Politics
What Causes Social Anxiety And What Can Help Sufferers
According to the UK’s National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), around 12 per cent of people will experience social anxiety disorder at some point in their lives, making it the most prevalent form of anxiety.
If you’re not familiar with the condition, the NHS describes it as: “a long-term and overwhelming fear of social situations.” They add that it usually starts during teenage years and can be very distressing and impact your day-to-day life.
Now, researchers have revealed that the condition which was always thought to be something purely in our minds, it may actually be related to our gut health and changes in our brains, too.
What social anxiety is and how it relates to the gut
While introversion and social anxiety may sometimes crossover, there is a key difference and it’s perfectly explained by NICE guidelines. NICE says: “Social anxiety disorder (also known as ‘social phobia’) is an overwhelming fear of social
situations…
“Although everyone worries from time to time about coping with a social situation, for people with social anxiety disorder the worry or fear can last a long time and severely affect their lives. They are afraid of doing or saying something that will result in embarrassment, humiliation or rejection by others.”
When it comes to introversion, Psychology Today explains: “Introverts do not fear or dislike others, and they are neither shy nor plagued by loneliness. A crowded cocktail party may be torture for introverts, but they enjoy one-on-one engagement in calm environments, which is more suited to the make-up of their nervous system.”
What’s key to remember here is that social anxiety isn’t about preferring solitude but instead, the brain responding to perceived threat.
So, what is the link between gut health and social anxiety?
Studies as far back as 2016 revealed distinct microbiome profiles in people with depression, suggesting that our mental health may be shaped in part by the organisms living inside us.
With this in mind, Dr Mary Butler at University College Cork, in Ireland, and colleagues analysed the faeces of 31 people with the social anxiety, and 18 without. They found clear differences in the gut bacteria of the two that suggested there may be some weight behind this theory.
Writing for BBC Science Focus, science writer David Robson explains: “To determine whether those differences could have a meaningful impact on people, the team transplanted some of the participants’ faeces into the stomachs of laboratory mice, before putting them through a series of behavioural tests.
“One test analysing ‘social fear conditioning’ proved especially revealing. Here, mice were given a small electric shock whenever they approached another mouse, causing them to learn that social contact led to pain.”
They found that the mice who received faecal transplants from people with social anxiety were more susceptible to the condition and were slower to ‘unlearn’ the association when electric shocks stopped.
Most notably, the mice didn’t experience generalised anxiety but specifically social anxiety around other mice.
“The striking part of our work was the specificity of the transferred phenotype,” said Butler speaking to BBC Science Focus
“The microbiota from donors with social anxiety disorder produced a social-fear-selective effect in otherwise behaviourally normal mice.”
There’s still a long way to go before we fully understand this, but the news is hopeful for future treatment of the condition.
What to do if you have social anxiety
The NHS says: “It’s a good idea to see a GP if you think you have social anxiety, especially if it’s having a big impact on your life. It’s a common problem and there are treatments that can help.
“Asking for help can be difficult, but a GP will be aware that many people struggle with social anxiety and will try to put you at ease. They’ll ask you about your feelings, behaviours and symptoms to find out about your anxiety in social situations.”
You may then be referred to a mental health specialist for treatment and support.
Help and support:
- Mind, open Monday to Friday, 9am-6pm on 0300 123 3393.
- Samaritans offers a listening service which is open 24 hours a day, on 116 123 (UK and ROI – this number is FREE to call and will not appear on your phone bill).
- CALM (the Campaign Against Living Miserably) offer a helpline open 5pm-midnight, 365 days a year, on 0800 58 58 58, and a webchat service.
- The Mix is a free support service for people under 25. Call 0808 808 4994 or email help@themix.org.uk
- Rethink Mental Illness offers practical help through its advice line which can be reached on 0808 801 0525 (Monday to Friday 10am-4pm). More info can be found on rethink.org.
Although they have taken part in film and theatre festivals in various European countries, Yousef Shalabi and his team at Jenin Creative Cultural Centre have not visited the UK since 2006. Many changes have taken place since then.
Jenin Creative Cultural Centre — ‘Despite the pain we can celebrate our music’
He tells the Canary:
There’s now a new generation, a new era of suffering and madness in the Middle East. There are lots of changes, but unfortunately they do not give us a better life. Democracy, human rights, the international community and freedom have failed us many times over the years. All the world saw what happened in Gaza, and the unlimited destruction. And this has destroyed the dreams of the Palestinian people of having their independent state. We saw that Europe and the US want to stop the war in Ukraine, but when it comes to Palestinian rights, no one cares. International institutions are also facing collapse, and there is not even support for UNRWA, the last institution supporting the Palestinian refugees. So really, so much has happened.
The musicians from the centre are hoping to return to the UK later this year. Their goal is to show people that despite all the daily hardships Palestinians face, they are carrying a message of hope.
Shalabi says:
We want to live in peace, with dignity, as all other nations do, and to build a future for our kids. Despite the pain, we can celebrate our music and let others enjoy it too. We also want to create awareness among the British people, and let them know we salute them for their solidarity, and their big demonstrations in support of Palestine. Hopefully this tour will happen and will be as successful as the one in 2006.
Psychological trauma and economic hardship part of daily Palestinian life
Jenin Creative Cultural Centre was established in 2005, as a response to the Jenin Refugee Camp massacre of 2002, by the Israeli occupation. Destruction was widespread in the camp, and many residents were displaced. According to Shalabi, there was a growing need at the time for psychological support, especially for the women and children.
Now, more than 20 years later, the needs of the community are greater than ever. The Israeli occupation recently forcibly displaced all 17,000 residents from Jenin Refugee Camp, as part of its campaign to ethnically cleanse the occupied territory of Palestinians. Currently, the West Bank has also been plunged into its deepest economic crisis on record. So the work of the Jenin Creative Cultural Centre has become essential.
But tightened movement restrictions since October 2023, as well as safety concerns due to increased violence by the Israeli occupation forces (IOF), have made it much more difficult for Palestinians to make their way to the centre. So the staff — who are all volunteers — go to the community instead. Shalabi says several of the musicians have faced severe problems, while growing restrictions have also prevented them from getting together to play music.
One musician lost his brother, who was killed by a drone in front of his house in the Jenin camp. Another two became displaced with their families. One of them was Alaa. He toured with the Jenin Creative Cultural Centre 20 years ago, but has now lost everything. It’s so important to have such musicians to play our music, despite the horrible conditions. They used to play to groups of 60 children at the centre, but we now go mainly to the Arab American University.
Art is a tool which can be used to heal Jenin
There are around 600 families currently staying at the university, who were displaced from Jenin Refugee Camp more than 14 months ago. They still know nothing about what has happened to their homes. Many children are among them, so Jenin Creative Cultural Centre also does activities for them, such as facepainting, while running workshops for the women.
While those forcibly displaced from Jenin Refugee Camp are particularly affected by depression and trauma, Shalabi says the daily lives of others in Jenin are no less traumatic, with many having lost family members, and friends. Allowing people to talk about the hardships they have endured is sometimes enough to help them leave behind the traumatic situations they have faced. But sometimes they may need something more.
