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☆ Opinion: Can the party of Winston Churchill really bring about the world’s toughest smoking ban?
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-17 | by ( Opinion Holly Thomas | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

London CNN —Last week, former UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson treated a Canadian crowd to a helping of his signature bombast. Second World War-era Conservative British Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, is also one of history's most famous cigar smokers. Central Press/Hulton Archive/Getty ImagesDespite what Johnson may have led his audience to believe, a potential smoking ban enjoys broad popular support in the UK. New Zealand’s conservative National Party introduced a similar phased smoking ban last year, but reversed it before it went into effect to help pay for tax cuts. Smoking costs the NHS an estimated £2.5 billion ($3.1 billion) every year, equivalent to 2% of the health service’s budget.

Persons: Holly Thomas, Katie Couric, London CNN —, Boris Johnson, Winston Churchill, “, It’s, Rishi Sunak, Johnson, YouGov, Conservative backbenchers, Liz Truss, they’d, it’ll, ’ Organizations: Katie Couric Media, CNN, London CNN, Conservative Party Conference, Conservative British, Central Press, Hulton, National Health Service, Conservative, New, National Party, Cancer Research, Tory Locations: London, Quebec, Britain, America, England, Wales, Scotland

☆ Opinion: It’s time for us to let go of Bridget Jones
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-11 | by ( Opinion Holly Thomas | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

Bridget Jones may be neurotic, absurd and mired in patriarchy, but she’s a hell of a lot more fun than any black coffee-glugging, Marx-bothering Sally Rooney heroine. The third film, 2016’s “Bridget Jones’s Baby” (which followed the 2004 sequel, “Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason”) was enjoyable enough, but it left me feeling as though I’d filled my plate one too many times at a delicious but overstuffed buffet. (It is also a truth universally acknowledged that a piece of writing mentioning Bridget Jones or any Jane Austen adaptation must contain the phrase “it is a truth universally acknowledged,” so that’s out of the way). Bridget Jones changed that. The most disappointing thing about Bridget Jones was always the reaction to her, especially Renée Zellweger’s portrayal.

Persons: Holly Thomas, Katie Couric, Bridget Jones’s, ”, Bridget Jones, Marx, Sally Rooney, Holly Thomas Holly Thomas, Bridget —, “ Bridget Jones, Jane Austen, Renée Zellweger, Hugh Grant, Bridget, Daniel Cleaver, Leo Woodall, I’m, it’s, Bridget grapples, Mark Darcy, Colin Firth, Hugh Grant’s, Darcy, Cleaver, It’s, we’d, — Bertie Wooster, Adrian Mole, Harry Paget Flashman, William Boot —, Bennet, —, Helen Fielding, isn’t, cussing Organizations: Katie Couric Media, CNN, Twitter Locations: London

☆ Opinion: The problem with Beyoncé’s ‘Jolene’
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-04 | by ( Opinion Holly Thomas | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

It’s hardly my place to conclude how much of Beyoncé’s riff on “Jolene” is autobiographical, but I think we can safely assume she wants us to guess. That approach applies perfectly to country music (though she insists “Cowboy Carter” is “a ‘Beyoncé’ album,” not a country album). In “Daughter,” the track that follows “Jolene” on “Cowboy Carter,” Beyoncé continues on the theme of adultery. Whether or not Beyoncé’s “Jolene” has anything to do with her real life — or anyone’s — I think it’s a mistake to see it as a departure from Parton’s version. For someone cycling through the stages of post-cheating grief, Beyoncé’s “Jolene” reads like the “anger” prequel to Dolly’s “bargaining” “Jolene.” As listeners, the point isn’t to imitate either of them, or to know the roots of every phrase.

Persons: Holly Thomas, Katie Couric, CNN —, Holly Thomas Holly Thomas, Beyoncé’s, Dolly Parton’s, Jolene, ”, Cowboy Carter, Jolene — she’s, Parton, “, Beyoncé, don’t, ” Beyoncé, Azealia Banks, Jay, I’m, Tina, Jolene ”, Cowboy Carter ”, Dolly, Becky, Z, She’s, Becky ”, coos Organizations: Katie Couric Media, CNN Locations: London, Houston, Louisiana

☆ Opinion: ‘Boysober’ comes with some baggage
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-08 | by ( Opinion Holly Thomas | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

Are you sure you’re doing the right thing? Whereas “self-partnered’ connotes a vague but cheerful sense of romantic self-care, “boysober” very obviously comes with baggage. To get painfully literal about it: The existence of “boysober” implies the existence of “boydrunk.” Going boysober, one can therefore assume, isn’t just about celibacy or a break from dating. Woodard gets into this in a YouTube video she’s posted ahead of a podcast series on her boysober project. Even if you’re not wholly sure what you’re doing, claiming some agency over that process is reassuring.

