TheatreReviewYoung Vic, London Stephen Adly Guirgis’s play has vivid dialogue, a powerful setting and strong performances, but what is it actually saying? This prison drama by Stephen Adly Guirgis was first seen in a production by Philip Seymour Hoffman at London’s Donmar in 2002. Kate Hewitt’s revival is more than a match for its predecessor but, for all the vividness of the dialogue, the play still strikes me as baffling in its exploration of guilt, faith and redemption.

The ObserverRegina SpektorInterviewRegina Spektor: ‘Songs are my byproduct in this world. I leave a trail of them’Dorian LynskeyOn the release of her eighth album, the Russian-born singer-songwriter talks about making music amid children and Covid –and why stories are the best vehicle for emotional truth It is tempting, when speaking to Regina Spektor, to just get out of the way, because she is such a joyful talker. I ask a simple question about, say, songwriting and I’m redundant for the next several minutes while she spirals off into a great conversational aria of anecdotes, aphorisms, metaphors, theories and jokes, at the end of which she apologises for not answering the question when in fact she’s answered not only that one but half a dozen that I haven’t asked yet.

FarmingAnalysisRise of mega farms: how the US model of intensive farming is invading the worldFiona Harvey, Andrew Wasley, Madlen Davies and David ChildDemand for cheaper food and lower production costs is turning green fields into industrial sheds to process vast amounts of meat and poultry UK has nearly 800 livestock mega farms, investigation reveals Since the days of the wild west frontier, the popular image of American farming has been of cowboys rounding up steers on wide open ranches, to whoops, whips and hollers.

Cif beliefStephen HawkingInterviewStephen Hawking: 'There is no heaven; it's a fairy story'Ian Sample, science correspondentIn an exclusive interview with the Guardian, the cosmologist shares his thoughts on death, M-theory, human purpose and our chance existenceThe belief that heaven or an afterlife awaits us is a "fairy story" for people afraid of death, Stephen Hawking has said. In a dismissal that underlines his firm rejection of religious comforts, Britain's most eminent scientist said there was nothing beyond the moment when the brain flickers for the final time.

Drugs This article is more than 6 years oldStudy finds mushrooms are the safest recreational drugThis article is more than 6 years oldPeople taking mushrooms in 2016 needed medical treatment less than for MDMA, LSD and cocaine, while one of the riskiest drugs was synthetic cannabis Mushrooms are the safest of all the drugs people take recreationally, according to this year’s Global Drug Survey. Of the more than 12,000 people who reported taking psilocybin hallucinogenic mushrooms in 2016, just 0.