Imagine a world where dreary work days end in glitter and champagne, where a morning stroll can snowball into shootings and social unrest, and where sex and drugs run as wild as political intrigue. Welcome to the Weimar Republic, the setting for my — and soon yours — latest Netflix obsession, Babylon Berlin.

Set in 1929, Babylon Berlin centres around Inspector Gereon Rath (Volker Bruch, your new Netflix bae), a police officer recently arrived from his hometown of Cologne to join the Vice squad in Germany's capital. But what appears to be a straightforward assignment takes a series of strange turns that lead Rath and his partner, Bruno Wolter (Peter Kurth), to investigate a mystery that will take them from underground S&M porn dens all the way to the top tiers of power.

Along for the ride is Charlotte Ritter (Liv Lisa Fries), an hourly clerical worker at police headquarters who moonlights as a dominatrix in one of the city's most exclusive clubs to escape her bleak home life in a dank and dirty tenement. (Confused about who's who? Follow along with our character guide.)

The weirdly permissive 15-year blip in history between the end of World War I and Hitler's election as Chancellor of Germany in 1933, known as the Weimar Republic, is such a perfect backdrop for an expensive binge-worthy show that I'm shocked we haven't seen it before. (Based on the crime novels by Volker Kutscher, it's reportedly the most expensive German TV show ever produced, and it shows.) And that's part of the appeal of this series — save for Cabaret, and a couple of scenes in Transparent, that brief, but distinct historical timeframe is almost unknown to most Americans, and rife with potential drama.

Before World War I, Germany was an empire, ruled by a monarch known as the Kaiser. By the tail end of the war, military command made a deal with leading social democrat politicians to form a democratic, elected government. Kaiser Wilhelm II went into exile, leaving the new civilian political body holding the bag in the peace negotiations following Germany's catastrophic losses in World War I. The Versailles Treaty, signed in November 1918, all but eradicated the German military, and imposed crippling economic sanctions on a nation already reeling from the deaths of over 4 million men, 19% of the male population at the time, in a conflict that no one could really fathom the consequences of.

In 1929, Berlin had reemerged as mecca for artistic expression and scientific research, but the city was also wracked with economic and political turmoil, all themes that intersect in this particular narrative. You see soldiers who have returned from what was, at that point, the deadliest conflict in human history, still struggling from an unnamed form of post-traumatic stress more than a decade after the armistice. There's a kind of frenzied need for excitement and hedonism in the air after the dismal post-war years that translates into rave-like parties fuelled by drugs and alcohol. One of the series' most iconic scenes takes place during a nightclub performance by a cross-dressing singer who literally entrances the audience into a coordinated dance routing. It's amazing, and I've re-watched the moment every day since I first saw it last week. (You can experience it here.)

But the show doesn't shy away from the grittier, seedier underbelly of all that glitz and glamour. The Wall Street crash may still be a couple of months away, but you can see the beginnings of a Depression haunting the city: women crowd government buildings every morning looking for clerical work to help support their families — those who who can't earn that way turn to prostitution, often in their homes, while the family waits outside; disease runs wild through overcrowded tenement buildings without running water. Years of sanctions and wounded national pride have spawned extremist movements on both the left and the right. (Soviet interference in Berlin is one cause of the massive communist riots you'll see throughout the show, but it's not the only cause.)

In many ways though, this is a story about a city discovering modernity. Cars and subways are an everyday sight at this point in time. Pay phones are everywhere. People who barely have enough to eat are enjoying luxury nightlife, albeit for another kind of price. That push and pull between the past and the daunting future is a guiding thread throughout the show, especially for viewers who know what's about to hit Germany in just four short years.

Babylon Berlin 's creators have said that part of the appeal of setting a narrative in that particular era is to be able to show that the Nazis didn't appear in a vacuum. There were forces at work in society that Adolf Hitler effectively tapped into to propel his own vision forward, and show is a good framework in which to let them play out. In fact, you'll only hear the name Hitler once throughout the 16-episode run (the equivalent of two seasons), but his shadow looms large, namely through a number of language cues that indicate a growing nationalistic base. (On the surface, references to those who betrayed the German military and accepted harmful peace terms would appear to refer to the social democrats. But it's also a subtle allusion to the Jewish political leaders in the Weimar Republic, who Hitler will eventually blame for all of Germany's woes.) A fun game to play while watching the show is Guess Who Will Be A Committed Nazi. It's harder than you think, and that's what's so scary.

Social context aside, the show is elevated even further by truly superb acting, and a narrative flow that assumes that viewers are intelligent enough to follow a story without having to explain every single twist, an aspect that's mostly missing from American TV. (Although, be prepared to fall into a black hole of Googling after each episode. There's some Crown -level fact-checking to be done.)

And the best part? If (when) you get hooked, you can take comfort in knowing the show's already been renewed for a third season.

You can catch Babylon Berlin on Sky Atlantic now.

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In any kind of relationship — be it with a friend, romantic partner, family member, or even a coworker — it's normal and healthy to have some level of dependence on another person. But if you find yourself making a lot of sacrifices for someone else's happiness and not getting as much as you want in return, that might be a sign that you're in a dysfunctional codependent relationship.

"Codependency is really about one person being reliant on the another to the point of being controlled or manipulated by that person," says Vera Eck, MFT, a relationship therapist in Los Angeles. "Like how an alcoholic is dependent on a substance, the codependent is dependent on the person and their relationship. They use the other person to fill the hole in the soul."

Eck says that codependents, or those who are overly reliant on another person in a relationship, tend to be givers, who will keep going above and beyond for someone else who isn't reciprocating that level of care. Eventually, the codependent person can become angry that they're not getting mutual treatment, and can begin to feel like victims.

"Codependency comes from a low self-esteem and loss of identity," she says. "It becomes a cycle, where the person continues to think, If only I did this one thing better, this person will love me, so let me give in a different way. And the cycle continues."

If this sounds like a relationship you're in, Eck says that you can start working towards addressing that unhealthy dependency through group or individual therapy. If, however, you find yourself on the receiving end of someone's codependency and are uncomfortable with how much they're relying on you, it may be time to have a conversation about your boundaries.

The bottom line is, you have to communicate your needs, even if that's easier said than done. If you think you might be in an unhealthy relationship, read ahead for a few signs that you might be veering towards codependency. It's by no means an exhaustive list, and on the flip side, identifying with one or more of these signs isn't a surefire indication that your relationship is unhealthy. But if you find yourself recognising most or all of these signs, it may be time to think about setting healthier parameters.

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There are many elements of Marvel's Black Panther that make it sure to be a blockbuster: Its historic undertaking as the first-ever major Black superhero movie, its action-heavy yet relatable storyline, and its surprising inclusion of plenty of kickass, girl power moments.

But on the surface, Black Panther 's most alluring element is its eye candy. And no, we're not talking about the way Lupita Nyong'o steals every scene she's in, or the plethora of shirtless scenes from Michael B. Jordan (although both certainly do qualify). One of the many things that sets Black Panther apart from its Marvel predecessors is the film's luscious, sweeping sets, which manage to be both spectacularly grand and painstakingly detailed, down to the buzzing mechanisms in a tech lab and the tribal symbols inside a spaceship.

It probably comes as no surprise, then, that the woman responsible for the Ryan Coogler-directed movie's stunning visuals is also the same person who dreamed up the succulent Southern scenery of Beyoncé's Lemonade and the Miami-hued vibes of Oscar-winning film Moonlight. Production designer Hannah Beachler — who got her breakthrough working on Coogler's Fruitvale Station in 2013 — explained to us the role of a movie production designer in 2016: "Everything you’re seeing on screen is the production designer, outside of the camera work and lighting. I'm basically the architect of a movie's visuals."

This week, Beachler's latest collaboration with Coogler hits theaters, and it's as much the kind of sparkling work of science fiction that's made for IMAX as it is a poetic love letter to the beauty of Africa. We chatted with Beachler about her inspirations — and exactly how she brought the imaginary world of Wakanda from comic books and scripts to the big screen.

