a!19.50; mains a!19.50-a!36.50; desserts a!9-a!15; wines from a!28

It was a simple plan: hop on the Eurostar to Paris and go for dinner at Public House, a new and audacious restaurant in the 9th arrondissement by pie king Calum Franklin, formerly of the Holborn Dining Room. Its mission: to bring scotch eggs, sausage rolls and the best, most golden, flaky pastry creations to the French. I could then write a sweet observational piece about the bourgeoisie of the Louboutin-shod opera district swooning over steak and ale pies, and adjusting both their corsets and their gastronomic perspective. Behold, the gravy-slicked anglais showing us how to eat. aDonney-moi une autre piea etc. Because if anybody could do it, if anybody could finally make the French understand the quality and depth of modern British restaurant food, it had to be Franklin. Heas a gifted chef. Heas a lovely man. He literally wrote the book on pies. Go Calum, go.

Berkshire Hathawayas billionaire CEO, 93, steels shareholders for new era at the annual meeting known as aWoodstock for Capitalistsa

As dawn broke on Saturday, thousands had gathered outside Omahaas CHI Health Center Arena. Some arrived before 3.30am, standing for hours in the drizzle.

This is a aonce-in-a-lifetime opportunitya, said Larry Blivas, 70, near the front of the line. The realtor traveled from Los Angeles to see aan icona, he explained.

The traditional British weekend lunch is being revamped with more exotic ingredients by chefs with worldwide influences

The ingredients of a traditional Sunday roast are often passionately debated: does a yorkshire pudding belong if the meat is not beef? Is cauliflower cheese an acceptable side?

Now a growing number of pubs and restaurants are adding even more unusual contenders into the mix, adapting the beloved meal with global additions.

The writer of a new book about life on Earth seen through the prism of the egg says the age-old paradox actually leads us back a billion years a to the bottom of the ocean

The chicken or the egg? Sometimes, as a zoology author, I am asked this question by the kid at the front with the raised hand and large questioning eyes. Sometimes itas the older guy at the back with a glint in his eye. Sometimes itas a student who approaches the lectern at the end of a lecture while everyone else files out. The same mischievous eyes, the same wry smile. aSo which came first?a they ask, beaming, unaware that this is not the first time I have been asked.

I hadnat foreseen, years ago, when I began exploring the evolution of the animal egg and the role it has played in the long history of life on this planet, that it would become pretty much the only question I would be asked. I spent years reframing the evolution of life on Earth as a story told from the eggas perspective, tracing this strange vesselas adaptation to land, its movement across continents, the evolution of the umbilical cord, the evolution of the placenta, menstruation, menopausea| but even now, having finally turned this journey into a book, I expect that a great deal of my dialogue with readers will be chicken-based.

• Striker scores four in 5-1 win over Wolves
• aThe second and fourth were unbelievablea

Pep Guardiola believes Erling Haaland is aback to businessa after the strikeras four-goal haul in Manchester Cityas 5-1 defeat of Wolves, with the manager urging the champions to win their final three Premier League games to ensure a record fourth consecutive title.

Haaland scored a first-half hat-trick, including two penalties, and added his fourth following the break to take his Premier League tally to 25 at the Etihad Stadium. Victory kept City a single point behind Arsenal a but Guardiolaas side have a game in hand. If they beat Fulham next Saturday and Mikel Artetaas side lose at Manchester United the following day, City can retain the championship by beating Tottenham on Tuesday week.

Athletics Kenya is worried about how the climate might shape the future of its country, let alone its sport. And it is not alone

The drive from the tiny Eldoret airport to the town of Iten in the south-west corner of Kenya takes about an hour. Itas a winding unlit road with few road signs: you need to know where youare going to get there. The townas population isnat known a there hasnat been a census in more than a decade a but the local Amunicipal authority estimates it around 56,000, up from 40,024 in 2009.

Roughly 35% live below the poverty line. And yet, a sign on the only paved road into town calls this the Home of Champions, owing to its phenomenal athletic success. This corner of Kenya has produced 14 menas and nine womenas Boston Marathon winners since 1991, who have brought home 22 and 14 wins, respectively. They have also won 13 of 18 gold medals in the 3,000m steeplechase at the World Athletics Championships since the event was introduced in 1983.