We see art as a tool, for healing. It creates an atmosphere of peace and relaxation. We wanted to create a safer place, where children can practice hobbies. Our projects, such as our pottery workshop, also help women develop new skills, to enable them to get a livelihood and some income.
An important part of Jenin Creative Cultural Centre’s work is also to build bridges with the international community, and create awareness of the ongoing situation caused by ‘Israel’. Shalabi says they want to invite their friends from around the world to not only volunteer and bring their various skills to the local Palestinian community, but to also live with the Palestinian people, and experience life under occupation.
He adds:
There are also lots of interesting historical sites in the Jenin area, and you can enjoy the Palestinian food. This is an invitation for anyone who is interested to come and see, and live with us, and show the Palestinians your solidarity.
Help Jenin Creative Cultural Centre’s musicians play traditional Palestinian music to a UK audience
Jenin Creative Cultural Centre needs to raise £10,000 for their three week trip to the UK. There are plans for musical evenings to take place in universities, cinemas and centres in both England and Scotland.
The plan is for six volunteers from the centre to take part in the tour, including five musicians. These include a singer, a keyboard player, a traditional Palestinian flute player, and a musician who plays the Oud — one of the oldest string instruments, originating in the Middle East.
Shalabi says:
You will miss a lot if you don’t come. We are sure you will enjoy our performance of Palestinian traditional music, and you will dance. Music is a way to unify people for peace and entertainment, and hopefully we will meet you all with the spirit of happiness.
Please send donations to this link
Featured image via author
‘Compare us with every other party in the House of Commons today and we’re easily the most united, with the biggest smile on our face’, Ed Davey informed the Financial Times in January. Well, Ed Davey has always been more of a clown than a contender, even if he is favoured by the provincial middle-class demographic that dominates the party’s membership. Restore UK MP Rupert Lowe spoke for those of us outside this bubble when posting his opinion of Davey on X: ‘You are a low-IQ gnome whose talents would be better suited to fishing bits of bird shit out a garden pond.’
This jibe was a response to one of Davey’s many attacks on Elon Musk – ‘He must be held to account for what he is: a purveyor of child pornography’, said Davey in January. But it could have been a response to any one of the Lib Dem leader’s desperate grabs for attention. Just this week, he was calling for the cancellation of King Charles’s trip stateside in July, to mark the 250th anniversary of the United States Declaration of Independence. He claimed the king’s presence would be a ‘diplomatic coup for President Trump… someone who repeatedly insults and damages our country’.
Like Musk, Vladimir Putin and Benjamin Netanyahu, Trump has become a regular target of Davey’s posturing and tweeting, all of which is as embarrassing as the stunts he embarks on to highlight local concerns. He slid down a waterslide to promote children’s mental-health services. He drummed on an exercise ball to highlight social care. He bungee jumped to encourage voters to support his party at the 2024 General Election, and rode a roller coaster at Thorpe Park to launch its manifesto. Throughout this, Ed Davey wears what Quentin Crisp, when describing the face he settled on to face the world, called a look of ‘fatuous affability’. You could state the number of victims of largely Pakistani grooming gangs, or reveal that ABBA had reformed, and Davey’s expression would remain the same.
Actually, the second of these is the safe topic more likely to begin a discussion among the party faithful. If the Lib Dem leader dared to draw attention to the systematic rape of white working-class girls, it would doubtless be via a flume ride at Center Parcs. That’s not to imply that he is not a moral man. Davey sees himself as a saviour with a mission, fully aware of his priorities. In 2025, he said he had a ‘moral duty’ to ensure that Nigel Farage does not become British prime minister.
The largest concentration of support for the Liberal Democrats is in the West Country, where a battle royal with Reform UK is expected to commence at the next General Election. I have some skin in the game, as someone who moved from my native London to this territory a decade ago. I found decent, generous people, who fed and watered me during cocktail hour, among Lib Dem supporters. Politics was avoided like bad etiquette, until Brexit, Donald Trump, the pink ladies’ protests, and marches against grooming gangs and mass immigration arose amid the chit-chat and clinking glass. Then things got ugly. When it came to politics, these people were not the people I thought they were, but they were the people I feared they might be. As they are quick to condemn and caricature those without the luxury beliefs permitted within the echo chamber in which they exist, permeated by those of a similar class, status and pedigree (I’m the exception to the rule), I feel no hesitation in sharing my field notes on those loyal to Lib Dem land.
The provincialism of the middle-class Lib Dem loyalist is not attributable to place, but outlook. These are people convinced they are multicultural and cosmopolitan, while limiting themselves to a parochial social circle. They are conventional people who labour under the delusion they are rebellious. They embrace their status while simultaneously denying it, so as to appear empathetic, sometimes casting themselves as the privileged poor. They support the Lib Dems because the Tories are too crass, Reform is too common and Labour is too costly.
I’ve witnessed an elderly Lib Dem devotee, who lives in a house large enough to warrant a tour guide, declare that he and his wife would not be able to eat if they didn’t sell up within two years. He also owned rental homes and bought his children homes to rent to others, with inherited family money. A lady who lunches, who admitted to a crush on former party leader Nick Clegg, revealed tearfully: ‘I felt physical pain when the Brexit result came through, because my children wouldn’t be able to travel through Europe as I had.’ Her children were at the local private school, even though she disapproved of private education. ‘They would not have survived at state school.’ After attending university, and enjoying a stint in London, their children return to this territory as adults, to become parents, to become the next generation of Liberal Democrat supporters.
In recent months, the party unity that brought a smile to the Lib Dem leader’s face has begun to fragment. There are rumours of dissent in the ranks due to Davey’s failure to capitalise on the anger the electorate harbours for the Labour government. This ‘frustration’ was confirmed when Politics UK quoted one disenchanted MP: ‘Reform [is] assuming a place in the national debate, and so are the Greens. We are content to not do this. And it isn’t good enough.’ Anticipating that this unrest could fester, Davey took himself away from Thorpe Park and Alton Towers to present himself as a political player on the world stage. Yet the statements he issues to give himself gravitas, consisting in the main of anti-Trump posturing, are as empty as the stunts and pratfalls at theme parks – and, ultimately, have as little impact.
Last year, Davey announced he would be boycotting a state banquet for President Trump, as a stand against his response to the crisis in Gaza. Tapping into the student slogans then (and still) doing the rounds, Davey declared that Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and his government were responsible for ‘genocide’. Playing to the same raggedy crowd, he demanded the recognition of a Palestinian state.
Presently, Elon Musk is as much of a folk devil as Trump for the likes of Davey. He accused the X owner of meddling in democracy and inciting far-right violence during the Unite the Kingdom march – an event that angered Davey and his tribe as much as the Brexit vote. Playing David to Musk’s Goliath, he suggests ‘Tesla tariffs’ to hit him where it hurts, and prosecuting him under the Online Safety Act for allowing material that shows child abuse and self-harm on X. This from the leader who advised his party to abstain in a parliamentary vote on a national inquiry into the rape gangs and the efforts to cover up their crimes.
As part of the 2024 General Election campaign, Ed Davey rides a rollercoaster at Thorpe Park, 10 June 2024.
