menu_open
Emma Brockes

Emma Brockes

The Guardian

We use cookies to provide some features and experiences in QOSHE

More information  .  Close

Elizabeth Holmes’ big con deserved prison time – so why do I feel sorry for her?

I t is an image that, for any number of vilified public figures, is supposed to offer the audience a measure of closure: a version of the perp walk...

latest 5

The Guardian

Emma Brockes

What’s the use of $800m, Bryan Johnson, if you dine on baby food?

T here are a lot of details to enjoy in the story of Bryan Johnson, the middle-aged almost-billionaire spending $2m (£1.6m) a year pursuing eternal...

25.05.2023 7

The Guardian

Emma Brockes

I took my kids to the playground without bringing my phone – and it was a revelation

I t is a truism of parenting that it goes so fast, but as anyone who has been forced to sit on a bench and watch their children run tireless circuits...

17.05.2023 4

The Guardian

Emma Brockes

Do I feel the burn after going to the gym? No, I feel like going to bed. But it’s getting better

It’s spring in New York, and the trees are vibrantly green – which can mean only one thing: time for my annual week-long obsession with exercise....

11.05.2023 7

The Guardian

Emma Brockes

The coronation has reminded Americans: there are people more eccentric than you are

O ne of the more startling aspects of living abroad is adjusting to the reduced importance of things considered very important back home. I remember...

04.05.2023 30

The Guardian

Emma Brockes

The terrible truth about the sacking of Tucker Carlson: someone just as odious will replace him

I t is a truism of the US news industry that no one is bigger than the network itself, an insight that Donald Trump – binned by Rupert Murdoch last...

27.04.2023 50

The Guardian

Emma Brockes

Jobseekers call Jim, but is he the man for the job?

20.04.2023 7

The Guardian

Emma Brockes

#MeToo hasn’t always made for great art – but now there’s Jodie Comer’s Prima Facie

I t comes around intermittently every few years; a show on Broadway that reminds us why theatre beats every other medium hands down and almost...

20.04.2023 80

The Guardian

Emma Brockes

Guardian Opinion cartoon Steve Bell on Joe Biden’s visit to Northern Ireland — cartoon

12.04.2023 4

The Guardian

Emma Brockes

The BBC gazed into the yawning chasm of Elon Musk’s sense of humour – and didn’t find much to envy

I t is wrong to enjoy the pain of others, unless that person is Elon Musk and the pain is about his purchase of Twitter. In an interview with the BBC...

12.04.2023 4

The Guardian

Emma Brockes

The big surprise when the Trump circus came back to town? How boring he has become

I t is a mark of Donald Trump’s enduring grip on our nightmares that in the run-up to his court appearance on Tuesday the dominant conversational...

06.04.2023 60

The Guardian

Emma Brockes

A three-year cruise sounds like a costly, sweaty nightmare. But then you start doing the maths …

I t is a juvenile but bankable way to pass time and lift one’s spirits without too much exertion: I’m talking about identifying ways in which the...

30.03.2023 50

The Guardian

Emma Brockes

Trump in handcuffs: it’s a sight I’ve longed to see. The trouble is, that’s what he wants, too

O f all the accusations and lawsuits that have swirled around Donald Trump, it’s not the one many of us thought would bring the man down. Trump has...

22.03.2023 3

The Guardian

Emma Brockes

My kids may have outgrown the cartoon Bluey, but I haven’t

F or British people of a certain generation (mine), it may be the Australian accents that soothe us into a state of pure happiness. It may be the...

16.03.2023 30

The Guardian

Emma Brockes

Airbnb was wild, disruptive and cheap: we loved it. But it wasn’t a love strong enough to last

I n the US, the canary in the coalmine may turn out to have been the Super Bowl last month, when the confluence of the biggest game in American...

08.03.2023 100

The Guardian

Emma Brockes

Alex Murdaugh may or may not be a murderer – but he shines a true light on privilege in the US

T here have been bigger trials with splashier consequences, but for pure drama – and a window on the way entrenched privilege works in the US south...

02.03.2023 9

The Guardian

Emma Brockes

Uber Eats is begging me to come back – but I’m out there in the real world, supermarket shopping

T here’s a pathetic but satisfying thing that occurs when you stop using an online service you’re used to frequenting. This was Facebook a few...

16.02.2023 40

The Guardian

Emma Brockes

Hooked on a feeling: why do certain songs go round and round – and round – our heads?

Streaming of Linda Ronstadt’s Long Long Time rose by 4,900% the day after it featured on The Last of Us. It wasn’t all because of me, says...

09.02.2023 10

The Guardian

Emma Brockes

George Santos’s lies are so big you almost have to admire them

The New York congressman’s increasingly wild claims have all the thrill-seeking of a man running across a football field naked, says Guardian...

02.02.2023 20

The Guardian

Emma Brockes

I tell my children real stories, not fairytales. Should I worry about their love of true crime?

They listen to adult stories – I just hope it doesn’t rob them of a playful aspect of childhood, says Guardian columnist Emma Brockes

30.01.2023 20

The Guardian

Emma Brockes

All hail the fearless and funny Jennifer Coolidge – and the glorious art of not giving a damn

In a wonderful, rambling speech upon her Golden Globe win, she dared to speak of failure, says Guardian columnist Emma Brockes

20.01.2023 20

The Guardian

Emma Brockes

Poor Harry: even Americans are getting bored with his tell-all tour

Watching Harry do the rounds of US chat shows, I felt pity for the man who will never be more than a sideshow here, says Guardian columnist Emma...

12.01.2023 60

The Guardian

Emma Brockes

Life in Happy Valley is grim – but there’s nowhere I’d rather spend January

Sally Wainwright’s stupendous series is back, and better than ever, says Guardian columnist Emma Brockes

05.01.2023 10

The Guardian

Emma Brockes

Child-centred parenting may be in vogue – but does it work when your child kicks off?

The concept of less shouting and more validation sounds delightful until a minute before we have to leave for school, says Guardian columnist Emma...

23.12.2022 50

The Guardian

Emma Brockes

More couples are embracing living apart together – what’s not to like?

For many women, the pandemic deepened the gendered division of labour and they simply had enough, says Guardian columnist Emma Brockes

15.12.2022 30

The Guardian

Emma Brockes

If the White Lotus is supposed to be a hate-watch, why am I enjoying it so much?

The only thing more fun than tuning into the HBO show is debating which character you currently detest most, says Guardian columnist Emma Brockes

08.12.2022 9

The Guardian

Emma Brockes

I am grateful to Trump for one thing: mainstreaming ‘gaslighting’

It’s the word of the year, according to one dictionary publisher, and after 84 years it deserves its spot in the limelight, says Guardian columnist...

01.12.2022 100

The Guardian

Emma Brockes

My US hellscape or broken Britain: where would you rather seek healthcare?

It’s insurance renewal time again – when I discuss cover in New York, hear tales of NHS woe in the UK, and wonder which is worse, says Guardian...

28.11.2022 10

The Guardian

Emma Brockes

3f7c8408adea54743e38dcb6889f886c