Refinery29: There was so much hype surrounding not just the first Black Marvel movie, but first big budget Black superhero movie ever. Where did you begin, and how was the process different from projects like Lemonade and Moonlight?
Hannah Beachler: "It was much bigger in scale as far as the amount of time that I had — about a year. And the research is really where everything began. I sat down with the director, Ryan Coogler, to hear what’s important to him about the story and what his vision was for the look and the tone of everything. From there, I started in the macro sense, answering basic questions: Where is the fictional world of Wakanda set on the continent of Africa? How does that inform my design decisions? What tribes exist in Wakanda, and what do they each as a people specialise in? Then there's the topography of the land. It's fictional, so we had to decide where the mountains and lakes and things of that nature were, and all of that has an influence on the sets."

How much of the visuals that we see in the film are special effects versus actual sets that you built?
"Ryan and I made a pact to make sure that that any special effects were intended to extend the scene, rather than create the scene. I think that's what makes Black Panther feel different than some of what Marvel has done in the past, where the films featured a lot of enhanced effects. We wanted it to feel believable and authentic. But with Wakanda being 25 to 50 years in the future, there’s of course a lot of stuff we couldn’t build, like levitating trains and spaceships. So the effects weren’t in lieu of real sets, just used where was necessary."

"You can’t be it if you don’t see it."

Where did pull your inspiration from?
"Once we decided that Wakanda was located on the border of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda, Burundi, Kenya, and Uganda, that influenced the topography of the land. We also pulled from Omo valley tribes in Ethiopia and South Sudan, the Igbo people of Nigeria, as well as large cities like Nairobi, Johannesburg, and Lagos. You'll see a lot of that when you're in the center of Wakanda, with the buses and people walking through town — that feels a lot like Lagos. As for the individual tribes you meet, I had to imagine who the tribes were that realistically would’ve migrated to the land of Wakanda based on where it was situated. Which tribes were that old and that historic? There are several, with the Dogon being one of them — more than 50,000 years old! They specialised in crafts and wood, so they influenced the Jabari tribe in the movie."

My favourite scenes were the ones at Warrior Falls, where the Black Panther challenges any claims to his throne. Did you have one set that was your favourite?
"[The Black Panther's sister] Shuri’s lab! That was a ton of fun to do, because she was this inventor who was the technological and creative brains behind everything the Black Panther does. And she's such a badass. So I really put a lot of time and thought into what her laboratory would look like."

What was the most challenging part of taking on Black Panther?
"Myself. I found myself stressing out because it was a lot of pressure. I wanted to make sure that Ryan's vision and the beautiful words from him and Joe Cole's script were translated perfectly on screen. But I also wanted to get it right for the community, and for the culture. I was tired of seeing the same bullshit about the continent of Africa. I wanted to really bring it to life, and hopefully inspire people to be more curious, to do their research about this continent and understand that it's much more than what you've seen in movies before. I think doing that through the story of Wakanda is a fantastic start. I also felt that I had a responsibility to my five-year-old self, and to the eight-year-old Ryan Coogler, who walked into the comic book store and saw a reflection of himself in the first Black Panther comic that he picked up. And to all of us that want representation, because you can’t be it if you don’t see it. But I can't lie, it was also a challenge shouldering that feeling of I got to get it right, because if I don’t, Black Twitter is gonna drag me!"

I know we talked in 2016 about how there aren’t really any other Black female production designers…
"Still the same story!"

How meaningful was it for you personally to be asked to work on such a historic film?
"It was fantastic. I’m so proud. It’s an absolute honour to be a part of this, to be on the ground floor of the Black Renaissance that's happening in Hollywood. Maybe one day there will be a little girl who says 'There was this woman who did some crazy sets, and I really looked up to her!' And she will be inspired to have a career and fight for what she wants and loves and is passionate about. That’s what’s the most important to me."

The conversation surrounding Hollywood right now is all about how we can better support women. As someone who works behind the scenes and doesn't see many people like herself, what do you think needs to happen?
"Anyone in this business with power needs to take a lesson from Ryan Coogler and know that women are as capable as anybody. That’s all there is to it. That's the lesson the main character T'Challa talks about in Black Panther, the responsibility we all have to do the right thing. And that needs to happen in real life, too. The right thing is making sure your movies and sets look as real as the real world does."

What’s next for you?
"I’m hoping for a really awesome next story. I would love to work with Ryan again! I choose my work based on what resonates with me and what I feel the world needs to see. And right now, the world needs to see Black Panther. "

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The most powerful people in Silicon Valley — Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg and Sheryl Sandberg, Twitter's Jack Dorsey, venture capitalist Marc Andreessen — are all well aware of one female reporter: Emily Chang. As the anchor and executive producer of "Bloomberg Technology," Chang has become an industry insider known for asking the tough questions and engaging in fierce debates with the established billionaires and talked-about founders who frequent her show. She highlights company achievements, but never shies away from addressing deeper issues, such as the moral responsibilities of big tech.

In her new book, Brotopia: Breaking Up The Boys' Club Of Silicon Valley, Chang draws on her extensive knowledge and industry connections to shine a light on Silicon Valley's gender imbalance. Although the book will resonate given its timely release, the real power of Chang's reporting comes from her research on the decades that have led to current issues of discrimination and harassment.

She spoke with Refinery29 about uncovering Silicon Valley's sex parties, interviewing the industry's most powerful men, and ways to create a brighter future for everyone working in tech.

You were already working on Brotopia before #MeToo, but how did the movement impact the book over the course of this past year?

"I started writing the book two years ago, before Trump got elected and before Susan Fowler. I think what a lot of people don’t realise is that the #MeToo movement, in my view, started in Silicon Valley, with Ellen Pao coming forward and suing venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins. Even though she lost the case, she won in the court of public opinion. That gave women a slightly bigger opportunity to start sharing their stories, but it didn’t happen immediately.

"Then we saw several entrepreneurs come forward about venture capitalists behaving badly and this was in the middle of 2016, way before Harvey Weinstein. Women in Silicon Valley started telling their stories and I think that played a significant role in making it safe for women in Hollywood and in Washington to share their stories.

"At the beginning of the [reporting] process it was really difficult to convince women to open up. Over the course of two years, I met with some women several times — lunch, texts, late-night calls, dinner — and slowly they started to open up and trust me. But after Susan [Fowler]’s post I felt the momentum of my reporting start to change. Women felt more willing to come forward. I was very careful not to lead anyone anywhere they didn’t want to go, because it is such a personal decision, but the momentum of the movement around the country, summoning this collective courage, certainly benefitted my ability to expose this world in Brotopia."

Did they end up wanting to stay anonymous?

"There were some who did. I talked to hundreds of people. Some of the women decided they wanted to come forward when originally they didn’t want to. Some still have stories that they’re keeping to themselves.

"I think we feel like we know so much, but there’s still so much we don’t know because it is still so scary to come forward — which is why I think shining a light on the industry at large is really important. It is not just about a few bad actors, of which there have been far too many. The book is really about systemic discrimination that has seeped into an industry that has so much potential and is filled with incredibly smart people who have a lot of power, but who also have a lot of responsibility to change the way they’re doing things."

Were there any stories you uncovered while reporting the book that surprised you?

"So many. I feel like every woman I talk to who has stayed in this industry is a survivor. Every woman has not just one or two, but too many stories to count. That was one thing that really surprised me. In a way, many of them said, 'You know, we just got used to it.' You just get used to a hand on your leg or a hug that’s a little too grabby, because that’s just how it is and how it’s always been."

When did you start hearing about Silicon Valley's sex parties?

"I started researching the party scene two years ago, and I talked to both men and women who were part of it. Many of the men felt quite proud about challenging social mores and traditional morality, just like they believe they are changing the world with the products they create. But the women often felt shut out if they did not participate and, if they did, they felt disrespected and reduced to a notch on a bedpost. As I talked to more and more people, they felt that these parties were about power much more than they were about sex, and the power dynamic is completely lopsided."