When it comes to issues such as Brexit, Davey’s reaction is extreme. He proposes building bridges with the EU that would eliminate the result. Yet his party claims to be the ‘moderate’ voice absent in British politics. Supposedly, the Lib Dems are the ‘progressive’ response to the ‘populism’ of Nigel Farage and Reform UK, which he believes adheres to Trumpian politics and an American-style ‘right wing’ fervour, compared with the ‘British values’ and ‘patriotism’ the Lib Dems represent. This is clearly a recent development, given his party previously talked of ‘patriotism’ much as Labour MPs and student activists did – that is, as synonymous with ‘racist’ and ‘fascist’. The pratfalls of Davey pale into insignificance when compared with former leader Tim Farron draping himself in the Union Jack at the party’s autumn 2025 conference in Bournemouth – an event as white as Glastonbury, so white in fact it might alarm Jon Snow. The Lib Dem supporters and MPs indulging in this tragic spectacle, like those at the Labour Party conference attempting something similar with the various flags of the United Kingdom, had everyone else cringing at the comic desperation of it.
Davey and the current crop of Lib Dem MPs are neither genuinely progressive people nor serious politicians, but they emerged from parties that included figures that were. The high watermark of the Liberal Party in the 20th century was the years in government, 1906 to 1915, during which the ‘New Liberalism’ introduced the welfare reforms that successive Labour governments built on. The Liberals’ fortunes changed with their merger with the Social Democratic Party in 1988, the party founded seven years prior by the Gang of Four. These were the veteran Labour MPs who left the party as it began to prioritise the left-wing fringe issues that would eventually define its ideology – a process that would ultimately alienate working-class supporters and transform it into the party of the middle class that it is today.
During the period the Lib Dems found themselves in government, between 2010 and 2015, in an unholy alliance with the Conservatives, they were criticised by their own side at the time for reneging on abolishing student tuition fees. In the years since, it’s the negligence of Ed Davey as minister for postal affairs during the Post Office and Horizon IT scandal that has drawn criticism from elsewhere. When the ITV drama Mr Bates vs The Post Office returned the story to the headlines in January 2024, Telegraph columnist Allison Pearson posted on X:
‘Ed Davey was paid £833 an hour – over £220,000 in total – to advise lawyers who were acting for the Post Office. (Taking taxpayers’ money to persecute petrified, innocent people.) As postal-affairs minister, Davey refused to believe Alan Bates about Post Office bullying. But happy to jump into the trough after.’
Davey’s knack for jumping on a bandwagon just as it’s leaving town has become evident since he took the helm of the party. He replaced Jo Swinson, the first female leader of the Liberal Democrats, who defeated him in the previous leadership challenge. Swinson put a smile on all our faces when her image appeared on the promotional leaflets during the 2019 campaign, arriving through the letterbox among the pizza flyers, with the declaration that we were looking at ‘Britain’s next prime minister’.
The brash declarations Davey now peddles are as performative as the indignation his fellow MPs express when rising to their feet in the House of Commons. This is notable among the party’s female MPs. Last October, deputy leader Daisy Cooper aired her indignation, and shared her limited insight, on a subject outside the echo chamber in which Liberal Democrat MPs exist: Tommy Robinson. She demanded the current prime minister direct the security services to evaluate the threat that Elon Musk ‘poses to our democracy’ for giving Robinson legal support (he had just been charged under the Terrorism Act in 2024 for refusing to give police his phone password, and was subsequently acquitted). In April 2025, the diminutive West Country Lib Dem MP, Tessa Munt, made similar demands, shrinking behind huge dark glasses – she’s sensitive to the harsh lights in the chamber – that would have dwarfed Anna Wintour.
Munt lives in Wedmore and represents Wells. In the country at weekends, at a Saturday surgery, or at hedgehog farms that feature on Facebook posts, she sports an archaic Sloane Ranger look of cashmere crew neck, a polo shirt with the collar raised, jeans, Chelsea boots and pearls. Munt, rightfully and nobly, supports local farmers and addresses their current grievances, but doesn’t extend this to the victims of grooming gangs. This was evident in her contribution to a cross-party Commons debate, in response to a contribution from Conservative MP Katie Lam.
Opening a moving, heartfelt speech, Lam addressed the need for an inquiry into the rape gangs, highlighting the racial and religious aspects that contributed to these crimes. She said: ‘One of the victims from Dewsbury was told by her rapist: “We’re here to fuck all the white girls and fuck the government.”’ Lam spoke graphically about the violence the victims had suffered, informing the few figures present in the commons, the language was necessary because ‘We must not look away or sanitise this evil’.
She quoted the sentencing remarks of judge Peter Rook, who gave Mohammed Karrar of Oxford life in prison:
‘You prepared her [his victim, a 13-year-old girl] for gang anal rape by using a pump to expand her anal passage. You subjected her to gang rape by five or six men. At one point she had four men inside her. A red ball was placed in her mouth to keep her quiet… When she was 12, after raping her, she threatened you with your lock knife. Your reaction was to pick up a baseball bat with a silver metal handle, strike her on the head with it, and then insert the baseball bat inside her vagina.’
Lam concluded:
‘This is not about me, the minister, the home secretary or any honourable members in the chamber; it is about the little girls, up and down our country, whose brutal and repeated rapes were permitted and hidden by those in the British state whose jobs were to protect them.’
Responding to Lam, Munt made the issue about herself, and sanitised this evil in the process. ‘My blood is boiling as I listen to the stuff coming from Conservative members’, she said, playing to the gallery. ‘If they had read the independent inquiry into child sexual abuse, they would recognise that there are hundreds of thousands of people alive today – people just like me, white girls – who suffered at the hands of white men who have got clean away with it, because nothing was done for so long.’ As Madeline Grant wrote in her Telegraph column at the time: ‘Belittling the unspeakable abuse of thousands of girls as “stuff” is bad enough; even worse to do so from the comfort of places where the realities of “community tension” are scarcely felt.’
In essence, here is the sinister undertow that lies beneath the ‘moderate’ veneer of the Liberal Democrats. The contempt they harbour for those outside their bubble, with a different experience and a different outlook, who now support Reform, is no different to that expressed by hysterical protesters with blue hair and placards, putting their weight behind Your Party or the Greens. The difference being the provincial middle-class Lib Dem devotees come with hand-knitted scarves, Hunter wellies, Barbour jackets, Amnesty tote bags, and pearls. They carry their Fitzcarraldo Editions to coffee shops for effect, but read Cormoran Strike novels in book groups. They would rather defend the BBC than defund it. They listen to The Last Dinner Party.
The UK political party these people loyally support is not currently a real threat, but it could become one. And Ed Davey could still be leading the Liberal Democrats and in the running, garnering support from disgruntled Labour moderates and Tory wets. At which point the smile on that fatuous face will widen. To the rest of us, Davey will still be the joke he’s always been. But the joke won’t be funny anymore.
Expert comment provided by licensed sexologist, relationship therapist, and author at Passionerad, Sofie Roos.
Previously, we heard from sexologist and relationship therapist Sofie Roos about what straight men and straight women bring up the most in sex therapy.
And this week, she spoke to us about the topics virgins over 30 discuss most with her.