Persons: Holly Thomas, Katie Couric, Holly Thomas Holly Thomas, we’ve, Hope Woodard, She’s, she’s, “, Woodard, Emma Watson, ”, she’d “, she’d, Watson, —, It’s, it’s, There’s, you’re Organizations: Katie Couric Media, CNN, New York Times, That’s Locations: London, Tennessee, ”

☆ Opinion: Why Megyn Kelly’s fake feminism is so chilling
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-31 | by ( Jane Carr | Opinion Holly Thomas | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

The unsubstantiated, misleading misogyny of former Fox News anchor Megyn Kelly’s tirade about the harm plastic surgery does to women. Throughout her segment on Moriarty, Kelly latched onto what might, in other hands, under other circumstances, have been sympathetic and important themes. She flagged mental health, the pressures put on women by social media and the beauty industry and the struggle to remain authentic in an increasingly “fake,” AI-dominated world. Moriarty said she would be taking “an extensive if not permanent break” from social media and in her words, she experienced “one of the most challenging weeks” of her life. So much for Kelly’s concerns about her mental health.

Persons: Holly Thomas, Katie Couric, CNN —, Jonathan Rauch, Steve Bannon’s, Holly Thomas Holly Thomas, Rauch, that’s, It’s, Donald Trump, George Floyd’s, Megyn, Kelly, Erin Moriarty, Moriarty, —, ” Kelly, “, Kim Kardashian, ”, Michael Knowles, ” Knowles, Knowles, “ I’ve, she’d “, wasn’t, Naomi Klein, Megyn Kelly Organizations: Katie Couric Media, CNN, America, White House, Fox News, YouTube Locations: London, Hollywood

☆ Opinion: Teen obsession with skin care products isn’t a trend, it’s a warning sign
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-18 | by ( Opinion Holly Thomas | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

The closer you look at the teen (and even tween) skin care craze, the more blemishes appear. The modern rebranding of “beauty products” to “skin care” - reminiscent of that of “diets” to “lifestyles”- implies that simply leaving your skin alone is tantamount to negligence. In 2020, clinical skin care brand Murad enlisted high-school influencers to promote its rejuvenating serums on Instagram. Considering how many such products tend to feature in the average online skin care routine, the potential cost overall is breathtaking. The most worrying thing about today’s skin care craze isn’t just that the financial and emotional buy-in are completely out of proportion to the “need” being addressed.

Persons: Holly Thomas, Katie Couric, mascara, Holly Thomas Holly Thomas, don’t, tweens, “, ”, Murad, Nil Sani, Gen Z Organizations: Katie Couric Media, CNN Locations: London, TikTok

☆ Opinion: This word of the year has a big problem
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-29 | by ( Opinion Holly Thomas | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

According to Merriam-Webster, the word of 2023 is “authentic.” And unlike the dictionary’s last few choices, it’s plagued by contradictions. As Buzzfeed and other outlets made very clear, she was the down-to-earth embodiment of the “cool girl” persona first popularized by Gillian Flynn’s 2012 novel, “Gone Girl,” a riotous, happy-go-lucky sex symbol. Almost overnight, the “cool girl” aura she epitomized was recast. Online, our miniature social media platforms take cues from celebrities’ mega ones. Should we even post about our mental health on social media, if we wouldn’t be comfortable telling our boss about it in person?

Persons: Holly Thomas, Katie Couric, Webster, Holly Thomas Holly Thomas, ”, There’s, Peter Sokolowski, George Santos ’, — Merriam, it’s, we’re, Jennifer Lawrence, didn’t, Dior, cussed, “, Gillian Flynn’s, Lawrence, Hodgson, Emma Chamberlain, we’ll, ” It’s, Jennifer Organizations: Katie Couric Media, CNN, Merriam, Associated Press Locations: London, “

☆ Opinion: In its final season, ‘The Crown’ has lost itself
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-17 | by ( Opinion Holly Thomas | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

CNN —The most anticipated season of “The Crown” has arrived, and no one’s losing much sleep over the Queen this time. One of the many things that captivated viewers when “The Crown” arrived in 2016 was its cinematic scale. The lines between episodes one and three of season six, by contrast, are impossible to draw. As “The Crown” tells it, Al-Fayed’s relentless campaign to see his son Dodi and Diana engaged and thus secure British citizenship is almost as culpable for their deaths as the crash itself. Diana’s final night in Paris is rendered as the fatal culmination of Al-Fayed’s engineering of their relationship, and his pressure on Dodi to propose.

