Weekend Edition: The week's best reads

Magazine MonitorA collection of cultural artefacts
  • 2 October 2015
London by night, from the air
A collection of some of the best features from the BBC News website this week, with an injection of your comments.
"A beautiful article," posted David Eckhoff. This is the story of how London became a colossus. In relation to the rest of the UK, London's dominance is especially striking. In the latest of our immersive long-form stories told using video and text, the Magazine's Jon Kelly outlines how and why London became a city of immense prosperity and power alongside photographer Jason Hawkes' stunning aerial pictures. "A great panoramic account of modern London," concludes Mike Tuffrey.
464 gray line

Desperate hunt

The beach in South Africa where the ring was lostImage copyrightTim Butcher
"What a heartfelt story of goodness!" emailed Helen Sewell. This is the story of one man's agony at losing his late father's ring while walking on the beach. Tim Butcher set out to be reunited with a family heirloom which was 90 years old - and eventually discovered a kind soul willing to help him hunt it down. "Tears rolling down my face. Faith in human kind restored," concludes Tim Knapp.
464 gray line

Food of giants

Gouda cheese in the NetherlandsImage copyrightThinkstock
The Netherlands has had a centuries-old love affair with dairy products. It's said that about a sixth of the average Dutch food shopping bill goes on milk, butter and cheese. Could there be a connection between this, and the fact that the Dutch are now the tallest people in the world? Ben Coates consider this, the theft of the world's most expensive cheese slicer, and the story that Dutch cheeses were once used as cannonballs by Uruguay's navy.
464 gray line

Art of Hyyge

Two pairs of feet in socks in front of a roaring fireImage copyrightThinkstock
"Fab pre-weekend read," commented Justin Bowser. The Danish concept of hyyge is more than a feeling of cosiness. It represents an entire attitude to life that helps Denmark to vie with Switzerland and Iceland to be the world's happiest country. "In essence hygge is about a group of slightly gloomy friends huddling under the duvet on a cold winter's night," says one expert.
464 gray line

Plastic menace

Various bagsImage copyrightALAMY
"The obsession with plastic bags is interesting," posted Michael Franzi. British supermarket shoppers used 8.5 billion free plastic bags in 2014. From Monday, they will cost 5p if purchased from a store employing more than 250 people. Raw meat, razor blades and medicines will be exempt, though. We look at how we became so reliant on this environmental menace - and what impact the new policy might have on pound shops.
464 gray line

Recommended reads from elsewhere

Subscribe to the BBC News Magazine's email newsletter to get articles sent to your inbox.