This week on the Podcast, Beth, Ruchira and Oenone discuss the devastating news that broke last week, that One Direction singer Liam Payne had died unexpectedly and tragically at the age of 31 in Argentina. We think most people have felt this is quite seismic, and wanted to look at how the coverage of this has seemed and felt so far, both in the papers and on social media. Is it time for there to be a reckoning with how we deal with celebrity death? You can skip to roughly 37 minutes if you want to skip this section.

As a pop culture podcast we also had to cover this week's lighter stories, including the show of the moment we're all tuning in for, the BONKBUSTER that is Rivals. If you’re looking for a rollicking good romp in Rutshire, then look no further, Jilly Cooper’s 1988 novel has been adapted into a TV series, now streaming on Disney plus.

And lastly, Daniel Felsenthal wrote a piece for The Guardian titled ‘I’m 33 and my husband is 77 - this is why I only sleep with older men”, is the age-gap discourse ever going to be put to bed?

Penguin - Love in Exile by Shon Faye

The Guardian - The Apprentice

The Guardian- Slow Horses

Dazed - Liam Payne and our grim cultural obsession with celebrity deaths

New Statesman - Liam Payne was a victim of the pop pin-up machine

NBC - 1D fans condemn online harassment of Maya Henry

Cheryl Cole Instagram

Telegraph - Rivals Review

The Guardian - Rivals Review

The Guardian - I'm 33 and my husband is 77

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