How do we encourage more women to go into tech while informing them about this power dynamic?

"We’re not going to solve the problem unless we understand what the problem is. So many people I spoke with think it’s a pipeline problem or that women just don’t want these jobs. My hope is that by understanding what the problem is, behaviour and actions will change. As a result, the industry will be better for it and be more welcoming and inclusive for people of all backgrounds."

What has been your experience as a female reporter in Silicon Valley?

"I’ve definitely been in uncomfortable situations. I don’t think that what I have been through compares with what women in tech have been dealing with on a daily basis ... These women tell me that it’s completely exhausting when they’re constantly trying to fend off interest from their male colleagues and yet preserve a professional relationship because they still have to work together.

"The story of the women in Silicon Valley is particularly egregious. These kinds of stories don’t happen when you have 50% men and [50%] women sitting at a table."

In the book, you write about some of the industry leaders you’ve debated with. How did you hold your own in those conversations?

"We’re talking about some incredibly powerful and wealthy people here who have been doing business in Silicon Valley for a very long time. They have made a lot of money doing business the way that they have, and they believe that the success that they have achieved is completely justified.

"But when I ask someone like Peter Thiel, who is building floating communities on the ocean and exploring the bounders of outer space, what can we do about getting more female founders, and he says, 'I don’t know what to do about that', it just strikes me as people don’t care.

"They need to start caring because this is the most important business issue of our time: How to have women better represented in the workforce and better represented in Silicon Valley, in environments that are healthy and hospitable and lead to creativity and innovation. That is not going to happen without people with a diversity of backgrounds at the table."

A lot of people you talked to for the book seemed so surprised by many of the issues you brought up with them. Do you think people will start caring?

"That’s why I wrote this book. I think for far too long, for decades, people have not recognised the problem and what they can do to change it. But I am hopeful that this will be a sort of call to action and open some eyes.

"In my view, at this point, ignorance can only be wilful. There is no reason for people who are running this industry to justify the staggering underrepresentation of women as a pipeline problem. It is so much more than a pipeline problem and, in my view, the industry created the pipeline problem. I met the women who have learned how to code and are so excited to work in this industry — they exist! These companies need to find them and make them want to stay."

"This is not just tech’s problem or a problem for people who want to work in this industry. This is everybody’s problem."

How does not having enough women in tech impact the development of technology?

"Silicon Valley is controlling what we see, what we read, how we communicate, the social media that we use — this is an industry that is changing the way we live every second. The decisions that are being made in Silicon Valley are changing the lives of billions of people around the world and those decisions can’t be made almost entirely by men.

"I have three sons and I think their lives will be better in an equal world. I know that there are so many mothers and fathers out there who have sons and daughters they want to succeed in this industry, and their daughters aren’t going to stand a chance if something doesn’t change.

"This is not just tech’s problem or a problem for people who want to work in this industry. This is everybody’s problem. I think to myself how different this world would be if more women had been at the creation of the Internet. Would online harassment and trolling be such a problem? Would video games be so violent? Would there be better parental controls? Would porn be so ubiquitous?

"I think just because these companies have already created incredible wealth doesn’t mean this is the best way it possibly could have been. But it certainly means that it doesn’t have to be this way and this certainly can change in the future."

What lessons are you teaching your sons?

"First of all, they know that I’ve been working really hard on a book for the past two years about how to include women in this industry that is changing the world. Whenever I had to take time out on the weekends to write, I talked to them about why. When it was hard, because it was really hard writing about sexism — I felt like I was walking the third rail all the time — I would think about them and tell myself that what I’m doing matters, not just to them but to people who are working in the industry now."

What would you say to a woman who is graduating now and wants to go into tech?

"First of all, you can do it. Find your team, find your allies, find people who are going to support you. Choose an environment that you feel is going to be healthy for you. Oftentimes, when you're interviewing for a job, red flags can go off about certain parts of the culture. If you see those red flags, keep looking. It's really important to find an environment that is going to support you and there are companies that do value this and are making this an explicit priority.

It's a competition for talent — don't settle for anything."

This interview has been edited for length and style.

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It's a bitter 40 degrees in New York City this weekend, with random bouts of rain and snow. But in downtown Manhattan, a rainbow is bursting through — and we don't mean in the clouds. Attendees, influencers, and editors hitting the New York Fashion Week Fall and Winter 2018 show circuit aren't just breaking up the black puffer coat monotony with their colourful shearlings. They're keeping that same energy when it comes to their glam, too.

Think swipes of crimson-red lipstick, a hit of yellow eyeshadow, pink hair that would make Nicki Minaj jealous... you get the idea. The brighter, the better seems to be the approach this go 'round, so you might want to get out your shades to take a look at the best of street-style beauty, ahead.

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In October, Burberry announced its president and chief creative officer Christopher Bailey would be stepping down from the British fashion label after 17 years. And as a final send-off, he’s putting the label's signature plaid where its figurative mouth is when it comes to diversity. To prove the British fashion house isn’t all lip service, on Monday, the company announced two cool ways it's promoting diversity around the world.

“My final collection here at Burberry is dedicated to — and in support of — some of the best and brightest organisations supporting LGBTQ+ youth around the world," Bailey said in a press release. "There has never been a more important time to say that in our diversity lies our strength, and our creativity.”

When Bailey unveils his AW18 collection on Saturday in London, expect to see a new iteration of Burberry's check — an LGTBQ Rainbow check, which the label refers to as an “emblem for optimism and inclusiveness” — appear numerous times throughout the collection. The Rainbow check pieces will be available to shop immediately following the runway show — and you’ll probably want to right then and there, considering the OG version is Rihanna-approved. In addition to the items, Burberry announced it has made donations to three charities within the LGBTQ communities: the Albert Kennedy Trust, the Trevor Project, and ILGA.

“It has been a truly inspiring place to work and the decision to leave was not an easy one. I do truly believe, however, that Burberry’s best days are still ahead of her and that the company will go from strength to strength with the strategy we have developed and the exceptional talent we have in place led by Marco,” Bailey said in October. “I would like to thank all my colleagues as well as Sir John Peace and the Board for all their support and faith in me over the years. I am excited to pursue new creative projects but remain fully committed to the future success of this magnificent brand and to ensuring a smooth transition.” An inclusive end is a progressive start, for sure.

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In the 1970s, while working in conservative, patriarchal and often authoritarian societies, a new wave of female artists from across Europe started to use and project their own bodies in radical and transformative ways.

Waltraud Lehner was 28 when she took to the streets of Vienna. She was naked from the waist up. She’d built a “movie theatre” around her body, using cardboard and styrofoam.

Her body could not be seen but a curtained front allowed people to reach inside – if invited by Waltraud. She invited men, women and children to reach through the curtain and touch her breasts and body. As they did, she would recite: “This box is the movie theatre, my body is the screen."

It was, she said, a new form of performance art: feminist actionism. She titled the performance "Tapp-und Tast-Kino" (Tap and Touch Cinema).

But Waltraud was no longer called Waltraud. She had become VALIE EXPORT, a moniker stolen from a popular brand of cigarettes and used, she said, to cleave her “of my father’s name, and my husband’s name.”

The year was 1968. They were aware of the swinging sixties in Austro-Germany but this was still a society very much behind the Iron Curtain. The Stasi were operational, the authorities exerting a pervasive control. EXPORT was born into, and could just about remember, Nazi rule. It’s difficult to recall Touch Cinema now without making it sound faintly ludicrous. Why would she do such a thing? What was the point? Equally, it’s difficult to understand the risks EXPORT took, and what the potential costs might be when she stepped outside and took Touch Cinema to the streets.

EXPORT was trying to take control of her body, to treat it like a canvas, to use it as a way of expressing freedom and possibility. She is first among equals in a new group show of 13 female artists, titled Women Look At Women, at London's Richard Saltoun gallery – timed to launch on Valentine’s Day.

