What’s the Score?

Posted by Speakeasy News > Monday 28 June 2021 > Celebrate

Tennis has a very idiosyncratic scoring system, and no one is sure why. Most sports count points by ones. But in a game of tennis, the players don’t start at zero, they start at “love”. If one player then scores, they have 15. The next score is 30, so you would probably expect the following … Continue reading “What’s the Score?”

Marcus Rashford: Football Against Food Poverty

Posted by Speakeasy News > Friday 25 June 2021 > In the News

England’s football players have been taking the knee at Euro 2020 to protest against racism but one in particular has been standing up for Britain’s poorest children. Manchester United forward Marcus Rashford has been campaigning for the astonishing 20% of English* children who qualify for free school meals, one of the indicators of poverty in … Continue reading “Marcus Rashford: Football Against Food Poverty”

Musical New York Taken to New Heights

Posted by Speakeasy News > Thursday 24 June 2021 > What's On

A musical about Latino communities in New York – it’s not Steven Spielberg’s long-awaited remake of West Side Story but In the Heights – by Hamilton creator Lin Manuel Miranda. It’s all singing, rapping and dancing and screams “summer”! It’s a feelgood story about a Manhattan neighbourhood threatened with gentrification, and the aspirations of the … Continue reading “Musical New York Taken to New Heights”

Mount Recyclemore

Posted by Speakeasy News > Friday 11 June 2021 > In the News

This giant sculpture has been installed as a message to the G7 leaders meeting for a summit in Cornwall, England. It’s made entirely of electronic waste and is designed to draw attention to the environmental problems caused by the 53 million tonnes of phones, tablets, computers and other electronic devices discarded every year. The sculpture, … Continue reading “Mount Recyclemore”

Euro 2020 in Six Questions

Posted by Speakeasy News > Thursday 10 June 2021 > Celebrate

A quick rundown on Euro 2020 in six essential questions. When? 11 June to 11 July 2021. Where? In 11 cities around Europe: Amsterdam (Netherlands), Baku (Azerbaijan), Bilbao (Spain), Bucharest (Romania), Budapest (Hungary), Copenhagen (Denmark), Glasgow (Scotland), London (England), Munich (Germany), Rome (Italy), Saint Petersburg (Russia). The semi-finals and final will be at Wembley Stadium in … Continue reading “Euro 2020 in Six Questions”

On the Road: Nomadland

Posted by Speakeasy News > Wednesday 09 June 2021 > What's On

Nomadland is a fascinating insight to a largely invisible U.S. community: modern-day nomads not so far removed from the Depression-era migrant workers from John Steinbeck’s novels. Based on the non-fiction book Nomadland: Surviving America in the 21st Century by Jessica Bruder, it explores a diverse group of often elderly Americans who have decided to reduce … Continue reading “On the Road: Nomadland”

Raise the Flag

Posted by Speakeasy News > Wednesday 09 June 2021 > Celebrate

14 June every year is Flag Day in the United States. It commemorates the date in 1777 when the United States approved the design for its first national flag, a version of the familiar red, white and blue “Stars and Stripes” that survives today. On June 14, 1777, future President John Adams discussed the flag … Continue reading “Raise the Flag”

Trooping the Colour

Posted by Speakeasy News > Wednesday 09 June 2021 > Celebrate

Among many other special qualities, Queen Elizabeth II has two birthdays every year: the real one on 21 April (she was 95) and her official one on the second Saturday in June. That is marked by one of the great moments of British pageantry: the Trooping the Colour ceremony. Since 1748, the monarch’s official birthday … Continue reading “Trooping the Colour”