1) Performance anxiety and not knowing “what to do”
“Many people over 30 who’re still virgins… [talk to me] about performance anxiety… they often worry about not knowing what to do during sex, that they will mess up, or that it will get awkward,” Roos said.
Other common fears include being judged by your partner and not having the supposed “right” physical responses to sex and foreplay.
This stress, the sexologist said, can sometimes create a vicious cycle. “These kinds of worries easily lead to the physical reactions they’re afraid of, such as erection problems, difficulties with getting wet, or having a hard time relaxing.”
2) Feelings of shame and feeling “behind”
Because society often has “norms for when we should have sex the first time,” Roos said, some virgins aged 30 and over feel they’re behind or “as if something is wrong with you, even though it most often isn’t”.
It can make communication with partners and even dating feel more difficult, she added.
3) Worries about their desirability and low sexual self-esteem
Some in this group “develop doubts about their ability to attract, or their desirability as a romantic partner,” the therapist told us.
“Even though there’s absolutely nothing wrong with you,” she said, those who haven’t lost their virginity at 30 or older can “see themselves as less appealing and capable in intimate situations than what they actually are”.
And it’s not uncommon for people to “grow an insecurity around flirting, intimacy and emotional closeness, making many of the natural elements in finding a partner feel too overwhelming,” she added.
4) Fear of pain
Pain during penetration is a relatively common concern for straight women, Roos told us last week. And for virgins aged 30 and over, she told us many are afraid of “pain during sex, which just increases the risk for unpleasant intimacy, especially in women.
“For people with vulvas, being afraid of pain during penetration can lead to difficulties with relaxing and getting wet, making the sex unpleasant,” she added.
And for men, “worrying can cause temporary erection problems, which also tend to put people in a very negative loop where having sex becomes something that feels more and more difficult each time you try”.
So… any advice?
Roos had some words of wisdom for people in this group, starting with destigmatising being a virgin after 30.
“There’s no deadline for when you should have sex for the first time – it’s all about what feels right for you! It’s normal to have your sex debut early, and it’s normal to have it late, and at what age you first get intimate says extremely little about how the rest of your sex life will be,” she said.
She also said that sometimes, those who feel they’re “late” to having sex can put a premium on experience, even at the cost of pleasure. But she thinks it’s healthier to stay present, start as slow as you like, and communicate.
“Start with kisses and just being close, and then take it from there at the tempo you enjoy, and focus on how it feels and on the moment instead of on what you’re doing, something that builds safety and makes it feel way better”.
Roos also says many virgins over 30 are “scared about telling the person they’re seeing that they never have had sex before, but in my experience, a date often responds with way more understanding and empathy than we expect.”
Explaining where you’re at sexually can make further communication easier.
You should also learn “what feels good, both physically, emotionally and mentally” – that “makes sexual encounters feel more welcoming, safe and less mystical, which is key for taking that step”.
Lastly, the sexologist said, don’t be afraid of seeking expert help, or even talking to a friend, if you need. That’s “extremely valuable if the fear, shame and anxiety are strong and difficult to deal with on your own”.
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When I was in secondary school, matte lips were everything.
Whether you were part of the crowd who put foundation on their lips and called it a day or not; everyone could agree that a great, statement matte lip was a very powerful thing.
But, as with so many things that are hugely popular when you’re a teen, it’s easy to develop a knee-jerk aversion to it when you’re an adult.
This is what happened to me, dear reader. Around the time I got to university, I turned my back on bold matte lipsticks in favour of, well, virtually everything else, and haven’t looked back since.
Well… That is, until now.
On a whim, I decided to try the Lip & Cheek Blurry Pudding Pot by South Korean brand Fwee, in shade Boss (one of the darkest colours available, naturally).
I was tempted by the fact it’s a lip and cheek duo. Even though I rarely go bold with my blush, I get way too much satisfaction from a perfectly matching cheek-and-lip combo.
Boots
Widespread love of K-Beauty isn’t new – and I’m certainly not immune to the hype. In fact, according to the Boots Beauty & Wellness Trends Report for 2026, one K-Beauty product sells every 11 seconds at Boots.
But when it comes to this little pot, the hype is very much warranted.
In fact, I’d go so far as saying that it’s got me feeling a way about matte lips that I haven’t felt since Kylie Jenner had blue hair.
Sure, I dabbled with Glossier’s Generation G just like every other millennial makeup wearer in the world, but that was semi-sheer and a lot more subtle. This is a very different level of pigment.
The first time I popped this pudding on my lips and cheeks, I put it to the test over dinner.
I didn’t top it up once over the course of the meal, and was pleasantly surprised to find that it hadn’t budged an inch while I’d been eating and drinking.
While you want to make sure your lips are in a moisturised, non-flaky state when you put it on (it clings to the cracks as you might expect), I’ve found that this lippy is also super comfortable to wear and non-drying, which is a very far cry from lots of the other matte lip products out there.
Heaven help you if you put it on and change your mind, though! Even when I tried to take it off, a lighter shade of berry lingered.
It’s super easy to apply to the lips – I just used my fingers and blurred out the edges a little for a softer look.
The main drawback is that it’s harder to get the cheeks just right with a colour this big and bold.
I’ve been using a brush to make blending easier, but the balance between too much and too little is a very fine one. For me, striking that balance is still a work in progress.
All in all, however, at £16, the Fwee Lip & Cheek Blurry Pudding Pot is an utter bargain. I’ll be popping at least five more shades on my wishlist.
4 min read
There is concern within the Liberal Democrats that some of their MPs could defect to the Greens amid restlessness over the direction of the party.
A senior Liberal Democrat MP told PoliticsHome that at least two Lib Dem MPs — both representing traditionally Conservative constituencies in southern England captured during the party’s 2024 surge — could be tempted to switch to Zack Polanski’s party.
Ed Davey led the Lib Dems to a record 72 seats at the last general election, which made them the third biggest party in the House of Commons. Their gains came largely at the expense of Tories in so-called ‘blue wall’ parts of the country.
Since then, however, there has been growing disquiet within the parliamentary party, with Lib Dem MPs privately questioning the strategic direction and complaining that they have failed to capitalise on the success of 2024.
This restlessness has been fuelled by Polanski’s Greens overtaking the Lib Dems in recent polls. Polanski, previously a Lib Dem, has been credited with sharpening the Greens’ message and expanding their appeal beyond traditional environmental voters.
YouGov this week put the Liberal Democrats in fifth place nationally on 14 per cent, trailing behind Reform, the Conservatives, the Greens and Labour.
“Ed is the most successful leader the party has ever had. He’s won more MPs than ever before, and has a story that genuinely connects with the public. But he’s lost all momentum,” one Lib Dem MP told PoliticsHome.
The same MP added: “There’s a huge opportunity in the centre for the Lib Dems. Ed’s team needs to stop holding back now and really go for it. Otherwise, we’ll just disappear.”
“Everyone’s frustrated,” added a different Lib Dem MP.
Davey has made opposition to Donald Trump a key part of his political agenda, regularly calling on the Labour government to be firmer with the US President.
Internal plans obtained by The Spectator reveal a belief among Lib Dem strategists that their strong opposition to US strikes on Iran will pay dividends at the 7 May local elections.
