Six great reads: tradwives v radwives, hollowed-out London and the last musical genius?

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1. These evangelical men saved sex for marriage – they weren’t well prepared
A Guardian illustration of a couple embracing in a stained glass window Illustration: Simone Noroha/The Guardian
“Like many people, reaching the age of 40 inspired Matt to do some self-reflection. He had achieved many hallmarks of adulthood: a college degree, a career he enjoyed, and two beloved dogs. But he’d never had a relationship, or even a sexual partner.”

Scores of Christian men in the United States have been raised on ideas of abstinence and “purity” – what, asked Jessica Bateman, does that mean for their sex lives later on?
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2. ‘The city is being hollowed out’: the billionaire landlord locked in a David v Goliath battle for London’s West End
The board of the Prince Charles Cinema says ‘Damn the man, save the PCC’. Photograph: Tim P Whitby/Getty Images
The Prince Charles Cinema is beloved by film-lovers and counts the like of Christopher Nolan as a fan. But its future is at risk due to a David v Goliath battle with its billionaire owner. Writes Will Coldwell: “To many, what was happening to the Prince Charles Cinema was about something bigger than a negotiation over rent. It was about the persistent threat of closure that so many cultural and community spaces in London face, the impact of rampant commercialism on the city’s cultural diversity, and the seemingly unchecked power that developers wield.”
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3. Brian Wilson was a musical genius. Are there any left?
The Beach Boys in London in November 1964 (from left) Brian Wilson, Carl Wilson, Mike Love, Al Jardine and Dennis Wilson. Photograph: Pictorial Press Ltd/Alamy
In pop, which equates genius with innovation, recent artists have not pioneered new forms like those from the 60s. Has, asks Rachel Areosti, the digital age sidelined invention and promoted the derivative for ever?
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4. The shorter man’s search for love: ‘One woman cried when I told her how tall I am’
A Guardian illustration of a shorter man standing on tiptoes to embrace a taller woman. Composite: Guardian Design; Prathamesh Dixit/Getty Images
“Height is often seen as a dealbreaker when it comes to romance, particularly within heterosexual relationships. But when Tinder recently said that it was trialling a feature that allows some premium users to filter potential matches by height, it quickly proved controversial. “Oh God. They added a height filter,” lamented one Reddit thread, while an X user claimed: ‘It’s over for short men.’”
What is behind the ‘6ft fixation’ in dating – and could it be scuppering the chance of true connection? Leah Harper set out to find out.
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5. ‘You can’t wear gold without diamonds!’ Hip-hop legend Slick Rick on bling, British roots and his 26-year break
Slick Rick in the early 1970s. Photograph: Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images
Slick Rick, writes Alexis Petridis, “remains the rapper’s rapper, the most-sampled hip-hop artist in history”. In this brilliant interview the British-born artists explains why it’s been more than quarter of a century since his last album and why he was inspired by the production techniques of Alvin and the Chipmunks.
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6. Forget the tradwife, meet the radwife: abandoning perfection in favour of ‘good enough’ parenting
Morwenna Ferrier juggling a phone call, work laptop, coffee and bike helmet. Photograph: Kellie French/The Guardian
“For the uninitiated: the tradwife is a married woman, usually conservative and/or Christian, usually white (though not always), of the belief that her place is in the home. She is feminine, usually kempt, often dressed like Betty Draper, but increasingly workout gear in neutral tones too. Though at home, she is not a stay-at-home mother, rather someone who performs as if she is, documenting her life in dizzying, up-close fashion for us to wonder: who’s doing the potty training?”
Morwenna Ferrier isn’t, she writes, the first wrung-out mother to take umbrage with this sort of performance. But, as the cost of living crisis squeezes, the fantasy of escaping into being a wife and mother becomes more vivid and, for realistic mothers whose life is a delicate balance between task and failure, app-reliance and guilt, maybe we should lean in to the term “radwife”.
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