Drugs and alcohol do not make you more creative, research finds
Travel, meditation, training and exposure to culture have a greater effect on artistic output
December 2022
Top 10s
Top 10 books about hellraisers
The full facts about debauched lives do not make happy reading, but authors from Robert Louis Stevenson to Hunter S Thompson offer thrilling reading without concealing the cost
January 2022
Five Great Reads newsletter
Five Great Reads: on seeds, spontaneity and the love story behind Wordle
‘He was a handful’ – Hunter S Thompson’s PA and photographer relives her wild job
November 2020
On my radar
On my radar: Ralph Steadman's cultural highlights
The celebrated illustrator on BBC One’s The Repair Shop, swimming in lockdown, and liver and onions at his favourite Turkish restaurant
Men behaving badly: why cinema's great hellraisers were a breed apart
June 2019
Book of the day
Mescaline by Mike Jay review – a global history of the first psychedelic
From the ancient Andes to Aldous Huxley’s trousers – the uses and abuses of ‘fiendish cactus juice’
November 2018
Ralph Steadman: 'Trump is a lout. He's a godawful disgrace to humanity'
The outspoken gonzo illustrator talks about his friendship with Hunter S Thompson, his thoughts on the state of politics and shares an exclusive Brexit poem
October 2018
Tom Gauld's cultural cartoons
Tom Gauld on adjusted titles – cartoon
Great works, revived with Britons in mind
September 2018
'Hell and slander': Hunter S Thompson's letters to childhood friend to be sold
Correspondence cache records early adventures with Hell’s Angels and tracks the emergence of his signature gonzo style
October 2017
Shortcuts
Bacon and eggs for every meal: absurd diets of the rich and famous
Lucian Freud had breakfast at the same restaurant every morning for 15 years, Balzac drank up to 50 cups of coffee a day and Steve Jobs spent weeks at a time eating only apples and carrots
May 2017
Observer New Review Q&A
Jann Wenner: ‘Hunter S Thompson let his talent slip’
As Rolling Stone turns 50, its co-founder talks about working with the great American writers, interviewing John Lennon, and the magazine’s biggest mistake
April 2017
Books blog
From Atwood's assault to Pynchon's paper bag: the best author cameos
The Handmaid’s Tale author’s appearance in the TV version of her novel is only the latest in a surprisingly illustrious roll call of bookish bit parts
February 2017
Johnny Depp spent $3m blasting Hunter S Thompson's ashes from cannon, ex-managers claim
Counterclaim against Depp’s mismanagement suit alleges actor in ‘financial turmoil’, with catalogue of spending including $30,000 a month on wine
November 2016
Hunter S Thompson's widow wants to get you high on his personal supply
Anita Thompson says she has ‘found a legal method’ to extract DNA from six of the gonzo journalist’s personal strains of marijuana
August 2016
Antlers Hunter S Thompson stole from Hemingway's home returned to family
The late gonzo journalist ‘got caught up in the moment’ on a visit to his idol’s home, his widow explained, and had long planned to return them
March 2016
A brush with greatness
The night I spent drinking with Hunter S Thompson
Damien Walter's weird things
Transmetropolitan: the 90s comic that's bang up-to-date on Donald Trump