One memo leaked to the publication reads: “For the first time since the Iraq war… we have a chance to turn a distinctive and principled Liberal Democrat position on foreign affairs into significant election gains.”
However, critical Lib Dems MPs say that, beyond their position on the Trump administration, a lack of a clear policy platform is leaving them with little to talk about.
A Green Party Source told PoliticsHome: “Zack has made it clear that his door is open to anyone who shares the Green Party’s values – but right now he is focused on electing a wave of green councillors, mayors and Sennedd members in May.”
As the party gets together for its spring conference in York this weekend, MPs are starting to wonder whether Davey, who has been Lib Dem leader since 2020, is the right person to lead the party into the next general election.
However, as things stand, there is no sense that his position is under serious threat, nor that there is an obvious successor.
The party’s deputy leader, Daisy Cooper, former leadership contender, Layla Moran, and party president, Josh Babarinde, elected in 2024, are names mentioned by MPs as potential future leaders.
In a recent interview with The House magazine, the Liberal Democrat MP Roz Savage hinted at her own frustrations when asked whether Davey remained the best person to lead the party.
“I can’t say anything about that on the record,” she replied.
One of her colleagues told PoliticsHome: “It’s what everyone’s thinking, she’s just the first to say something publicly.”
Lisa Smart, the Lib Dem MP for Hazel Grove, who is helping devise party strategy, urged colleagues to get behind their leader.
“Ed is the most popular party leader in the country and the strongest voice in Parliament when it comes to standing up to Donald Trump or building closer ties with Europe,” she told PoliticsHome.
“Of course, we have a big bit of work to do coming up with bold new policies as we get closer to the next election, and I’m really proud of all my Liberal Democrat colleagues working hard to do that.”
She added: We are focused on winning, because that’s how we stop Reform, elect more Liberal Democrat MPs and change the country. We have a huge opportunity to win more seats, but also a duty to stop Nigel Farage getting anywhere near Number 10.”
One of the strategic questions facing the Lib Dems is what political direction to pursue as part of their bid to build on their success at the 2024 general election.
There are some MPs, like Savage, who describe themselves as being on the left of the party.
However, there are those who believe the party should continue prioritising former Conservative voters through more centre-right positions on issues like fiscal responsibility.
“We need to be making the case to Conservative voters that we can be trusted on the economy or they won’t vote for us,” said one Lib Dem MP.
Ahead of Sunday night’s ceremony, some of Hollywood’s most recognisable faces will be gearing up to find out if they’ve snagged one of those coveted golden statues.
Others, though, weren’t quite so lucky.
Indeed, there are some pretty note-worthy absentees from this year’s Oscars shortlist – while there are a fair few others we were no doubt pleasantly surprised to see make their way into their categories.
Here are our seven biggest snubs and surprises of the 2026 Oscar nominees…
SNUB
Let’s start with the biggie, shall we?
In 2025, the first Wicked movie racked up a hefty 10 Oscar nominations, including acting wins for both Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande, and wins in the Best Production Design and Best Costume Design categories.
However, neither actor has been recognised at this year’s event – and, in fact, Wicked: For Good failed to pick up a single Oscar nomination in something of a blow for the musical sequel.
Worst of all, without a nod in the Best Original Song category, we were subjected to those new additions to the soundtrack for nothing…
SNUB
Chase Infiniti (One Battle After Another)
One Battle After Another, remarkably, marked Chase Infiniti’s first time on the big screen, with her performance in the Paul Thomas Anderson movie earning her nominations at both the Golden Globes, Critics’ Choice Awards, Baftas and recently-renamed Actor Awards.
Surprisingly – and, we have to say, disappointingly – this did not translate to an Oscar nomination for the young star, who will next be seen in Niki Byrne’s coming-of-age drama The Julia Set.
SNUB
Paul Mescal (Best Supporting Actor)
As expected, Hamnet had plenty of love when it came to this year’s Oscar nominations, with lead actor Jessie Buckley the current favourite to scoop Best Actress and Chloe Zhao receiving Best Picture, Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay nods.
While many expected that Paul Mescal would rack up his second nomination for his performance as William Shakespeare, it turned out there was not enough room for him in the stacked category after all.
SURPRISE
Kate Hudson (Best Actress)
As the date of the Oscar nominations announcement drew nearer, we’d heard rumblings that Kate Hudson might make her way into the Best Actress category, but we weren’t sure whether she’d actually manage it.
Kate plays tribute singer Claire Sardina in the musical drama, earning her first Oscar nomination in 25 years for her work in the movie (she was last nominated in 2001 for her breakout role in Almost Famous).
SURPRISE
Delroy Lindo (Best Supporting Actor)
After Delroy Lindo was overlooked at the Golden Globes, Critics’ Choice Awards and Actor Awards for his performance as Delta Slim in Sinners, we came to the sad conclusion that the comic relief character wouldn’t be getting any love from the major awards bodies this year.
Imagine our delight, then, when he managed to make his way into the Best Supporting Actor category at the Oscars, one of three acting nods for the film (which has shattered the record for the most nominations in history) at the upcoming Academy Awards.
SURPRISE
Amy Madigan (Best Supporting Actress)
To be fair, after winning a Critics’ Choice Award and earning recognition at the Golden Globes, we’re not sure we can really call Amy Madigan’s nomination for her performance in Weapons a surprise anymore.
Still, when we cast our mind back to the first time we were introduced to Aunt Gladys last year, we never thought that Amy would land herself in the running for an Oscar for her role, and given the Academy’s history with horror movies, it’s great to see her getting the recognition she deserves so much.
SNUB
Like Wicked: For Good, many were shocked that Park Chan-wook’s satirical drama No Other Choice didn’t get a single Oscar nomination – despite its acclaim from both critics and audiences, and the fact that until recently it held a rare 100% score on Rotten Tomatoes.
What we’re hoping is that the conversation around this snub, paired with its rave reviews, are enough that when it hits UK cinemas later this week, audiences flood to see it.
When One Piece debuted in 2023, it quickly was hailed as one of the best live-action adaptations of a manga ever, and became the Netflix’s most-watched original series of the second half of that year.
After an agonising three-year wait, Monkey D. Luffy, Nami, Roronoa Zoro and the rest of the super-powered team of pirates are back in action – alongside a new ragtag group of enemies, allies and magical creatures.
Here are all the new actors joining One Piece in its second season, and a quick guide to where you might know them from…
Charithra Chandran
Charitha has joined the second series of One Piece as Miss Wednesday, the princess of the desert kingdom Alabasta.
The British actor is no stranger to popular Netflix shows, having played Edwina in the second series of Bridgerton.
After her big break in the Amazon Prime adaptation of the Alex Ryder books in 2021, playing Sabina Pleasance, Charitha went on to appear in Dune: Prophecy as a younger version of Tabu’s character Francesca.
On the big screen, you may recognise her for her performance as the flight attendant in Josh Hartnett’s action film Fight Or Flight, and in the recent festive film Christmas Karma, which co-starred Kunal Nayyar and Danny Dyer.
Mikaela Hoover
Season two of One Piece also welcomes Mikaela Hoover to the cast, who voices the talkative reindeer Tony Tony Chopper.