The Scotland back couldnat be happier after switch to French club who face Harlequins in a Champions Cup semi-final

Itas been five months since Blair Kinghorn decided to move from Edinburgh to Toulouse mid-season. Heas played 10 games and won every one of them. Toulouse are second in the Top 14, two points off Stade FranASSais, and have a home semi-final against Harlequins in the Champions Cup on Sunday.

Kinghorn has scored six tries and eanred himself a spot in a freewheeling backline that includes Antoine Dupont, Romain Ntamack, and Thomas Ramos. Heas been playing in front of a 20,000 home crowd every other week. And he and his fiancee are settled into their new house, next door to his friend and teammate Jack Willis.

Girona briefly promised the unlikeliest of triumphs but the sheer variety in Ancelottias side made them a cut above the rest

Over two hours had passed since the final whistle went on Real Madridas 3-0 victory over Cadiz and some of their players were still inside inside the Santiago BernabA(c)u watching on TV when they officially found out they were champions, but they had known for a long time. The title, eventually delivered by Gironaas 4-2 victory over Barcelona 681 kilometres to the north-east and confirmed at 8.30pm on the 34th Saturday of the season, did not see them board an open-top bus down the Castellana to Cibeles, although fans did gather by the goddess of fertility. There was more to do a Bayern Munich come on Wednesday night a and, besides, this was already done.

It had been for some time. Two weeks earlier, Jude Bellingham had scored a 94th-minute goal to win the clA!sico, their last remaining contenders eliminated, if you could truly call Barcelona that. Two months earlier they had put four past the nearest thing they had to genuine challengers, effectively eliminating Girona too: they were the most exciting, the most surprising team but they would not be champions. As for AtlA(c)tico Madrid, the only team to defeat Real all season, they had eliminated themselves even sooner, gone by Christmas. This hadnat been a race; ultimately, it had been a parade.

• Coach reflects on choice to stay course with club from third tier
• McKenna: aItas come before anyone could have expecteda

Kieran McKenna has pledged his future to Ipswich after leading them into the Premier League. On an emotional afternoon at Portman Road, McKenna was in a contemplative mood as he reflected on the journey taken to consecutive promotions, and the challenges that await them next season.

Naturally, McKennaas success has earned him numerous admirers and he has been linked with a number of big jobs over recent months, West Ham and Brighton among them. But speaking after the 2-0 win over Huddersfield, McKenna argued that the hard work and focus he has displayed over the past two seasons were proof of his loyalty.

Artificial intelligence experts said social media users can expect to see more of chatbots and other AI technology influencing their experience a for better or possibly worse.

Washed Out is the first major music artist to commission a music video using OpenAI's Sora text-to-video technology.

Villaraigosa will focus on more equitable financial systems for Black and Latino customers, the cryptocurrency trading platform said.

AI is bending reality into a video game world of deepfakes to sow confusion and chaos during the 2024 election. Disinformation is a danger, especially in swing states.

Congress is considering ways to protect our data at a crucial time, after Biden authorized a surveillance law and a TikTok 'ban' with a narrow focus.

Jonathan Haidt's "The Anxious Generation" feeds the latest technology panic. But the research says something different.

Congress passed a bill that could ban TikTok. What could happen next, and who might buy the social media platform?

The group that led protests last week at Google over a cloud computing contract with Israel said more Google workers were fired, bringing the total to more than 50.

The Justice Department is arguing that Apple has degraded the iPhone user experience and the products of competitors. A victory would give consumers more choice in our digital lives.

The Affordable Connectivity Program, which offers a $30 subsidy, helping millions of households across the U.S. connect to the internet, is slated to expire.

Netflix on Thursday released its first-quarter earnings, which topped analyst estimates in terms of subscriber additions and profit.

The protests, organized by the No Tech for Apartheid campaign, raised concerns about Google and Amazon's $1.2 billion contract with the Israeli government and military called Project Nimbus.

Dozens of Google employees stage sit-ins in California and New York, calling for the company to end its cloud computing contract with Israel's military amid war with Hamas.

The tech giant said it would limit some users' access on its search engine to articles from California news outlets, in response to proposed legislation to help publishers.

Google said it will remove links to California news sites for some users because of concerns about a state bill that may require Google to pay publishers.