The exhibition explores how avant-garde feminist artists, from EXPORT onwards, used and projected their own bodies, bridging performance and photography to make highly progressive social statements. In many cases, the artworks here were met with barely contained fury. Some artists decided to keep the images private as a result. Others were arrested on censorship or indecency charges. Others were denied work, or found no one willing to exhibit them. They were marginalised and isolated, written out of the history books of conventional wisdom.

The Viennese media’s reaction to VALIE EXPORT was one of hysteria, very clearly laced with fear. One newspaper asked whether they might have a witch in their midst. They were witnessing, on their streets, the early genesis of a very potent new force in contemporary art – a form of unencumbered, unapologetic and uninhibited self-portraiture, a projection of identity that spoke of empowerment and self-possession – a trend that has exploded into one of today's global pastimes.

Women Look At Women is at Richard Saltoun, 41 Dover St, London W15 4NS
Private view: 14th February, 6-8pm
Open to the public: 15th February-31st March

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A few years ago, a friend introduced her new boyfriend. When I asked how they'd met, she lowered her voice and leaned in conspiratorially, like she was about to disclose her bank PIN and mother's maiden name. Turns out, they'd matched through a dating app but were officially telling people that they'd met at a pub — as in, the pub where they'd arranged to grab drinks after weeks of chatting online.

These days, you'd be hard-pressed to find a London single — and even some two-timing not-so-singles — who hasn't outsourced their love life to dating apps like Tinder, Bumble, Happn, Her, Raya and The League. There's no stigma, just a steady stream of swipes.

Dating apps and sites offer convenience, choice, and instant confidence boosts, and many of the couples clutching red roses and paying for overpriced steak-for-two this Valentine's Day are bound to have first connected online.

For the rest of us, however, it's easy to get discouraged by dick pics, matches that don't go anywhere, and first dates that fizzle out within the first 30 seconds. Many people crave chemistry and crushes and banter and the flush of flirting in the flesh. They want spontaneity and meet-cutes worthy of a rom-com. It's not that online dating rules all that out (see: You've Got Mail); it's that meeting someone IRL (in real life, Mum) and by chance can feel, for some, more romantic and kismet-y.

There's no wrong or right way to meet The One. But if you've got Bumble burnout or feel like you'll never find someone if you're not swiping enough to develop carpal tunnel syndrome, take heart. These London-based couples all met IRL — through work, through friends, hell, even through parents — and are proof that "old-fashioned" offline romance hasn't entirely expired.

Who knows? Maybe next Valentine's Day you'll be splitting a crème brûlée with someone you met in an Uber pool, at a pub quiz, or on a blind date. And if not, there's always an app for that.

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For over a decade, minimalism reigned supreme on the catwalks, from Céline and Jil Sander to Helmut Lang and more recently, The Row. But whether it's down to the Alessandro Michele/Gucci effect or a desire for bolder, brighter, more textured clothes for the visually led Insta generation, maximalism is well and truly back on trend. Seventies-inspired silhouettes and prints have trickled down from high fashion to high street over the past few years, however, the last couple of seasons have also seen a return to the '8os, with the resurgence of disco fashion and high-octane glamour, glitter, sequins and feathers.

Thirty-year-old designer Michael Halpern is at the centre of this renewed interest in disco and all the shimmering embellishment, unabashed elegance and hyper femininity that comes with it. His sequin-focused label, Halpern, founded in 2016, made its London Fashion Week debut last February to critical acclaim, then in December, Model of the Year Adwoa Aboah wore a glittering Halpern creation to the Fashion Awards, where the young designer also won the Emerging Talent prize.

At the SS18 shows last September, fashion's obsession with sequins and feathers continued; Anthony Vaccarello's ultra glamorous collection for Saint Laurent was studded with sequins and ostrich feathers aplenty, and sequins twinkled everywhere from Gucci and Marc Jacobs to Molly Goddard and of course, shimmered heavily at Halpern. At Prada Resort 2018 back in May, chiffon and organza dresses were enhanced with sequin details and feather hems, then at the SS18 shows feathers fluttered at Maison Margiela, Ann Demeulemeester, and Nina Ricci; even Ashley Williams offered a more dressed-down, everyday take on the trend.

Data from global fashion search platform Lyst revealed that searches for sequins increased by 42% in the second half of 2017, proving that shoppers are enthralled by the glittering trend. “The resurgence of disco is largely thanks to designers’ current fascination with the late '80s and early '90s," Lisa Aiken, fashion director at Net-A-Porter explained. "The SS18 shows were awash with references to Lady Diana, Pretty Woman and the Supers, all reimagined as a vintage mash-up to appeal to the ‘it-girl’ of 2018 – think Gigi Hadid, Kendall Jenner or Kaia Gerber, who we imagine will be wearing so many of these looks. In general, the Net-A-Porter woman invests in eveningwear across the board, in fact as a category it is growing faster than any other department – sequins, crystals and feathers are all key elements of this trend. In terms of fabrications, designers are pushing the boundaries.”

It would be a serious omission to discuss sequins without mentioning London Fashion Week favourite, Ashish. “Sequins have always been a protest for me," designer Ashish explained to Refinery29 after his SS18 show. "It’s always been a revolution for me. A protest against blandness.” Adored for his explosively colourful and creative use of sequins throughout his career, Ashish's latest collection was considerably darker and dreamier. "We live in dark times. It was that Martin Luther King quote that in darkness, you see stars; it’s about finding hope in dark times. I wanted to channel that energy into something beautiful," Ashish affirmed backstage. "I just felt like I don’t want to be celebrating colours because everything that is going on is just so dark. But in that darkness is hope, so there are still a million sparkles and sequins. I wanted it to be a cathartic experience. I feel like I staged my own funeral!"

Ida Petersson, buying director at Browns Fashion echoes Ashish's sentiments with the idea that the prevalence of colour, texture and glitter on the catwalk is a reaction to the relentless tragedy and global upheaval of the past few years, and a nod to happier times. "Designers are injecting some fun into their collections for SS18 and I couldn’t think of anything better than an abundance of sequins! Creating a party mood is almost a way of giving the finger to all the madness that happened in 2017, and a nod to a fantastic era where everything for a few years was just fabulous. This season's mantra seems to be the glitzier the better, with several of our designers such as Halpern, Molly Goddard, Faith Connexion and Gucci all infusing a dose of sparkle into their collections."

The glitter and glamour we saw in New York, London and Milan with Halpern, Goddard and Gucci continued in Paris. For Dior SS18, Maria Grazia Chiuri stuck with the strong feminist message that has run throughout her collections since her first offering in September 2016, with a new collection that was inspired by female artists (or the lack thereof) as well as the female forces of change in the '60s. The show closed with glittering mosaic gowns in Chiuri's now-signature silhouette, reaffirming sparkle as this season's standout trend.

At Marques' Almeida SS18, both feathers and sequins cropped up in the eclectic collection. In the show notes, the design duo explained: "We’ve been thinking a lot about the expectations on girls and women and everything they're expected to do. You're expected to be great at your job, build a successful career but you can't leave behind your personal life and should be able to have a family and look after your family and look amazing while doing everything, whether you’re a teenager, a mum of three in Mid Town America, a 60 year old retired business woman or an artist... This collection feels so free and so full of different references to so many different amazing women." As Marta Marques and Paulo Almeida so pertinently put it, when women in 2018 are being pulled in so many different directions, fashion ought to be freeing. In such unstable sociopolitical times, we ought to celebrate individualism, energy, creativity and optimism, and our wardrobe can be an instantly gratifying and uplifting outlet for that. Sequins, sparkle and texture offer the perfect opportunity for self-expression, projecting hope as immediate mood-enhancers. It certainly feels timely to turn away from the austere, pared-back designs we adored in the '90s and '00s and revel in sequins and feathers.

