Diane Ackerman

Turning 36 isn’t much of a milestone for most, but for me it marks a decade since the year that will always divide my life into a “before” and “after”. I was 26 when my dad died of cancer. Three months later, my mum died of a brain aneurysm. Suddenly, I was an adult orphan, … Read more

Concerts pianists like me practise alone and most of the time perform alone. When you spend that much time in your own company you get quite sensitive to criticism. I am a very impatient person, obsess over tiny things and tend towards melancholia. All this made pairing up all the trickier. I didn’t just want … Read more

Sometimes I think it would be handy to have a child who says politically astute things that I could share around election time. That’d be a nice little earner. I could just lie, of course, in the manner of those people who post things like ‘Polly (3) just said proportional representation would have solved all … Read more

As much as I love summer, the Texas heat can get to me. If you’re nowhere near a lake, beach, or pool (even kiddie pools suffice!), you’re probably also looking for things to do on a hot day. Coming up with the ideas that see you braving the world beyond air conditioning can be a … Read more

I lightly brown the plump cushions of chicken, their skin turning glossy and golden, then turn them over and brown the other side. They are to roast with long, scarlet peppers, pointed like a sultan’s slippers, tiny potatoes and whole cloves of garlic. Seasoned with dried lavender and thyme, oregano and salty green olives, the … Read more

When it comes to design styles, I don’t like to be boxed into just one. Perhaps it’s my Gemini sun, but I like it when I can embrace all the interior styles I love. My living room leans coastal, my office is ultra feminine, and I’m currently planning the cottagecore bedroom of my dreams.  8 … Read more

The Australian TV drama series Fake, which premiered this week, tells the story of a woman who falls in love with a phoney she meets on a dating app. It’s a true story, based on Stephanie Wood’s memoir of the same name, but some may struggle to believe in a character so duplicitous. I’ve spent … Read more

Lie-in or early start? It depends on the season. If it’s summer, I’ll be up early to do open-water swimming at 9am at a nearby lake. I know, I’m a lunatic, but compared to years of getting up at 3.40am for BBC Breakfast I class that as a lie-in. In winter it’s a proper lie-in … Read more

Three years ago, around this time as summer came with its wasps and heat, I wrote about the return of sex. We were just leaving lockdown – do you remember those days? Of hope and fear, when we had spent many months considering things like the importance and nuance of touch, the mysteries that were … Read more