Roku on Tuesday said that 576,000 accounts were accessed by unauthorized actors who gained login credentials from another source.

The Ladder from Hatch Escapes has become one of the most buzzed-about escape rooms in the country, redefining how puzzles can tell stories.

'There are so many things wrong with this app that I don't even know where to begin,' one doctor said about Calmara, which says it can identify sexually transmitted infections from photos of penises.

WME is partnering with Seattle-based AI and image recognition company Loti to stop unauthorized digital use of images from WME clients, including deepfakes.

A system with safeguards that prioritize people could do enormous harm. Artificial intelligence should be programmed to consider the interests of other animals as well.

U.S. lawmakers want to force a sale of the Chinese-owned app. But where's the action to protect Americans' personal data from any company?

Hollywood talent agencies and producers have met with AI companies, including ChatGPT maker OpenAI, to learn about how their technologies could be used in entertainment.

Aerospace Corp., a federally funded R&D lab that supports the space industry, moved its headquarters to Chantilly, Va., but doubled down on its El Segundo campus with an announced $100-million investment.

Consumers may see lower prices on app subscriptions and purchases if the Department of Justice succeeds in its lawsuit against Apple, consumer advocates said.

Inspired by the approach followed by Elon Musk's SpaceX, the gift from a longtime Caltech donor will create the Brinson Exploration Hub to facilitate faster research by Caltech and JPL scientists and engineers.

While the tech industry has been roiled by layoffs, the greater focus on AI could lead to new jobs in the future.

With Google, Amazon, Twitter and other companies scaling back their safety teams, self-regulation is less likely, and AI poses big risks.

Internet-connecting devices that meet standards will soon come with a "U.S. Cyber Trust Mark" to help consumers choose products that protect their private information.

The House's overwhelming vote to ban TikTok unless it is freed from Chinese control suggests that a ban might be coming soon. But it's not that simple.

Have you ever had the experience of getting tantalisingly close to a big opportunity in your creative career a but not quite making it? Maybe it was a pitch, or a competition, a publishing opportunity, a senior role, or a funding application. Maybe you got really positive feedback. They said you were great, your work […]

The post Are You in the Ballpark? (finally, The 21st Century Creative on YouTube) appeared first on Creative Coach | Mark McGuinness | Since 1996.

When the Covid 19 pandemic struck in 2020, human life on earth was massively disrupted. Not only the human tragedy of millions of lives lost, but also the social and economic damage caused by the virus and our attempts to control it. As a writer and a coach for creatives, I have been particularly concerned […]

The post Creative Disruption: How 12 Creatives on 5 Continents Rose to the Challenge of the Pandemic appeared first on Creative Coach | Mark McGuinness | Since 1996.

Welcome to Episode 10 of the Creative Disruption season of The 21st Century Creative, where we are hearing stories of creatives around the world who came up with a creative response to the challenges of the pandemic. Itas been my most ambitious season yet, with creatives from 5 continents and probably the closest Iall ever […]

The post How I Created, Funded and Launched My New Podcast (while the World Was in Meltdown) appeared first on Creative Coach | Mark McGuinness | Since 1996.

Welcome to Episode 9 of the Creative Disruption season of The 21st Century Creative, where we are hearing stories of creatives around the world who came up with a creative response to the challenges of the pandemic. This week we are off to Tokyo, to meet Ichi Hatano, a wonderful artist whose work has deep […]

The post From Tattoos to NFTs with Ichi Hatano appeared first on Creative Coach | Mark McGuinness | Since 1996.

Welcome to Episode 8 of the Creative Disruption season of The 21st Century Creative, where we are hearing stories of creatives around the world who came up with a creative response to the challenges of the pandemic. Have you ever had the idea for a creative project that youave never quite got round to starting? […]

The post Using Lockdown to Launch a Dream Project with Nicky Mondellini appeared first on Creative Coach | Mark McGuinness | Since 1996.

If you work on your own a in your office or studio, or your bedroom or at your kitchen table a it can feel like no one is watching. So it doesnat matter whether you show up. If you skipped a day on your novel, who would know? If you didnat go to the studio […]

The post All Arts Are Performing Arts appeared first on Creative Coach | Mark McGuinness | Since 1996.