Whether it's a sequin hairslide courtesy of Ashley Williams, a glinting 'Good Mourning' Ashish hoodie, feathered Marques' Almeida skirt or glittering Dior gown, we're welcoming the return of glitter and glamour with open arms.

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Now more than ever we want total transparency from our favourite beauty brands. We want to know exactly what is in our face-saving formulas, and how much of it, from acid potency to potentially acne-aggravating substances.

We're more knowledgeable about our environment and the harmful elements that come with it – think stress, pollution and blue light – all taking their toll on our skin as time goes by. It makes complete sense that we'd want to know what's going into our skincare to combat these issues.

However, it's not just because we're conscious of what we're putting on our skin; we're also more aware of exactly who is farming the wonder ingredients that we indulge in. Much like the growing demand for ethical fashion, we want to know that those involved in making our trusted lotions and potions are getting a fair deal, too.

In 2018, farm-to-face beauty brands are rightly getting their time in the sun, but several names have been repping transparency for some time now. Jurlique, Tata Harper and Ilcsi have long advocated a clear chain from harvest to bathroom shelf. As, too, has The Body Shop, which has worked with farmers globally to source ingredients since founder Anita Roddick established the brand.

Publishing the details of its Community Trade programme means you can trace the exact farming community that a hero ingredient comes from, whether it's hemp seed oil from France or tea tree oil from Kenya. The brand's latest products, launching this May, will contain the harvest of the Dufatanye Co-operative's crops. Along with Asili Natural Oils, a social enterprise which works with brands to produce the best outcomes for small hold farmers in Rwanda, we followed the moringa plant – a skincare ingredient loved for its anti-ageing properties – from Dufatanye's farm in Rwanda to The Body Shop's final product.

Step One: The Farm

The Dufatanye Co-operative is made up of farmers who either own moringa trees or work on the communal plantation. They harvest the plant by using a long stick to grab and twist the pea-like pods from the branches, before collecting them up. Next, they snap the dried casing so that the seeds fall out. This is repetitive and time-consuming work, but as the moringa plant grows all year round and in the toughest of conditions, it's a sustainable livelihood. Once all the seeds are gathered, they're sent off to Ndera, a village just outside of Kigali, Rwanda's capital.

Step Two: Processing

There are two stages in the processing at Asili's Ndera facility: de-shell and cold-press. Using their hands rather than machines in order to create more employment, the workers separate the inner part of the seed from its husk by shaking and throwing a woven basket, leaving a white centre from which a potent oil is extracted. The seeds are cold-pressed twice, as the first time around the cake (the solid residue) still has oil to be squeezed out. The nutrient-rich cake isn't wasted, though, and is often used as animal feed. Once the oil has been put through the machines, it's bottled and ready for shipping to the manufacturers. At this stage, the oil works wonderfully on dry ends of the hair or as an intense overnight skin treatment.

Step Three: Manufacturing

From Asili's processing centre, the oil is flown to the UK in big jugs. From there, it's divided up to be transported to specific manufacturers across Germany, France and the UK, which focus on different products. Here, the oil is tested for the correct acidity, odour and chemical specifications to be used in skincare products, to ensure it's compatible with all skin types. The factories where this happens are hyper-modern and machine-automated.

Step Four: Your Product

Once the formulas have been combined, they're packaged and sent to the retailers from which you buy your favourite products every day.

Knowing where your beauty ingredients come from is far more complex than sourcing the dairy you drink; there are countless steps, and many people involved, which is where the potential for unpaid labour, unfair deals, and unmonitored formulations can arise. With brands like The Body Shop, Votary and Odacité all making clear exactly where they source their ingredients, the industry is becoming a more transparent and thus fairer place. There's more at play than just knowing that what you're putting on your face is regulated, and that's the long journey behind every ingredient in your cleanser.

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Meghan Markle has been making secret visits to survivors of the Grenfell Tower fire, according to reports.

The tower is in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, where she and Prince Harry will live after their wedding on 19th May at Windsor Castle.

The US former actor and activist is said to have made two separate trips to the Al Manaar community mosque, which was one of the first places to support victims with shelter, food, water and counselling, in the aftermath of the fire that killed 71 people and devastated the nation last June 14.

Markle's fiancé did not accompany her on the visits, though a royal protection officer and one of Harry's aides is reported to have travelled with her.

A member of the Grenfell community told the Mirror that Markle's visits "mean so much" to the locals and that the soon-to-be royal "has a special place in [their] hearts”.

Her intention with the visits, which did not take place in front of any media or paparazzi, is apparently to familiarise herself with charity work, which is soon to become an even bigger part of her life, as it was for Princess Diana.

"Ms Markle has regularly been making private visits to organisations as she gets to know the charity sector,” a royal source told the Mirror.

In September, Harry and Prince William visited survivors at the same mosque, which their father opened in 2001. The Queen and the Duke of Cambridg e also paid a visit to the Westway Sports Centre to meet with survivors and volunteers soon after the disaster.

Kensington and Chelsea council was roundly lambasted for its response to the devastating fire and continues to face criticism for its insufficient treatment of victims. On a national scale, just three of the 160 social housing towers flagged as similarly dangerous have been reclad with safer materials, the Guardian reported last month, and the public inquiry into how the disaster happened is ongoing.

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It may sound unlikely, but the world is spellbound by the North Korean cheerleading squad at the Winter Olympics, currently underway in South Korea. The group of 230 young women and girls, often referred to as Kim Jong-un’s "army of beauties", made waves at the games on Monday in Gangneung, where they were supporting the unified Korean ice hockey team.

In January it was announced that the neighbouring countries would field a joint women's hockey team and march together under a single "unified" flag. It marks the first time the countries have ever competed on the same team at an Olympic Games and required the opening of the border between the countries for the first time in nearly two years. So naturally, the world's media is taking an interest in North Korea's presence at the games.

But why all the fuss about the country's cheerleaders? Not only is their presence fascinating in itself, the huge squad – which outnumbers North Korea's competing athletes by around 10 to one – has provided an inimitable spectacle already.

On Monday, when the unified Korean team played its second ice hockey match and lost to Sweden, the crowd went wild for the girls and young women, who were decked out in identical red and white outfits and performed a perfectly coordinated routine involving clapping, chanting, flags and masks, which some in the South said resembled a young Kim Il-Sung, North Korea's first leader and the grandfather of current leader Kim Jong-un.

Spoiler alert: north Korea’s cheerleaders enthusiasm not enough for unified women’s hockey team to defeat sweden pic.twitter.com/CoB3caNDPF

— Jim Michaels (@jimmichaels) February 12, 2018

Wait for it.... one of the stranger moments of the night... North Korean Cheerleaders holding masks as they sing “Whistle” one of North Korea’s most popular songs. #Olympics2018 (Via @Kubik_Kamera) pic.twitter.com/BXACRt27nZ

— Gadi Schwartz (@GadiNBC) February 10, 2018

Dit is dus echt heel bijzonder. #BNR #pyeongchangOlympics2018 pic.twitter.com/mDha25Px9g

— Thomas Schuurman (@ThomasSchuurman) February 10, 2018

However, as many have pointed out, the outwardly cheerful display has a dark underbelly. While some have praised the squad as a symbol of reconciliation between the North and South, others have described it as an extension of the North Korean propaganda campaign, designed to exacerbate geopolitical tensions. They have continued their routines to their own songs on top of entirely different music, seemingly "oblivious to their surroundings", staring straight ahead and chanting “We are one!”, the New York Time s reported.

The all-female squad is also selected based on very strict criteria. Members must be no older than their early 20s, at least 5"3' tall (160 cm), come from a good family, be well assimilated to the country's regime and be "exemplars of working collectively," North Korean defector to the South, Han Seo-hee, 35, who was selected as a cheerleader 16 years ago, told the New York Times.

They are being tightly controlled during the games, being kept in large groups and accompanied by minders, usually North Korean men at all times, even during trips to the bathroom. They are prevented from interacting with strangers, including South Koreans, many of whom will be coming face-to-face with North Koreans for the first time at the Games.