You’ll likely recognise her for her recent role in Superman, in which she plays journalist Cat Grant.
The superhero movie marked her latest collaboration with director James Gunn, having played Nova Prime’s assistant in Guardians Of The Galaxy, voiced Floor the Rabbit in Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 3 and appeared as the president’s assistant, Camila, in The Suicide Squad.
She has also had guest roles in Charlie Sheen’s comedy Anger Management, 2 Broke Girls alongside Kat Dennings and in last year’s TV crime thriller Duster.
You can next see Mikaela in the second season of Netflix’s Beef, which also features Oscar Isaac and Carey Mulligan.
David Dastmalchian
Zade Rosenthal/Marvel Studios/Walt Disney Studios/Kobal/Shutterstock
David Dastmalchian appears as Mr. 3, the Baroque Works member who can produce candle wax from his hands.
A well-known face to fans of sci-fi and comic book adaptations, David played Kurt in the Ant-Man films, Polka Dot Man in The Suicide Squad and voiced Julian Day in the recent Batman animated films.
Following his big-screen debut in The Dark Knight, playing Joker’s deranged henchman, David teamed up again with director Christopher Nolan in 2024, taking on the role of real-life lawyer William L. Borden in Oppenheimer.
You may also recognise him for his role in Dune as Piter De Vries, the assistant to Stellan Skarsgård’s Baron Vladimir Harkonnen, and for starring in horror, Late Night With The Devil.
On TV, he appeared in the 2017 series of Twin Peaks as Pit Boss Warrick, Dexter: Resurrection as the Gemini killer and all 10 episodes of Apple TV’s eccentric sci-fi series Murderbot.
Katey Sagal
Aaron Rapoport/Corbis/Getty Images/Fox
Katey Sagal, who plays Dr. Kureha in the manga adaptation, is a veritable TV icon.
She is known for playing Peg Bundy on the sitcom Married… With Children and, more recently, starring in Sons Of Anarchy as matriarch Gemma Teller Morrow.
Her other credits include voicing Leela in Futurama, having a leading role in the family sitcom 8 Simple Rules, and playing Dan’s second wife in the TV sitcom The Conners.
Most recently, you might have seen Katey play Nora’s mother in Tell Me Lies, appear in former Married… With Children co-star Christina Applegate’s comedy/drama Dead To Me or star alongside Sophie Turner in the horror film Trust.
Mark Harelik
Mark Harelik appears in One Piece as another of the doctors on Drum Island.
The actor and playwright has been consistently working since making his TV debut in Wings in 1993.
On the big screen, his long and varied career includes Election with Reese Witherspoon, Jurassic Park III and 2017’s Battle Of The Sexes, starring as real-life baseball player Hank Greenberg.
As for his TV work, he played the head of the physics department in The Big Bang Theory, God in Amazon Prime’s Preacher and most recently worked with Jake Gyllenhaal in Apple TV+ drama Presumed Innocent.
Callum Kerr
Callum Kerr has a supporting role in the second series of One Piece, playing a Marine Captain who can turn into smoke.
The Scottish actor and country singer found fame playing George Kiss in Hollyoaks between 2020 and 2021, before joining the cast of the musical drama show Monarch, acting alongside Susan Sarandon and Anna Friel.
He later played the young Everett in Virgin River, and starred as Galad Trakand in season three of The Wheel Of Time.
You might also recognise Callum for his appearance in Robbie Williams ’ video for his 2017 single Mixed Signals.
Camrus Johnson
Camrus Johnson, who plays Mr. 5, is most likely recognisable for his role as Luke Fox in the TV series Batwoman, in which he acted alongside Ruby Rose.
His first big role came when he played Omar Hassabala in the 2019 teen romance movie The Sun Is Also A Star.
One Piece is his latest Netflix collaboration, having also appeared in two episodes of Luke Cage and played a supporting role as Corporal Carson in Millie Bobby Brown’s streaming blockbuster The Electric State.
Julia Rehwald
Julia Rehwald appears as Smoker’s subordinate in One Piece. She, too, is a well-known face to Netflix audiences, after being hailed as one of the most exciting scream queens currently working after starring as Kate Schmidt in the Fear Street trilogy.
Star Wars fans, meanwhile, will know her for voicing Celesta Kami in the recent animated series Young Jedi Adventures.
Rigo Sanchez
Byron Cohen/ABC/Getty Images
Rigo plays the leader of the Revolutionary Army in One Piece, but you may better recognise him as Lightner, the mercenary villain introduced in season four of Outer Banks.
The actor also starred in the Animal Kingdom television show, played a firefighter in the Grey’s Anatomy spin-off Station 19 and recently appeared in an episode of Duster.
Daniel Lasker
Zimbabwean actor Daniel Lasker, who plays Mr. 9 in One Piece, is best known for his performance as Furfur in the sci-fi show Raised By Wolves.
His other TV credits include appearing in BBC drama Our Girl as a US soldier, and playing Merrick in the recent adaptation of Mallory Blackman’s Noughts + Crosses.
On the big screen, Daniel recently starred alongside Josh Duhamel and Aidan Gillen in London Calling.
Sophia Anne Caruso
Helen Sloan/SMPSP/Netflix
Sophia Anne Caruso stars in One Piece as Miss Goldenweek, a character who can alter people’s emotions using paint.
She is a recognisable face in the world of theatre, originating the role of Lydia Deetz in the Broadway musical adaptation of Beetlejuice.
On screen, Sophia appeared in Paul Feig’s fantasy The School For Good And Evil alongside Charlize Theron and Kerry Washington.
Rob Colletti
Rob Colletti plays the tyrannic ruler of the Drum Kingdom in One Piece.
Although more famous for his stage work, including originating the role of Dewey Finn in Broadways’ School Of Rock, he also had a small part in 2021′s The Sopranos prequel, The Many Saints Of Newark.
Watch seasons one and two of One Piece and Netflix now.
“You’ll have to excuse me, I’m cleaning a men’s wig.”
This feels as fitting a way as any to begin a conversation with Katya Zamolodchikova (your dad just calls her Katya), the drag world’s queen of all things chaotic.
Katya first captured the world’s attention 10 years ago, as one of the break-out stars of RuPaul’s Drag Race’s seventh season, quickly becoming a popular fan-favourite and returning a year later for the second All Stars season (still considered by many to be the pinnacle of the franchise) a year after being crowned her season’s Miss Congeniality.
A decade on, she’s still considered one of the show’s most popular queens, particularly among non-winners – a title she’s more than happy to retain.
“I’m not a winner – and I mean that not in a pejorative, insult-y way,” she tells HuffPost UK. “I’m not competitive. I found that out the first day I was on the show.”
Katya recalls: “I guess before I went to season seven, I was kind of like, ‘I could win’. And then I got there and I was like, ‘….nope’.”
“But then, I don’t want to!” she continues, pointing out: “When you win, people are like, ’you shouldn’t have won’. And when you lose, they say you should have won. So it’s like, I’ll take that!”
Having not ever picked up a Drag Race crown, she claims, she’s been spared the “the whole combing through your career with a fine-tooth comb” that fans do in order to try and prove, “’see – she didn’t deserve to win here!” or “she should have gone home…”.
