We invite you to visit our policy blog for every day this week. As well as our expert recommendations, our weekly links will have information on the issues you should really care about, and we’ll be sharing some invaluable links to discover more
This week we’ve got video, books, live comedy, art, and some treats from the Guardian. We’re hoping it will be great fun, but seriously, if you’re bored, here are our picks of the best things on the web, in our picks of the week list.
1. Good Morning, Scotland by Henry Hitchings
Scotland’s best essayist, both politically and aesthetically, looks at the fraught relationship between Scotland and the UK in his historical novel about the horror of famine, and why this is the best and most important piece of writing about politics and economics from the 70s.
2. Film: The Other Side of Midnight
“A superb illustration of the social constructs that shape who we are as individuals, families, and communities.” Lucy Mangan on The Other Side of Midnight, a film by Steve McQueen and Robert Pattinson based on Ian McEwan’s novel.
3. Books: Sylvia Plath: A Life
How will the story of the Victorian poet be played out on the page? An attempt to map out the work through 150 interviews, audio recordings and through the text of her letters, this is first biography of Plath, but also the first biography of the female writer.
4. Music: It’s All Over Now – We Wince
Donald Fagen is 55 and is basically just playing another guitar, focusing on the definitive sound of the Steely Dan.
5. Art: Tiyhun A Cheung/Ho Chi Minh / Evan Higman
“British-American crossover fans need to find a different vision of the world. Head to LittleBits.com if you want to discover new things, while everyone else listens to the Jeff Goldblum soundtrack to Jurassic Park.
6. Comedy: Almost Superheroes
This is the good, the bad and the bloody. Colin Buchanan is questioning the conventions of superheroes, and taking on tough conversations about misogynistic rape culture.