Don’t they realize that what they are charmed by here is probably as close as you can get to a hideous real-world version of the Handmaid’s Tale?

https://t.co/ch7jiL6BTK

— Rich Lowry (@RichLowry) February 11, 2018

Furthermore, in 2006, 21 of their fellow cheerleaders were imprisoned for talking about their experiences in South Korea during a University Games tour, which was forbidden, the Taipei Times reported. Some believe it is the threat of punishment, as opposed to the excitement of the event, that has contributed to the squad's relentlessness.

I can report South Koreans here in Pyeongchang are not as enthralled with Kim Yo Jong and the North Korean cheerleaders as it seems some media are back home.

Something about N.K. killing, starving, & imprisoning its people while threatening South Korea with nuclear annihilation.

— Willie Geist (@WillieGeist) February 11, 2018

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In 2006, a 12-year-old Letitia Wright was inspired to chase her dreams while watching Keke Palmer portray a spelling bee champ in the movie Akeelah And The Bee. And this month, children everywhere will be similarly moved — while watching Wright in Black Panther.

There is much-deserved praise being showered over the latest Marvel movie's historic, mostly Black cast. Chadwick Boseman is quietly impressive as the lead character, T'Challa, aka the Black Panther, and the nation of Wakanda's new king; Lupita Nyong'o is alluring as T'Challa's no-nonsense but loyal love interest; The Walking Dead' s Danai Gurira may have outdone herself as the badass warrior Okoye, and Hollywood legend Angela Basset is regal as ever as T'Challa's mother, the queen.

But just 20 minutes into the film, it's clear that Black Panther has a breakout star: Wright, who plays T'Challa's sister and Wakanda's princess, Shuri. Throughout the film's more than two hours, the Guyana-born actress brings the action story some comedic relief, adding a touch of necessary lightness to the dark moments that reflect the current fissures in Black communities. Still, Wright is far from the typical action movie sidekick who simply exists to further along the storyline — or the damsel-in-distress Disney princess trope. Instead, as Wakanda's technological expert, she is quite literally the brains of the entire operation, never hesitating to put T'Challa — or anyone else, for that matter — in their place. In a few epic moments, in fact, she herself becomes the action hero. And she does it all while rocking some gloriously styled braids, another of many firsts for a Marvel sidekick or Disney princess.

Even with a Blockbuster already under her belt, at 24, the actress is just getting started. So far, she's worked in a few indie films and British television shows, including a starring role in the season four finale of Black Mirror last year, "Black Museum." Black Panther is by far her biggest undertaking yet, though Wright says she wasn't intimidated, a fact she attributes to her upbringing in Guyana.

"As a kid, I grew up speaking to everyone in the neighbourhood; even if you didn't know them, you spoke and climbed trees and played cricket together...there was no sitting inside and watching TV," she remembers. "Talking to people, getting to know them, telling stories, connecting...that's how I grew up. So when I went to the U.K. and saw everyone stayed indoors and was very private, that was new to me. I think my love of connecting with people through acting, I trace that back to my childhood and culture in Guyana."

Wright's family moved to the U.K. when she was seven; as a teenager, she attended the Identity School of Acting in London, a small, groundbreaking all-Black drama school. She began pursuing a film career at 17, but after a few years, she found herself battling depression; it wasn't until 2015, after she says she'd done some serious soul-searching and found God, that she was able to focus on acting full-time. That's when she landed a role in the indie film Urban Hymn ( casted by director Michael Caton-Jones, a choice that would later earn her the attention of Marvel execs) and later, a part in Eclipsed on West End , a play written by her future co-star Gurira.

"If you haven’t even got the time to write a multidimensional character, why should I waste my time playing the part?"

Wright admits that she was neither a comic book nor a science fiction fan before taking on Black Panther — she never read comic books and was only an occasional Marvel moviegoer, opting more for "indie arthouse films." But when an opportunity to audition for Black Panther came in 2016, she was immediately drawn to the character of Shuri, T'Challa's younger sister and the leader in charge of dreaming up innovative uses for the fictional nation's modern technology.

"She was such a different character from what I'd read in scripts: A young Black woman who's super smart and into technology," Wright says. "I hadn't really seen any girls on screen who were into tech or science and engineering, and I know most of the world hadn't either. So I really wanted to play Shuri not just because she’d be funny and smart and a really cool character to play, but also because I knew she’d leave an impact on young girls and young boys."

Though she's truly just getting started in her career, the current conversations swirling around Hollywood about how the movie industry can better support women — and, more specifically, women of colour — are not lost on Wright. She says she's had a largely positive experience so far, but is acutely aware of how much more there still is to be done.

"Even though I haven’t been doing this for a long time, it became clear early on that there aren’t a lot of leading roles for Black women, young or old," she says. "In my own way, I've tried to challenge the status quo by being offered a supporting character script and asking the casting directors if there might be a way I can read for the lead role instead. Because why not?”

Wright adds that, though Hollywood has a responsibility to do better, she has no plans to sit around and wait for scripts to come her way. She cites actors like Viola Davis, Michael B. Jordan, Kerry Washington, even 13-year-old Marsai Martin as inspirations for one day producing her own projects instead of waiting for them to get made by someone else. And though there is often a lack of opportunities, Wright says she'll never settle.

"I’ve made a decision to not play stereotypes. I will never play a role where were was no love or care put into the character. If you haven’t even got the time to write a multidimensional character, why should I waste my time playing the part?"

It's easy to tell from the cast's on-screen chemistry that the vibe on the set of Black Panther was familial. And it was; Wright credits the brother-sister bond of her and Boseman's characters to a real life connection, and says the cast often killed time between takes by hosting spontaneous rap battles — which, she declares proudly, she mostly won. She also spent a lot of time picking the brain of Angela Bassett, whom she calls “a legend“ and says reminded her to “stay close to the ground and do this acting thing for the right reason: impact and storytelling.”

Luckily for Wright's growing fan base, they can catch the actress in next month's Steven Spielberg directed Ready Player One and returning as Shuri in this spring's Avengers: Infinity War. But before Black Panther has even hit theatres, buzz around Wright's performance and the actual comic book's storyline have led to speculation on whether Wright might one day portray the Black Panther herself — or get her own spinoff.

For now, she says, she's just focusing on the current Black Panther. It is clear by the ending (and pre-sale tickets), however, that the latest Marvel movie is destined for a sequel. Until then, fans will walk away from the first instalment with the Kendrick Lamar-produced soundtrack stuck in their heads, several memorable one-liners, and a penchant for recreating Suri's signature handshake with her brother, cooly executed by Wright and Boseman. But there's one thing Wright wishes she could've taken with her.

"I wish I could have Shuri's Kimoyo beads in real life — they can project anything onto glass without a remote control!" she says. "I wouldn't even need my cell phone. I'd just project my YouTube videos onto the wall! That would be so cool...You know, Shuri is just so cool. She's so cool! How could it not be an honour to play her?"

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The number of people seeking hospital admission for potentially life-threatening eating disorders has doubled in the past six years. According to new research published by The Guardian, that number soared to 13,885 in the year to April 2017, up from 7,260 in the period 2010-11. Alarmingly, these are the highest figures in a decade. And they may not even give us the full picture. Director of External Affairs at the eating disorders charity Beat, Tom Quinn, says that many other people will be living with an eating disorder but be undiagnosed, receiving outpatient treatment or no treatment at all. That is to say that the incidence of eating disorders in Britain could be even higher than these statistics indicate.

Drawing on figures from NHS Digital, journalist Sarah Marsh wrote that “a surge in the number of teenage girls and women in their early 20s lies behind the dramatic rise”. In the year to April 2017, admissions for people under the age of 19 soared from 1,050 to 2,025. Beat agrees that the most vulnerable age group is between 13 and 17. This has long been and continues to be a particularly vulnerable demographic when it comes to eating disorders like anorexia and bulimia. Experts agree that we are failing these young people, abandoning them through lack of funding, a shortage of beds and a pervasive misunderstanding of the illnesses they suffer.