“Whatever,” she quips, before adding a playful: “The most important thing is love.”
The Drag Race fandom is something that Katya acknowledges can be a mixed bag, and one which everyone who passes through the show will invariably have a different experience with.
“It’s tough, because real life and online are two very, very different interactions, and two different conceptions of people,” she explains.
“The internet version is a small, nebulous population of people who I don’t know. But in real life – that’s the people coming to the shows, the people who talk to me after the shows, the people who talk to me in the street – those people, 99% of the time, are incredible.
“Online… I don’t know those people. I appreciate them… I think? I don’t know. And also with bots and stuff, who the fuck knows these days?”
For Katya in particular, many of the fans she’s accrued over the last decade know her as well for her work outside of Drag Race as they do her stints on season seven and All Stars.
Much of this has seen her collaborating with her season seven sister turned right-hand woman Trixie Mattel, most notably the web series UNHhhh, the Netflix recap show I Like To Watch and, more recently, their gloriously-titled podcast The Bald And The Beautiful.
Both Katya and Trixie have made no secret of the fact that their more devoted and zealous fans can be a little unfiltered when meeting them in public, but Katya insists that their oversharing is mostly not an issue for her.
“I don’t care! We don’t have that much time! We could all be dead tomorrow! Share it! You know?” she enthuses. “Just – if it’s a meet and greet, don’t overstep, because we’ve got a line.”
Last summer, Katya and Trixie marked 10 years since they went off to film season seven by rewatching the whole thing, and devoting one episode of their podcast to each instalment.
For Katya, this marked the first time she’d watched it all back since she took part, and she found she had a lot of grace for her younger self.
“The other day, I was talking to somebody who was going to go on Drag Race, or somebody had just been on Drag Race, or whatever, and somebody was asking for advice,” she recalls. “It’s really, really simple. You just go and try to be as funny as you can. And so, rewatching it, I was like, ‘oh, I could have been funnier there’.
“But, like, I don’t care about the bad drag, because we were all poor! And I still have bad drag! Who cares? I’m not dressed by Valentino! I don’t have that much money – although I am extremely rich – but you know, it’s cringe-y, but also it’s fun.”
“And here’s the thing,” she adds. “If people are fans of you and they love you, you can’t be too hard on yourself – because then you’re insulting them!”
JLN Photography/Shutterstock
In fact, she had more notes for her looks out of drag than for anything she wore on the runway.
“The clothing is a huge head scratcher,” she admits. “I don’t know whose clothes those were. I don’t know what that art teacher jacket was, or how that happened. I have actually been kind of goth my entire life, to wear that jacket is so strange.
“Nowadays, the girls go in with entire boy costume selections. That’s unthinkable to me. I didn’t care! And yet, these young kids are doing it all day and going into the interview room looking like a Balenciaga fashion model, and they’re out on the runway looking like Victoria’s Secret.”
“Damn, good on you,” she concludes. “’Cause I’m a goblin!”
Since Drag Race, Katya’s fanbase has steadily continued to grow thanks to her distinct take on the artform of drag, her irreverent sense of humour and her frankness and candour around issues like sex, mental health and addiction.
Her latest venture allows her to lean into all of these skills, flying solo as the host of the Grindr podcast Who’s The Asshole?. (“She let me out of the house!” Katya jokes of not working with Trixie on the interview series. “It was a really pivotal moment in our career and friendship and our sub-dom relationship when she unshackled me from my bed and allowed me to work solo. Of course, I still have to give her all the money…”).
The podcast sees Katya chatting to guests as varied as fashion icon Jeremy Scott, electroclash pioneer Peaches, viral comedian Megan Stalter and Drag Race’s “Queen of Queens” herself, Jinkx Monsoon, about “sex, social mores, taboos and what that means in the digital marketplace for sex and love”.
“I love talking to people, and it’s fascinating stuff!” she beams. “It’s not like hauling bricks down a quarry. Which was my previous job…”
Santiago Felipe via Getty Images
Now onto her third season of Who’s The Asshole?, Katya credits her success as a host to the fact that she knows “how to listen” – and she’s been part of enough interviews over the years, as both a presenter and guest, to know what not to do.
“I’ve noticed – without naming any names – in the current entertainment landscape, there are quite a few people who are hosts who perhaps should… try something else,” Katya says. “Their skillset is just not in that arena.”
“When you’re a host, you’ve got to listen to somebody. And you have to listen to the whole sentence. When you’re talking to someone, and you can see behind their eyes that you’re just waiting for you to finish whatever the fuck you’re saying so they can chime in with their – perhaps non-sequitir – comment, it’s like…” she trails off, groaning.
“That didn’t happen on the Grindr podcast!” she quickly adds. “But just in general – that is just… ugh. It’s hard, sometimes. Sometimes it can feel like you’re the dentist and you’ve got to pull a bunch of teeth, with no laughing gas.”
Katya recalls: “There’ve been very few times [outside of Who’s The Asshole?] when that’s happened, and it’s just a bummer, you know? Because when you’re creating something in the moment, or you’re filming something, it’s like, ‘well we’re not going to use this because who would ever want to watch or listen to this?’.”
Fortunately, Grindr has selected a line-up of guests for Who’s The Asshole? which Katya describes as “consistently, at the very least, nice, mostly wonderful and often incredible”.
As well as an audio podcast, Who’s The Asshole? is also available to watch as a video series on YouTube, with Katya fronting each episode out of drag – surely an endorsement of her skills as a host that Grindr cared more about having her present than have anyone else in drag.
“We’ll go with that as the official word,” she jokes. “But there’s not enough aircon in the world for me to get through a whole day [of filming] in drag.
“My interview skills would be severely compromised if I had to spend 30 to 40% of my brain power worrying about, ‘do I look like crap?’, ‘am I sweating?’, ‘oh my god, I’m worried about my hair…’.”
This way, she says, she “can just show in my little wiglet, put a little powder on and hit it”.
It should be noted that this is the moment, Katya throws on the wig she’s been cleaning since the start of our interview (“I won’t take up all your time with the wig because we’ve got business to do,” she says, modelling. “But this is my Targaryen fantasy”.)
“As fierce as drag is, let me tell you, it feels like a palliative care situation,” she continues, before correcting herself: “No, no, no. Sorry. That would have morphine. Drag feels like you’re in a Saw movie. Like you’re in a Saw trap.
“And if you want to do eight hours of that, good luck. But they’d have to pay me about $3.5 million a minute. No, I’m just kidding…”
Katya’s break-out moment on Drag Race season seven came not just at a turning point for the reality show, but the artform of drag more generally.
While RuPaul famously once declared that drag could “never be mainstream”, it came impressively close in the 2010s. Just a couple of years after season seven, queens were popping up on major red carpets like the VMAs, Grammys and Met Gala.
Drag Race alum were becoming celebrities in their own right, landing roles on primetime shows and popping up on Broadway. Before long, Ru came out with another quote: “Earlier this year I was quoted saying I’d rather have an enema than an Emmy. But thanks to the Television Academy, I can have both!”