Persons: Holly Thomas, Katie Couric, ”, Holly Thomas Holly Thomas, Princess Diana, Elizabeth Debicki, irresistibly, Joy ”, Prince Phillip, Margaret, Diana, Prince Charles ’, Camilla Parker, Bowles, Mohamed Al, Dodi, Spencer, Diana cavorting, Margaret Thatcher, Prince Philip, Charles, paparazzo, Fayed, Harry, capitulates, Peter Morgan, Prince Charles, Salim Dau Organizations: Katie Couric Media, CNN, Al Locations: London, Al, Paris

☆ Opinion: Matthew Perry wanted to escape being Chandler Bing
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-02 | by ( Jane Carr | Opinion Holly Thomas | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

Commentators have paid tribute to Perry and to Chandler in equal measure. As Perry made clear in his 2022 autobiography, “Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing,” it did not. Chandler, Perry insisted, was a front. Three weeks before his audition for “Friends,” Perry said he fell to his knees and prayed “God, you can do whatever you want to me. Though Perry wanted to escape Chandler, he kept him around, because heaven forbid anyone saw what he was hiding.

Persons: Holly Thomas, Katie Couric, Matthew Perry, Chandler Bing, Holly Thomas Holly Thomas, Perry, Chandler, they’d, ”, he’d, , ” Perry, “, Perry’s, unencumbered, Monica, Jennifer Aniston, George Clooney, Michael J, ’, couldn’t, Roger Organizations: Katie Couric Media, CNN, “, Fox Locations: London, Los Angeles, New York, Canada

☆ Opinion: Britney Spears’ howl of rage is one we all need to hear
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-27 | by ( Opinion Holly Thomas | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

CNN —Britney Spears’ recently released memoir, “The Woman In Me,” opens with a succinct but devastating bit of family history. “Tragedy runs in my family,” Spears observes. Holly Thomas Holly ThomasSpears’ own story is a howl of rage that appears more justified with every chapter. The ridicule that met Spears’ 2007 “meltdown” has since been reevaluated. The fact that Jamie was able to reenter and quickly dominate Spears’ life with apparently minimal difficulty shouldn’t surprise us.

Persons: Holly Thomas, Katie Couric, Britney Spears, ”, Jean, ” Spears, Holly Thomas Holly Thomas Spears, Jamie, Spears, Britney, that’s, “, Jamie —, who’d, —, Meghan Markle’s, Diane Sawyer, Justin Timberlake, Sawyer, Ryan Seacrest, “ Benjamin Button ”, ” “, she’s Organizations: Katie Couric Media, CNN, Jive Records, ” Locations: London, Kentwood , Louisiana, California, ”, Las Vegas

☆ Opinion: Russell Brand’s accusers deserve our support
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-20 | by ( Opinion Holly Thomas | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

It was also the first time that Brand, who was suspended and then resigned amid the backlash, suffered serious consequences. Brand’s 2007 autobiography “My Booky Wook” details accounts of him spitting in a sex worker’s face and smashing another’s phone into a wall. And as one of Brand’s accusers has claimed, those who pulled the strings weren’t just willing to overlook sinister behavior — they bent over backward to accommodate it. He created a mythology around them, at a cultural moment when women were being villainized in a particularly demeaning, sexual way. If they were ever tempted to turn against him, they’d be forced to interrogate why they hadn’t done so sooner.

Persons: Holly Thomas, Katie Couric, CNN —, ”, Russell Brand, Holly Thomas Holly Thomas The, Brand, “, ” Brand, bin Laden, Brand’s, lothario, Sir Jimmy Savile, Savile, he’d, Johnathan Ross, Andrew Sachs, Sachs, Georgina Baillie, Baillie, he’s Russell Brand, he’s, they’d Organizations: Katie Couric Media, CNN, Sunday Times, The Times, Holly Thomas Holly Thomas The Times, Brand, Metropolitan Police, The Sunday Times, Ardent, MTV, BBC, Times, BBC Radio, HarperCollins Locations: London, Northampton, British

☆ Opinion: Why Luis Rubiales and his puerile showdown are so toxic
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-30 | by ( Opinion Holly Thomas | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

Holly Thomas Holly ThomasThe spotlight is on Ángeles Béjar, the mother of Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) president Luis Rubiales. Rubiales gave Jennifer Hermoso of Spain an unwanted kiss during the medal ceremony of the FIFA Women's World Cup on August 20, 2023. Where I grew up in southern England, women’s soccer was a (usually homophobic) punchline. For comparison, tickets to an equivalent men’s game would’ve set us back closer to $1,000. Men’s football may be becoming more inclusive and the players less loutish, but there’s no doubt which sport is the main event.