In response to The Guardian story, founding leader of the Women’s Equality Party, Sophie Walker, tweeted:

A story about the ways in which women are objectified, oppressed, belittled to the point of starving ourselves, illustrated with a picture of a man & no mention of the structural inequalities that are killing us and our daughters. We need a new vision. #WE https://t.co/oXfmco6iKS

— Sophie Walker (@SophieRunning) February 12, 2018

As a survivor of anorexia, I always find these stories particularly harrowing. Equally, I am profoundly relieved when someone in a position of power shows some sign of anger, hope and resolve. I got Sophie Walker on the phone to find out a little more about her vision for treating eating disorders. She, like so many of us, recognises how dire the funding situation is and calls for better support for the NHS and specialist services. But – and this is a nuance many politicians wilfully ignore – the situation with eating disorders is more complex than that. As well as desperately needed resources, we have to address the social triggers for these disorders, including the subjugation of women that inspires them to vanish by starvation.

“We need an understanding of where these conditions are coming from,” Sophie says. “There are more than 28 published studies that prove media images have a direct impact on how we view our bodies, and negative body image puts a person at greater risk of an eating disorder. There are currently 1.6 million people with an eating disorder in the UK and something like 90% of them are female. This is a gendered issue.”

Anorexia is the deadliest mental health condition in the world. Twenty per cent of anorexia sufferers will die prematurely because of their condition, their bodies and minds ravaged by a cruel illness that so often gets mistaken for a diet. It does affect men, but the overwhelming majority of victims are female, which should prompt us to ask: what are we doing wrong that so many women, particularly young ones, want to endanger their lives just to shrink their bodies?

“We need to urgently examine the limits we put on women and the oppression of women and young girls. We are routinely belittling women to the extent that they literally want to be as small as possible,” Sophie says.

Here, she echoes something I’ve been thinking about since my years as an anorexic young woman. Research suggests that anorexia has genetic roots and that some people may even be predisposed to the illness, but it is also exacerbated by the pressure we put on women to be perfect, to be shiny, to be thin. When we strip women of their autonomy over their own bodies and lives – by ignoring their complaints about sexual abuse, taking away their reproductive rights, dictating how they should behave and look – we create an environment in which they crave control. Sometimes, that inspires them to restrict their eating, cut out food groups, count calories obsessively, binge, purge, starve and weigh themselves to measure the space in which they take up on this planet. They are forced to equate their physical presence with their moral significance, and it’s extremely dangerous. They feel they must be diminutive because they are told they are not worthy of respect or agency, and so they take that anxiety out on their bodies.

We must, according to Sophie, fight this epidemic of eating disorders with feminism.

“My vision here is to use feminism, to design politics to reach the vulnerable and the marginalised. Funding for social care is dropping to one per cent of the GDP and that is not acceptable. Feminism values social care. Feminism sees women. Feminism wants to get to the root of anorexia and work from there. We’ve just seen the Me Too movement, which has been brilliant for voicing women’s experiences. In the same way that sexual assault is about power, eating disorders are about power. They’re about not having power. We need a similar movement in society to understand what is going on here, where it comes from, and what we can do to protect women.”

Every time distressing statistics come out, like the ones published by The Guardian, we have an opportunity to capitalise on the shock they cause to affect real change. Please, this time, may we listen to people like Sophie Walker and urgently campaign for greater understanding, increased compassion and better resources.

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The rumour mill is in overdrive over what the third royal baby, which is due in April, will be called. Bookies are taking bets on the most likely names for the child, whose sex hasn't been revealed, and the frontrunners are a far cry from the most popular baby names predicted by Netmums for 2018.

According to Ladbrokes, Prince George and Princess Charlotte are most likely to be welcoming a baby sister, and the most likely names for both sexes are as traditional as you might expect. (We probably won't be seeing a Prince Axl or Princess Layla any time soon.)

If the baby is a girl, we could be about to welcome a Princess Mary to the royal family. The name's odds have leapt from 20/1 to 7/1, overtaking Alice, which is now the second most hotly-tipped choice, along with Mary.

The surge came from a boost in bets on Mary in the north west of England. Jessica Bridge from Ladbrokes said that while the company couldn't explain the link between the name and that part of the country, "the overwhelming support means we have a new favourite in the royal baby name market," Metro reported.

If Kate and William's third child is a boy, however, the bookies predict it'll be a little Albert or Arthur, which are tied on 12/1.

The name Mary has been used in the royal family a few times and is one of our current Queen's middle names – her full name is Elizabeth Alexandra Mary. Bridge continued: "‘Punters are convinced the Duke and Duchess are expecting another little girl, and obviously it would be a lovely touch to honour Her Majesty’s Grandmother, but it will be interesting to see if any boys’ names are backed over the coming weeks before the birth." We're on tenterhooks.

The bookies' favourite royal baby names

Mary 7/1
Alice 8/1
Victoria 8/1
Albert 12/1
Arthur 12/1
Alexandra 16/1
Diana 16/1
Elizabeth 16/1
Frederick 16/1
Henry 16/1
James 16/1
Grace 20/1

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James Franco will likely be in season two of The Deuce, David Simon's slow-burner of a TV show set in Manhattan in the 1970s, despite the allegations of sexual misconduct published in January. Sunday night, Megan Abbott, a staff writer for the show, told Refinery29 on the red carpet of the Writers Guild Awards that he would be returning for the next season, which is already in development.

"Yes. As far as I know," Abbott said. She also told Refinery29 that, though the show would hop six or seven years ahead, time-wise, Franco's character would likely still be involved.

"We're jumping forward about six years or so, so we'll be in '77 or '78," Abbott revealed, adding that "for the most part," the same characters from season 1 would carryover. "I can't reveal more than that," she admitted.

In the first season of The Deuce, Franco played a role in almost every facet of production. He directed two of the eight episodes in season one, and he executive produced alongside Maggie Gyllenhaal, George Pelecanos, and David Simon. On top of all that, Franco played not one, but two characters. Franco's twin brothers Vinnie and Frankie Martino were the eye of The Deuce 's storm — creators David Simon and George Pelecanos have said in interviews that they based the show on stories from a Times Square bartender who, much like Frankie Martino, had a twin.

Neither HBO nor Simon, the show runner, ever confirmed that Franco wouldn't be returning, although his participation seems questionable, given the allegations of sexual harassment against the actor published in January. The LA Times published the accounts of five separate women who recounted being harassed and assaulted by Franco. The actor, via his attorney, has maintained that the allegations are false, although he said on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, "If I have done something wrong, I will fix it. I have to."

After the allegations surfaced, Simon told The Hollywood Reporter that he was "trying to discern what is or isn't there."

"Personally, I can only speak knowledgeably to The Deuce. I've checked with all my fellow producers and other personnel. We have no complainant or complaint or any awareness of any incident of concern involving Mr. Franco," Simon said in a statement.

Variety also reports that the writing staff of the show is currently plotting scripts in which Franco's characters are essential. Seeing as Vinnie Martino is the show's nexus, The Deuce cannot exist — at least in its current format — without him.

Following the accusations, Franco has been relatively visible. He discussed the allegations openly on both Late Night with Seth Meyers and The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. Though he didn't walk the red carpet, the actor did attend the SAG Awards in late January. Thus far, Franco's career has been hurt in only one way: He was not nominated for an Oscar. On January 7, he collected a Golden Globe for his role as Tommy Wiseau in The Disaster Artist. Franco was also reportedly scrubbed from the Vanity Fair Hollywood cover.

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People aren't just excited for Black Panther, which finally comes out on February 16, because it's a big-budget Marvel film with Michael B. Jordan's abs and Chadwick Boseman's charm. From the moment the trailer surfaced late last year, people of colour of all ages took note of the kings, queens, and warriors of Wakanda (a fictional East African nation) that look just like us, with rich brown skin and textured hair.

