‘I’ve got a spreadsheet of celebrities who don’t have kids’

The Independent’s entertainment newsletter [SUBSCRIBE]( [SUBSCRIBE]( August 19, 2023 [View in browser](   We all thought Taylor Swift was Red, but [maybe she’s actually blue](. At least, she’s got a few fans in the Conservative party, with Rishi Sunak seemingly being outed as a “Swiftie” this week. Not only did he allegedly attend one of her concerts while over in California, but he’s also apparently done a “Shake It Off” spin class. Can he match his predecessor Liz Truss, though, and nab a selfie with her? In response to the news, [Ed Power looked at why politicians and pop stars never mix](. There was sad news this week: we lost once-in-a-generation interviewer Michael Parkinson, [who died at the age of 88](. Martin Chilton describes his "relaxed charm and Yorkshire brogue" [in his tribute](, and how Parky used these qualities to get some of the world's biggest superstars to open up. Is the PM a 'Swiftie'? (iStock/Getty) Elsewhere this week, [Louis Chilton asks](, “Don’t you hate it when a song gets stuck in your head? And don’t you hate it even more when it’s a song that’s been adopted by tragic reactionaries as a call-to-action protest anthem?” He’s talking about “Rich Men North of Richmond”, which has become a viral call-to-arms hit with the American right. The country lament by previously unknown singer Oliver Anthony calls out politicians, “welfare cheats” and the obese, and it’s racking up millions of hits on YouTube. In his great piece, Louis [asks if the song is really as much of a protest as it seems](. I’m with Chris Harvey on [re-watching films like Yesterday]( over and over again, instead of acclaimed movies like Tár. I’m loading up the About Time re-watch right now. I loved Sarah Crompton's chat with stand-up Janine Harouni, who is [doing the Edinburgh Fringe while eight-and-a-half months pregnant](. Helen Brown’s [brilliant interview with YA author Holly Jackson]( comes rubber-stamped by her daughter, Pearl. There’s a [breakout star in At Home with the Furys]( – and it’s not boxing champion Tyson. Roisin O’Connor[talked to Irish singer Hozier](, and Nick Duerden spoke to brilliant but not-so-prolific essayist [Jo Ann Beard about why she writes at a snail’s pace](. And don’t miss Robert McCrum’s excellent piece on Anna Funder’s Wifedom, the book everyone is talking about. Part biography, part detective story, it suggests[we can never look at Nineteen Eighty-Four author George Orwell the same way again](. Jessie [@jessiecath](   What to do this weekend Books | [Penance by Eliza Clark]( The latest novel from Newcastle writer Eliza Clark is a fascinating, harrowing dissection of the voyeurism of true crime. Three teenage girls murder a schoolmate (in incredibly gory fashion) on the night of the Brexit vote, and it's only years later that all manner of online sleuths and podcasters start to pick up the story. Clark was on the Granta Young British Novelists list earlier this year, and Penance is a more muscular follow-up to her sleeper hit debut Boy Parts. Jessie Thompson | Arts editor [@jessiecath](   TV | [From]( If you're a fan of mystery shows, then From is sure to be your next obsession – although be warned: it'll help if you enjoy being frightened. The series follows residents of a town who, no matter how hard they try, are unable to leave. Think Twin Peaks meets Lost... only much gorier. Jacob Stolworthy | Chief culture reporter   Music | [All Points East]( If the litmus test of a good festival is it’s versatility then All Points East ranks among the greatest. Spread across two weekends (this one and the next) at Victoria Park, the event welcomes heavy-hitters that include London’s finest, from Croydon rapper Stormzy to shabby-suave Noughties rockers The Strokes. Elsewhere on the billing: award-winning junglist Nia Archives, California sister trio HAIM and “as heard on TikTok” rising star Lizzy McAlpine. Now all we need is some sunshine. Annabel Nugent | Features writer   TV | [Only Murders in the Building]( Currently streaming on Disney+, the third season of cutesy homicide comedy Only Murders in the Building has arrived with a bang – that bang being Meryl Streep. Joining a cast already brimming with stars (including Steve Martin, Martin Short, Selena Gomez and Paul Rudd), Streep plays a struggling thespian (ha!) suspected of offing Rudd’s diva actor. As Martin, Short and Gomez investigate, the show continues to evolve into a gentle meditation on age and loneliness in the big city. Nothing on TV quite nails Only Murders’ sweet, glitzy melancholy. Adam White | Features editor   Comedy | [Janine Harouni]( Performing a full month at Edinburgh Fringe is enough of a feat, without doing it eight and a half month's pregnant. But that's exactly what New York stand-up Janine Harouni is doing. She [spoke to Sarah Crompton this week]( about her incredible stint on stage as she counts down to her baby's arrival. Jessie Thompson | Arts editor     [The Saturday Interview – Rose Matafeo]( [Oscars image]( The third series of Rose Matafeo's 'Starstruck' returns to BBC this month This week,[Isobel Lewis talks to the hilarious Edinburgh Comedy Award winner Rose Matafeo]( about the third series of her rom-com series Starstruck, her interest in "political" humour, and her frustrations when critics focus on her body image. Rose Matafeo and Nish Kumar in 'Starstruck' (BBC) Read an extract from our Saturday Interview below… Born in New Zealand to a Samoan father and Scottish-Croatian mother, Matafeo has marked her place on the British comedy circuit with this trademark mix of energy and honesty. The same candidness that won her the Edinburgh Comedy Award with her 2018 show Horndog – making her, somewhat depressingly, the first person of colour and fifth woman to win in its 42-year history – permeates over Zoom. Dressed in a black T-shirt, she is enthusiastic and thoughtful, often prone to interrupting herself to go off on tangents. It’s a trait only exacerbated when she realises mid-way through our conversation that she’s lost her laptop charger. We continue our chat as Matafeo bounces from room to room, scrambling through bags and checking plugs all while clutching the computer below her chin. “I’m so sorry you’re watching all this happen,” she says. In the end, she gives up and collapses onto her sofa. She probably has enough charge left. “There’s a lot of art around that feels like student work,” he says. “Like it hasn’t occurred to the artist that anyone else might have thought that climate change is a bad thing.” With cancel culture making us all ever more desperate not to offend, Perry’s frankness is refreshing, whether he’s dismissing “upper middle intellectuals who are dead from the neck downwards” or young climate-conscious artists who are already “behind the times, mate”. [Read the full interview here]( Enjoy a year of unlimited digital access for just £99 £20 ✓ Full access to Premium news analysis ✓ Advert-free reading across web and app ✓ The Independent Daily Edition newspaper ✓ Puzzles, virtual event tickets and more [SUBSCRIBE NOW]( [INDYBEST]( / [BEST BUYS]( [Watch AppleTV+’s new horror series The Changeling in the UK]( The haunting drama coming to [AppleTV+]( is based on Victor LaValle’s best-selling [book]( of the same name [Full details]( Trending: [18 best new summer books](       OTHER NEWSLETTERS YOU MIGHT LIKE [Climate News]( Climate News Weekly Written by Louise Boyle [Join now]( [Simon Calder's Travel Week]( Simon Calder’s Travel Week Twice a week Written by Simon Calder [Join now]( [Climate News] Climate News Weekly Written by Louise Boyle [Join now]( [Simon Calder's Travel Week] Simon Calder's Travel Week Twice a week Written by Simon Calder [Join now](   The Independent proudly partners with [Refuge]( and the [National Domestic Abuse Helpline](: 0808 2000 247 If you can spare a minute we’d love your [feedback]( on our newsletters. 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