Joe Stone

Dolly Parton is remembered as an unusually unifying country star whose unapologetic self-expression resonated strongly with LGBTQ fans. Drawing on a memorable 2011 interview and a lifelong admiration for Parton, Joe Stone highlights her message of authentic self-discovery, her refusal to assimilate, and her early support for LGBTQ people through songs and opposition to North Carolina’s bathroom bill. Parton’s legacy is presented as both a major musical achievement and a lasting example of kindness, warmth and inclusion.

A collection of beauty, fashion, grooming and fitness recommendations aimed at maintaining an attractive and energetic appearance with age. The advice emphasizes daily UV protection, good posture, dental care, strength training and well-fitting clothes, while encouraging people to embrace grey or long hair and personal style rather than rigid age-based rules. Cosmetic treatments such as Botox and microneedling are considered acceptable when used cautiously, but excessive treatment and extreme weight loss are discouraged. The overall message is to pursue vitality and confidence without obsessing over looking artificially young.

Jade Thirlwall discusses moving from Little Mix to a solo career, describing her debut music as ambitious, theatrical and shaped by both her love and frustration with pop stardom. She reflects on recovering from anorexia, the ongoing pressure of body-focused trolling and her daily struggle not to use Ozempic. Thirlwall also recounts racist bullying, Islamophobia experienced by her family, discrimination within the music industry and the mental-health pressures surrounding The X Factor and Little Mix. She remains close to Leigh-Anne Pinnock and Perrie Edwards, expresses regret over how Jesy Nelson’s departure and their fractured friendship were handled, and says a future Little Mix reunion is not ruled out. Her Glastonbury protest and support for LGBTQ+ rights and Palestine underline her insistence that pop artists should engage politically.

Joe Stone describes a month-long attempt to reduce daily phone use from more than four hours to under an hour. Avoiding social media in the morning improved his mood, but the effort escalated into an obsession with tracking and displaying screen-time statistics, causing practical problems and irritating those around him. He ultimately recognized that reducing screen use had become another form of phone addiction, yet still posted his results online and spent hours responding to congratulatory messages.

A guide to Elizabeth Strout’s fiction highlights her recurring focus on small-town life, family secrets, trauma, shame and the hidden emotional depth of ordinary people. It recommends Amy and Isabelle as an underappreciated starting point, Olive Kitteridge as her masterpiece, My Name Is Lucy Barton as the entry to the interconnected Amgash series, Tell Me Everything as the most plot-driven book, and Anything Is Possible as the most hopeful despite its painful subject matter. The discussion emphasizes Strout’s recurring characters and settings, especially Crosby, Maine, and her ability to connect separate novels into a shared literary world.

Growing up in the UK under Section 28, the writer absorbed widespread stigma around homosexuality and feared being gay was a life sentence. Channel 4’s Queer As Folk changed that perception by depicting gay men as fully realized people living ordinary, complicated and joyful lives rather than as plot devices or cautionary tales. Despite hostile media criticism, the show helped the writer see queerness as a possible source of pride, begin coming out and feel hopeful about the future.

Personal trainers outline considerate gym behavior, advising people to avoid filming others, unsolicited form corrections, loud phone calls, equipment hogging, disruptive lateness, unwanted flirting and excessive noise. They recommend asking before borrowing weights, sharing equipment when gyms are busy, wiping down machines and using appropriate clothing and footwear. The guidance emphasizes safety, consent and awareness of other gym users, while acknowledging that etiquette varies between commercial gyms, CrossFit facilities and other specialist settings.

Eight dermatologists and aesthetic doctors recommend keeping skincare routines simple, prioritising daily broad-spectrum sunscreen, gentle cleansing and moisturising, with carefully selected active ingredients such as retinoids or vitamin C when appropriate. They warn against overcomplicated routines, influencer-led advice, homemade sunscreen, beef tallow, snail mucin, collagen and biotin supplements, unregulated injectables and potent actives for children. The experts also discuss evidence-supported treatments including LED therapy, lasers, microneedling and radio-frequency devices, while stressing that professional advice is preferable for acne, rosacea, pigmentation and scarring.

Joe Stone describes coming out as a gay man who loves Taylor Swift, despite Swift's perceived incompatibility with gay male culture's preference for camp, irony, outsider narratives and anti-mainstream taste. He praises Swift's ability to turn highly specific experiences into universal emotional stories and explains how songs such as “I Can Do It With a Broken Heart” and “All Too Well” help him process ordinary disappointments. The piece also acknowledges Swift's limited LGBTQ+ activism, including “You Need to Calm Down” and a Stonewall Inn performance, while questioning whether her earnest mainstream persona and refusal to erase her awkward past can nevertheless offer queer fans a valuable model of self-acceptance. Watching the Eras Tour ultimately gives Stone a rare sense of uncomplicated freedom and belonging.

A humorous style column categorizes men's gym outfits—from layered tracksuits and branded activewear to sustainable shorts, tiny running shorts, and chinos or suits—into exaggerated personality types. The piece links clothing choices to imagined traits such as hostility, social-media ambition, ethical posturing, sexuality, indecision and recent divorce, while arguing that athleisure is increasingly acceptable outside the gym.

Swim briefs, or “budgie smugglers,” are becoming more popular among men despite longstanding British discomfort with them. Rising sales and searches, gym culture, changing ideas about male fashion and celebrity appearances are helping drive the trend. The column argues that swim briefs can be more comfortable and practical than swim shorts, while offering advice on colors, waistbands, layering, tanning and grooming.

Men should not automatically be expected to wear trousers during hot weather, including in informal workplaces. Well-chosen shorts can look polished when paired with items such as crisp shirts, and tailoring, length and fit should be adapted to body shape. The piece dismisses older stereotypes associating shorts with childishness or silliness, noting that a YouGov poll found growing British acceptance of shorts as office attire, while recommending caution in formal professions and workplaces.