This major moment of beauty representation required painstaking detail from hair department head Camille Friend and makeup designer Joel Harlow, who were among the group of creatives on the Atlanta-based set who took direct inspiration from African tribes along with the original comic books. "It's a very empowering film. I hope that aside from being very entertaining, there is a message here," Harlow tells Refinery29. "I hope that message is received and embraced. Certainly that was first and foremost, being respectful and honouring the heritage we were drawing from. We didn't go down a path for our makeup looks simply because they looked interesting and cool. There's meaning behind all of it, and we were very conscious about making sure that came first."

And with that meaning, there's an intentional message: "Black is beautiful. It doesn’t matter to me what you do with your hair — if you wear it straight, or curly, or nappy, or a weave, or an Afro. We’re all beautiful," Friend says. "In this movie, we have the greatest opportunity to showcase natural hair and showcase Africa. Africa has never been seen culturally like this."

Of course, there's hope for a Black Panther sequel, but the behind-the-scenes beauty team hopes that the film's impact goes far beyond the Marvel universe. "We hope that this spurs more Black-generated movies, too," she says. "I think Black Panther doing well economically at the box office shows that there is an audience for this type of movie. As people of color, if we support, we'll hopefully see more movies like it."

Ahead, get the spoiler-free details on Lupita Nyong'o's "Wakanda knots," Danai Gurira's head tattoos, and much more.

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On January 7, Frances McDormand accepted the Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Drama for her performance as Mildred Hayes in Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, in a speech bleeped out three times despite no audible expletives.

Twitter erupted with jokes about what was clearly an attempt by NBC sensors to preempt an incident by a woman, who, throughout her career, has refused to play by Hollywood's rules.

It's not really all that surprising. McDormand has never fit the rigid mould usually required of leading ladies: she doesn't wear makeup (in fact, she once called her face a "map," with history she couldn't imagine erasing with plastic surgery, and credits her son Pedro with her most distinctive wrinkle), keeps her hair cropped short or unstyled, mostly refuses to do press, and is particularly fond of cursing. She is particularly averse to the plastic surgery that is almost a requirement for actresses over a certain age. "We have a lot of responsibility because we present ourselves in a medium that reaches a lot of people," she told Katie Couric in 2015.

She built a reputation of telling truth to power long before it became fashionable. In fact, her navy shift at the 2018 Golden Globes was a standout amidst a sea of black dresses worn by actresses in support of the nascent Time's Up movement. But McDormand doesn't need a dress to prove her commitment to gender equality — she's been spreading the word for years.

Just take her Oscars speech from 1997 (hey there, Nic Cage!), when she won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance as Marge Gunderson in Fargo. Swaggering onto the stage in a blue gown after giving Joel Coen —  her husband since 1984, who co-directed the film with his brother, Ethan — a thank you kiss, she praised directors for making decisions based on ability rather than the market value of the actresses nominated alongside her. In other words, she pointed out that, too often, an actress is valued for her looks rather than for her talent. It's a message that, 20 years later, is just beginning to pick up steam in the mainstream, as Hollywood addresses concerns of how the industry can better support its women.

That McDormand's renaissance is taking place in tandem with Hollywood's reckoning makes sense. The character she plays in Three Billboards, Mildred Hayes, is a tough-as-nails single mother hell-bent on seeking revenge for her daughter's violent rape and murder, who shames the police department into pursuing new leads by putting up three billboards alongside the highway calling out law enforcement for complacency. She's angry and no-nonsense — McDormand said she "played it like a man," and based the character on John Wayne. Her workman's jumpsuit suggests she has no time to think about such frivolities as appearance. She's got shit to get done. That McDormand's fabulous performance happens to be in a film that's facing backlash for its problematic handling of race is the one damper on what should be her big year.

The times are finally catching up to a woman who has always been a little out our reach. (And then there's the fact that, at 60, there's less pressure on her to be a sex symbol. “I was too old, too young, too fat, too thin, too tall, too short, too blond, too dark — but at some point they’re going to need the other,” McDormand said in a New York Times profile of her earlier this year. “So I’d get really good at being the other.”) In 2018, McDormand's #nomakeup look and powerful speech was cause for celebration. But it hasn't always been so. Her reluctance to conform has mostly made people uncomfortable. In fact, it's a testament to her prowess as an actor that she's still managed to gain recognition for her work. Despite not playing the Hollywood game, she's only a Grammy away from an EGOT, having secured her Oscar back in 1997, along with a Tony award for her role in David Lindsay-Abaire's play, Good People, in 2011, and an Emmy for HBO's Olive Kitteridge in 2014. And if she takes home the Oscar for Best Actress for Three Billboards, for which she's currently the frontrunner, she'll be joining a small and exclusive club of 13 female performers who have won in that category more than once. (With four wins, Katharine Hepburn holds the record; Meryl Streep is close behind with three.)

In some ways, McDormand holds much in common with her fellow nominee, three-time Oscar-winner Daniel Day-Lewis. He too, has a reputation for putting the work first, and for refusing to play the game. He famously immerses himself in difficult roles, and only appears in a film every couple of years. In fact, Phantom Thread, for which he has received his sixth Best Actor nomination, will reportedly be his last performance on film — the actor announced earlier this year that he would be retiring.

But what, in a man, are quirks that prove his commitment to his art, a mark of his genius, translate, in a woman, to oddness. Ask anyone what they think of Frances McDormand, and chances are they'll make a scrunchy face, and reply something around the lines of "She's a great actress, but isn't she kind of weird?" Caleb Landry-Jones, her co-star on Three Billboards, admitted to be being terrified of her on set.

She is weird. And she's great, and talented, and strong, and a little inappropriate. She still has a goddamn flip phone. She's the Best Actress nominee we need in a year where woman are fighting to come into their own. And finally, it looks like we might be starting to deserve her.

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Welcome to Money Diaries, the regular R29 series where we tackle what might be the last taboo facing modern working women: money. The format is simple; we ask all different kinds of women to map out their seven days in money for us.

This week, however, we're doing something a little different. In partnership with the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) we’re going to find out exactly what people spend on their holidays.

FSCS is a free service which automatically protects your money, from £1 up to £85,000, in UK banks and building societies and credit unions. They also have loads of helpful money tips and guides, including a future savings calculator, to help you find out how much money you could save (now and for your future!). Whatever you’re saving for, your money is safe with FSCS.

For this first holiday money diary of the year, we're with a 31-year-old woman who went on a last-minute trip to Valencia before Christmas. Money hasn't been hugely forthcoming recently due to some mental health issues, which have proved horrendously expensive, and realistically she probably shouldn't be going anywhere at all. But after her boyfriend surprised her with the flights and accommodation as a present for such a rubbish year, off she went anyway. That's what credit cards are for, right?

How did her spending fare? Ummmm...

*FYI – prices have been converted into pounds using the correct conversion rate at the time.

**We are currently looking for people who have bought a house in the past few years to do money diary entries for us. If this is you, please contact us on moneydiary@refinery29.uk  ***

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When it comes to love, we tend to cling to clichés. We are told 'nobody will love you until you’ve learned to love yourself' and that when you meet the right person 'you’ll just know’. One of the biggest challenges we face, I think, is to sift through these clichés, unpick the stories we have been told, and cut to the heart of what love really means to each of us.

That's why I decided to begin investigating love, one interview at a time, via a newsletter called Conversations on Love. The aim? To explore the many different shapes that love takes in our lives – not only the romantic kind, but the love between parents and children, siblings, strangers and friends. And even the love we feel for ourselves.

Along the way I’ve spoken to some of our greatest thinkers and writers about the topic: philosopher Alain de Botton (on the perils of romanticism), Man Booker-winning novelist Hilary Mantel (on first love) and New York University ‘love professor’ Dr. Megan Poe (on retaining your sense of self in a relationship). These conversations, among others, have taught me so many valuable lessons that have changed the way I view and approach love. Here are 10 of them…

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