Welcome to Episode 7 of the Creative Disruption season of The 21st Century Creative, where we are hearing stories of creatives around the world who came up with a creative response to the challenges of the pandemic. Today weare focusing on a creative sector that is close to my heart, which was massively disrupted but […]

The post Taking Deep Work Online with Laura Davis appeared first on Creative Coach | Mark McGuinness | Since 1996.

A few months ago I was listening to the DavidBowie: AlbumtoAlbum podcast, a terrific show about Bowie hosted by Arsalan Mohammed. In Season 3 episode 11 Arsalan spoke to Donny McCaslin, the leader of the jazz band that Bowie discovered in a New York club, and asked to work with him on what turned out […]

The post Sometimes You Have to Grind the Work Out appeared first on Creative Coach | Mark McGuinness | Since 1996.

Welcome to Episode 6 of the Creative Disruption season of The 21st Century Creative, where we are hearing stories of creatives around the world who came up with a creative response to the challenges of the pandemic. Today we are off to Australia in the company of Charlotte Abroms, a music manager based in Melbourne […]

The post Helping Musicians Through Lockdown with Charlotte Abroms appeared first on Creative Coach | Mark McGuinness | Since 1996.

Last week I suggested that if youare serious about achieving your creative ambitions, you need to think in terms of projects, not tasks. Because if you get up every morning and ask yourself aWhat should I work on today?a you risk making decisions based on what feels urgent right now, rather than what will make […]

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Welcome to Episode 5 of the CREATIVE DISRUPTION season of The 21st Century Creative, where we are hearing stories of creatives around the world who came up with a creative response to the challenges of the pandemic. Today we are going to look at one of the biggest challenge for many people during lockdown, whether […]

The post Staying Creative as a Parent (Even in a Pandemic) with Kay Lock Kolp appeared first on Creative Coach | Mark McGuinness | Since 1996.

When we think of productivity we typically think about tasks and to-do lists, working habits and routines. We focus on how to make the most of our time on a daily or at most a weekly basis. All of which is great, but if this is all we focus on, thereas a danger of getting […]

The post Focus on Projects, Not Tasks appeared first on Creative Coach | Mark McGuinness | Since 1996.

Welcome to Episode 4 of the CREATIVE DISRUPTION season of The 21st Century Creative, where we are hearing stories of creatives around the world who came up with a creative response to the challenges of the pandemic. Today we meet Amrita Kumar, the co-founder and CEO of Candid Marketing, an innovative marketing agency in India. […]

The post Launching a New Business in the Pandemic with Amrita Kumar appeared first on Creative Coach | Mark McGuinness | Since 1996.

Marketing is a word that strikes fear into the heart of a lot of creatives. Itas an area where a lot of us feel we donat have a natural talent a weare far more comfortable making work than telling the world about it, let alone trying to get people to buy it. One reason for […]

The post Make Your Marketing Personal with a Media Dashboard appeared first on Creative Coach | Mark McGuinness | Since 1996.

Welcome to Episode 3 of the CREATIVE DISRUPTION season of The 21st Century Creative, where we are hearing stories of creatives around the world who came up with a creative response to the challenges of the pandemic. Today we are looking at the world of film and TV production, which was massively disrupted by the […]

The post Rebooting Global Filming with Hometeam appeared first on Creative Coach | Mark McGuinness | Since 1996.

A lot of creative professions involve submitting work to gatekeepers of various kinds: agents, editors, publishers, gallerists, funders, producers, studios and competition judges and so on. Yes, the 21st century gives us plenty of options for creating things without gatekeepers a you can sell direct, build your own platform, launch your own event, self-publish or […]

The post Why Rejection Doesnat (Necessarily) Mean Your Work Isnat Good Enough appeared first on Creative Coach | Mark McGuinness | Since 1996.

Welcome to Episode 2 of the CREATIVE DISRUPTION season of The 21st Century Creative, where we are hearing stories of creatives around the world who came up with a creative response to the challenges of the pandemic. This week we are off to South Africa, to hear from Earl Abrahams, an artist and filmmaker who […]

The post Lockdown Series: Windows on a Changed World with Earl Abrahams appeared first on Creative Coach | Mark McGuinness | Since 1996.

aEat a live frog first thing in the morning and nothing worse will happen to you for the rest of the day.a This quote is often attributed to Mark Twain. Apparently thereas no hard evidence linking it to him, but that hasnat stopped it from concentrating the minds of many people when they ask themselves […]

The post Eat that Frog (But Eat the Cake as Well) appeared first on Creative Coach | Mark McGuinness | Since 1996.

