Jo Caird is a freelance writer and editor, covering topics including culture, travel, lifestyle, science, parenting and beer. She writes for national newspapers, magazines and leading industry titles
Life lessons: Omid Djalili on what life so far has taught him
Life lessons: Omid Djalili on what life so far has taught him
The stand-up comedian and actor on being a bridge between east and west, improving his listening skills and harnessing anger for good
Omid Djalili is an award-winning Iranian-British stand-up comedian and actor, who has performed all over the world, as well as appearing in Hollywood movies such as Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again and Sex and the City 2. Recent acting roles include Bridget Christie’s husband in the acclaimed Channel 4 se...
Joro spider guide: what are they, do they bite and are they poisonous? Here's everything you need to know
The Joro spider has hit the headlines recently thanks to research that predicts its continued spread up the US east coast. Here’s everything you need to know about the species.
What are Joro spiders?
The Joro spider (Trichonephila clavate) is a large-bodied orbweaver native to east Asia. Females usually have a bright yellow abdomen and yellow-banded legs, while males are a non-descript brown colour.
How big are Joro spiders?
The body of a female Joro spider female measures 2.8cm long, with le...
Invasive Joro spiders are spreading up the US east coast. Experts reveal what to expect
It’s bad news for American arachnophobes, as a giant east Asian spider is predicted to significantly expand its range on the US east coast over the coming months and years.
The Joro spider (Trichonephila clavate), a large-bodied orbweaver that measures 2.8cm long, with yellow-banded legs, has been in the US since around 2010. It is thought to have arrived in a shipping container, a common route for invasive insect species.
World's most venomous spiders
Since being initially spotted in Georgia...
Cicadas are coming: scientists to bring singing bug back to Britain
Cicadas aren’t the easiest insects to study in the wild. For a start, they’re so well camouflaged as to be almost impossible to spot – locatable solely via their mating calls, some of which are inaudible to adult humans. The fact that cicada nymphs spend years (17 in one species!) living underground makes things even trickier. Reintroducing the UK’s only native cicada, as conservationists plan to do this summer, will therefore be quite the challenge.
The New Forest cicada, Cicadetta montana, ...
Life lessons: Joseph Coelho on what life so far has taught him
The current UK children’s laureate was born and raised in London and wrote his first poem – about a performing bear – while in year 8 at secondary school. Writing led to performance poetry and running creative workshops in schools. His debut poetry collection was published in 2014, followed by many critically acclaimed picture books, poetry anthologies and novel...
Angels in the house
Winged creatures, robed figures and celestial bodies are under threat in a rural church. Jo Caird speaks to the conservators working to save northern Europe’s most complete Romanesque wall paintings
Life lessons: Isabella Tree on what life so far has taught her
Writer and farmer Isabella Tree helped kickstart the rewilding revolution in Britain with the publication of her bestselling book 2018, Wilding: The Return of Nature to a British Farm. She has been working with her husband, the conservationist Charlie Burrell, to rewild Knepp, their 3,500-acre estate in Sussex.
Life lessons: Anna Whitehouse on what life so far has taught her
Anna Whitehouse, AKA Mother Pukka, is a journalist, radio presenter and bestselling author turned campaigner. Her Flex Appeal movement helped usher in UK government legislation giving workers more flexibility. It comes into force this week, meaning that – from 6 April – employees will be able to request flexible work...
The best forests and gardens in the UK to see spring flowers
After a long, cold winter, there’s nothing like the sight of a forest floor carpetted in bluebells, or a cherry tree in full bloom to put a spring in your step.
What begins with snowdrops and crocuses in early spring continues with the arrival of daffodils and blackthorn, followed by blue...
Volcanic diving in Tenerife’s dramatic seascape
Jo Caird explores the dramatic underwater landscape of Tenerife in the Canary Islands, with Photographs by Steve Pretty
Bright blue light filtered down through the hole in the ceiling. I switched my torch off and let myself be pulled gently to and fro by the swell, basking in the otherworldly glow inside the flooded lava tube. The site was El Tubo, a 150m-long tunnel through basalt rock a short zodiac ride from the village of Garachico on Tenerife’s northern coast.
There was too much swell to...
Can the dodo really be brought back from extinction?
The dodo, a large flightless bird endemic to the small Indian Ocean island of Mauritius, has been extinct since the 17th century. But this poster species for extinction is now one step closer to a return to its island home.
Ambitious plans to bring back the dodo were announced in January 2023, following the news that scientists at the Genomics Institute at the University of California, Santa Cruz had sequenced the dodo’s genome from a DNA sample taken from a museum specimen.
Now Colossal Bios...
Our traditions
His eyes are often wonky, his belly misshaped and his legs bowed. Sometimes his outfit features elaborate detail, and other times it looks as though he may have no outfit at all. But, no matter what shape or size he might come in, nothing gets us in the mood for the holiday season more than the smell of Grittibänz being baked in kitchens across Zurich.
These little bread people, made with sweet dough, have been a traditional part of a Swiss Advent for as long as anyone can remember. At the Lo...
‘We’ve had untold support’: how farmers are getting creative with tree-planting
Tree-planting rates in the UK are lagging against government targets, but ambitions remain high. One way to boost figures is to team up with farmers to diversify their land, but what’s the smartest way to do this? We speak to landowners and experts to find out
Forest creation is a slow business. “You plant the trees,” says Leicestershire farmer James Ludlum, “but it’s five years before you’ve realised that you...
Yada: the only completely alcohol-free bar in Derby
By this point of a new year many of us will be reflecting on new year’s resolutions which have turned out to be a roaring success or, alas, fallen by the wayside.
As far as short-term resolutions go, the ‘Dry January’ campaign, which started in 2013, remains popular, as people refrain from alcohol for the first month of the year, perhaps to offset one too many festive sherries!
However, for some, abstaining from alcohol – or reducing the amount they drink – is more of a long-term positive lif...
How to Become an Actor: Starting Your Career
So you want to become an actor? Congratulations! It’s an exciting and rewarding profession with the potential to take you to new places, meet countless new people, and maybe even become a respected household name.
Join StarNow to access jobs you can apply to right now!
The good news is that there are almost as many routes to becoming an actor as there are actors, with each individual finding their own particular way to a career on the stage, screen, airwaves, or a combination of all three.
Th...