Unfortunately, the pendulum soon began swinging in the opposite direction, and in the 2020s, a conservative backlash became steadily louder, with queerphobic rhetoric and legisalation, much of it aimed at drag queens, becoming infuriatingly commonplace.
“Without getting too dark,” Katya says. “Listen, I don’t know any drag queens on that list.” She pauses. “The Epstein list,” she clarifies. “Not Craigslist. Or Angie’s List.
“I don’t think there’s a single [drag queen] that’s gone to that island. And yet, just months and years ago, we were the ones who were considered to be groomers? Give me a break!”
“Look at the person pointing the finger and shouting, because they need to look in the mirror,” she continues. “And voilà. That’s what happened.”
As for the fear felt by many queer people around the world in the current political climate, Katya laments that this is more than justified.
“Be very afraid!” she warns. “Be afraid – and also get engaged, because it’s becoming very clear that the people in power, not just here [in the United States] but around the world, are so greedy, so psychotic, and so selfish that they are going to stop at nothing to make this bizarre world the way that they want it.
“We’re all going to suffer, and we are suffering. Gay, straight, whatever…”
“Jesus Christ,” she sighs. “I don’t have any advice.”
Besides? “Watch Democracy Now?” And? “Wear a funky hat?”
Katya is the host of the Grindr podcast Who’s The Asshole?, which is now back for its fourth season.
The Pentagon is apparently going to war against press photographers who take “unflattering” photos of Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth.
According to The Washington Post, the Defence Department blocked some press photographers from attending briefings about the ongoing war with Iran because Hegseth’s staffers found them “unflattering.”
The ban was instituted after a briefing on March 2 that marked Hegseth’s first appearance in the briefing room since June 2025. Photographers from several outlets, including Reuters, Getty and The Associated Press, attended the briefing with Hegseth and Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman General Dan Caine.
After photos from the briefing were published, some of Hegseth’s staff members were reportedly miffed at how Hegseth looked in the pics. It is unclear whether Hegseth’s aides were bugged by a single photo or several, but some photographers were shut out of subsequent briefings on March 4 and 10. Only Defence Department staff photographers have been permitted into briefings since then.
Pentagon press secretary Kingsley Wilson said in a statement to the Post that the DoD was attempting to “use space in the Pentagon Briefing Room effectively” by allowing “one representative per news outlet if uncredentialed, excluding pool.”
“Photographs from the briefings are immediately released online for the public and press to use,” Wilson added. “If that hurts the business model for certain news outlets, then they should consider applying for a Pentagon press credential.”
The Defence Department’s relationship with the media has become notably more contentious under Hegseth, according to The Associated Press. Many mainstream news organisations have left their desks at the Pentagon because they refused to accept new rules enacted by the Trump administration that restrict journalists’ movements and the people they can talk to.
HuffPost reached out to the Defensc Department, asking for clarity on the photo policy and the criteria used to determine whether a photo makes Hegseth look bad. No one immediately responded.
Art is subjective, but here are some Hegseth pics that might qualify for the “unflattering” designation:
Roberto Schmidt via Getty Images
Andrew Harnik/Pool via AP
Julia Demaree Nikhinson via AP
This article features advice from Emma Cullinan, a BACP accredited psychotherapist based in London.
No parent wants to think of their child as a bully – but the reality is, kids can be pretty mean. And sometimes, especially when peer pressure is involved, young people who wouldn’t usually behave that way can get swept up with the tide.
One parent recently shared on Reddit that they were in disagreement with their husband about how to respond, after they found out their son had been “acting like a jerk”.
The 16-year-old had been on a school trip with friends where he shared a room with three other boys – two of which he’s close to, and one who is more of a peripheral school pal (who the parent referred to as ‘John’ for the sake of the story).
“My son got home from the trip and when I gave him and the other 2 boys a ride home from school, the car conversation was how annoying John was, how funny it was the pranks they pulled on him, how funny it was how mad he got, how much John now hates them, etc,” explained the parent.
“Sounded like John had a crappy time because of his roommates. My son was quiet in the car other than agreeing John was ‘so annoying’, but it was 100% clear he joined in.”
After relaying the story to their husband, the couple agreed that their son “was a jerk” if what they heard was true – but they couldn’t seem to agree on how was best to handle it.
OP (original poster) wanted to have a calm talk with their son, whereas their husband wanted to “yell at him and shame him in his actions, punish him severely (no hanging out this weekend), [and] force him to apologise to John”.
How should they handle it?
Emma Cullinan, a BACP accredited psychotherapist based in London, suggests parents in this position – or a similar one – need to understand what lies behind their teen’s behaviour.
She recommends approaching with curiosity rather than judgement or an attack. “Ask them what is happening for them and why they felt the need to do this,” she says.
“They may not understand themselves (their cognitive self-reflection is still in its early stages) so it may be a case of you both working through why they might have behaved in this way.
“For instance, if they felt jealous of the other person or if they feel that they can boost their own sense of self through taking down another person, they need to be made aware of this.
“Then you can talk through how else they might deal with feelings of jealousy or lack of confidence in a more constructive way.”
Peer pressure can play a big role in why teens behave this way
Another key factor behind their behaviour may have been peer pressure – and the threat of being iced out from the group.
“Peer pressure is huge for teens. When we are young our primary attachment is naturally to our parents (or adults who are bringing us up) but in our teens this switches to our peer group,” says Cullinan.
“Being part of group is a way to practice social skills and learn how to develop supportive relationships. But naturally other teens are also learning and they can be erratic and unkind so negotiating how to belong to the group is fraught with conundrums.”
Consider the potential threat of being ostracised or iced out by a group of friends – “being part of a group can feel like such a matter of life or death for a teen, that they can behave in unethical ways just to belong,” adds the therapist.
“This then leaves them feeling at odds with who they actually want to be – at a time when they are learning who they are.”
What’s more, when the rest of the group starts ostracising another person, “everyone in the group is relieved that it is not them and, if preventing also being ostracised means having to go along with excluding someone, people often do that, even if they feel terrible about it,” says the therapist.
“It sounds as if this is what happened with the 16-year-old in this case. He was torn.”
Help them figure out how to behave next time
Having a conversation with teens about their behaviour – and what drove it – can help lead you onto solutions regarding what they could say/do next time.
“Talk to your child about ways in which they can verbally become objective about the situation, rather than confronting someone head on,” says Cullinan.
“They could say: ‘What are you doing?’ Or ‘Are you OK?’ Or ‘Ouch.’ In this way, they are naming what is happening and commenting on the situation in a factual way, and calling out the behaviour, rather than engaging with it,” she explains.
“If you state facts about what is happening, it is harder for the other person to challenge it.”
Does taking away privileges work?
Just as therapists don’t really advise taking away toys or privileges as a way to teach a lesson to younger children, the same goes for teens.
“Taking away privileges aims to train someone through punishment, but learning through fear of consequences will do nothing to aid the growth of a child who is already dealing with complicated feelings, such as shame and guilt. It just adds another difficult emotion into the mix,” says Cullinan.
“Also, it could inadvertently teach them that communicating in a punishing way is OK, which takes them back into the realm of bullying behaviour. Instead, you want to try and model good communication and relationships.”
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