Today we kick off Season 6 of The 21st Century Creative, the podcast that helps you thrive as a creative professional amid the demands, distractions and opportunities of the 21st Century. The theme for this season is CREATIVE DISRUPTION. Every episode will feature an interview with a creator whose work was disrupted by the Covid-19 […]

The post The Rocky Road for Theatre through the Pandemic with Steven Kunis appeared first on Creative Coach | Mark McGuinness | Since 1996.

I hope this finds you as well as can be. Here in the UK weare bracing for what we are assured will be a large wave of Omicron. I know things may be very different for you, depending on where you are in the world. But whatever the circumstances, I hope you are finding your […]

The post Video: Forget the Career Ladder a Start Creating Assets appeared first on Creative Coach | Mark McGuinness | Since 1996.

Today is the launch of my new podcast, and itas something Iave been planning and dreaming of sharing with you for years. Itas called A Mouthful of Air. And in several ways, itas the opposite of my 21st Century Creative podcast. I designed the two shows to work together from the start, although it’s taken […]

The post My new podcast (and why itas the opposite of The 21st Century Creative) appeared first on Creative Coach | Mark McGuinness | Since 1996.

Last night I was about to go to bed when I suddenly remembered an idea Iad had for an article a few months ago. Though I say so myself, it was a great idea, and I was keen to revisit it, so I opened up the Scrivener project where I had written it downa| and […]

The post Ideas Are Leprechauns appeared first on Creative Coach | Mark McGuinness | Since 1996.

Todayas guest on The 21st Century Creative is Michael Bungay Stanier, a returning guest whose interview way back in Season 1 proved very popular. And his book The Coaching Habit turned out to be even more popular, as it went on to sell three quarters of a million copies. Michael is back with some excellent […]

The post Avoiding the Advice Trap with Michael Bungay Stanier appeared first on Creative Coach | Mark McGuinness | Since 1996.

A lot of productivity advice tells us that we need to stop procrastinating, beat Resistance, and get things done. The Americans like to talk about ashippinga, meaning finished and sent out for delivery. This emphasis on getting things done and out to market is part of their extraordinary entrepreneurial culture. Famously, Guy Kawasaki even said […]

The post Every Creative Project Is a Revolving Door appeared first on Creative Coach | Mark McGuinness | Since 1996.

Todayas guest on The 21st Century Creative is Krystal Lauk, an illustrator who took an unconventional path by creating illustrations for tech companies, and founded a studio that counts Google, Uber, Facebook and The New York Times among its clients. Itas a fascinating story of discovery and enterprise at what Krystal calls athe intersection of […]

The post The 21st Century Illustrator with Krystal Lauk appeared first on Creative Coach | Mark McGuinness | Since 1996.

Iave recently started taking one-to-one Japanese conversation lessons. It hasnat been easy. In fact, itas been a bit of a humbling experience. Between work and family responsibilities, I only have 30 minutes a day to study Japanese, and Iave spent this time every day for the past two years memorising kanji characters, vocabulary and grammar […]

The post You Have to be Bad to Get Good appeared first on Creative Coach | Mark McGuinness | Since 1996.

Todayas guest on The 21st Century Creative is Cynthia Morris, a coach for creatives who shares insights on the book-writing process, based on her latest book The Busy Womanas Guide to Writing a World-Changing Book. So if you are contemplating writing a book – whether itas your first one or your twenty-first – there is […]

The post Writing a World-Changing Book with Cynthia Morris appeared first on Creative Coach | Mark McGuinness | Since 1996.

If you think about overhearing something, you probably think of listening to someone elseas conversation, whether deliberately or accidentally, and picking up a titbit of information that you would never otherwise have been privy to. It might be funny, or shocking or useful, or – as in the case of so many loud phone calls […]

The post The Art of Overhearing Yourself appeared first on Creative Coach | Mark McGuinness | Since 1996.