About this issue: Overview
Smoke and mirrors Viggo Mortensen may have cinema clout but it almost counted for nothing when it came to making his directorial debut. The Madrid-based renaissance man tells Simon Bland about the powerful emotions that were released when he did finally get behind the camera.
Covid is not the biggest crisis in women’s prisons The predicted wave of deaths among prisoners thankfully didn’t happen, but the pandemic has increased mental health problems and self-harm – particularly for women, reports Jessica Brown.
Sofa so good She runs a multimillion pound company, has the TV networks quaking in their boots and lives in a mansion. But the rags to riches story of super-agent Melanie Blake also includes a father who joined a religious cult, a spell living in an Oldham squat and a brush with homelessness. She chats to Susan Griffin.
Plus
News, arts and entertainment, Kay Mellor’s letter to her younger self, columnist Saskia Murphy, crossword, Sudoku and more.