Persons: Holly Thomas, Katie Couric, CNN — It’s, Holly Thomas Holly Thomas, Béjar, Luis Rubiales, Rubiales, Jennifer Hermoso, Hermoso, ”, she’s, it’s, Paul Gascoigne, ” Gazza, Gazza, would’ve, he’s Organizations: Katie Couric Media, CNN, England, Royal Spanish Football Federation, FIFA, Girls, Women’s Champions League, Arsenal, Wolfsburg, Twitter, Facebook, Spanish Locations: London, Spanish, Motril, Granada, Spain, Eurasia, British, England, Brazil, New York City, Japan, Netherlands

☆ Opinion: What nearly every human seems to be missing about shark attacks
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-10 | by ( Opinion Holly Thomas | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

For the unlucky few who experience shark attacks, the ordeal is undoubtedly terrifying. Yet every summer, stories about shark attacks top homepages. Unlike shark attacks on humans, which are mainly attributed to curiosity, we know exactly what we’re doing. Throughout, the great white is characterized as a dogged predator obsessed with human flesh. I’d never suggest that the victims of shark attacks had it coming, or that cinemagoers should feel an iota of shame.

Persons: Holly Thomas, Katie Couric, Holly Thomas Holly Thomas, Kyle Van Houtan, Peter Benchley, Steven Spielberg’s, Brody’s, Jonas Taylor, Jason Statham, Taylor, I’d Organizations: Katie Couric Media, CNN, New Yorker, Florida Museum, Natural, Monterey Bay Aquarium, Oceanographic Magazine, Twitter, Facebook Locations: London, New York City, New, finning, Monterey, Amity Island’s

☆ Opinion: Ryan Gosling’s ‘Kenergy’ is all I need
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-21 | by ( Opinion Holly Thomas | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

Everything changed when Ryan Gosling, the twice-Oscar-nominated star of “Half Nelson,” “La La Land,” “The Notebook,” “Blade Runner 2049” and “Drive” was sent the script for Greta Gerwig’s “Barbie” movie. The film depicts Ken as pure superficiality, the acme beta man who exists only under the glow of Margot Robbie’s Barbie gaze. His platinum, almost white-bleached hair has lit up every interview, radiating the “Kenergy” he references like punctuation. Asked by one reporter how we might “find our Kenergy,” Gosling replied without missing a beat: “It’s there the whole time… Look no further. In becoming Ken, Gosling dashed one of Hollywood’s most tedious clichés, proving that it is possible to transform into a marshmallow-for-brains “himbo” without turning into an egomaniacal nightmare.

Persons: Holly Thomas, Katie Couric, CNN — Robert Pattinson, “, they’re, ” Holly Thomas Holly Thomas, Jared Leto’s, Viola Davis, ”, Daniel, Lewis, Oscar, Christy Brown, Ryan Gosling, Greta Gerwig’s “ Barbie, Ken, Margot Robbie’s Barbie, Gosling, Jimmy Fallon, “ Barbie, ” Gosling, ” Ryan Gosling, Margot Robbie, Barbie, Kenergy, husbanding, Hi, “ You’ll, Robbie, Gosling’s Barbie, —, that’s, it’s, Ken ”, It’s Barbie, “ Barbie ”, “ I’m Organizations: Katie Couric Media, CNN, acme, Warner Brothers Discovery, Warner Bros ., Alpha, Twitter Locations: London, La, Leicester, “

☆ Opinion: Indiana Jones passes his mantle to the queen of millennial side-eye
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-05 | by ( Opinion Holly Thomas | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

Yet for all his lack of tree trunk biceps, Indiana Jones was always vivacious: outrunning boulders, sparring countless Nazis, and sprinting across collapsing rope bridges. Thomas Kretschmann and Mads Mikkelsen in Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny (2023). Walt Disney PicturesIt’s a mantle-passing in every sense: From Jones to his younger relative, and from a Hollywood legend to the queen of millennial side-eye. Age, and its careworn figurehead Indiana Jones, is chastened. Join us on Twitter and FacebookSo much of the adrenaline of the original Indiana Jones trilogy derived from their massive, intricate sets and intensely choreographed scenes that these days are largely replaced by green screens.

Persons: Holly Thomas, Katie Couric, CNN — Harrison Ford isn’t, Harrison Ford, Indiana Jones, ”, he’s, “, Holly Thomas Holly Thomas Ford’s, Steven Spielberg’s, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sylvester Stallone, brawn, He’s, goddaughter Helena, Phoebe Waller, Archimedes, Thomas Kretschmann, Mads Mikkelsen, Jones, Waller, Helena, we’ve, ’ —, ’, there’s, Tom Cruise, Indiana, Ford, it’s Organizations: Katie Couric Media, CNN, Indy, Walt Disney Pictures, Marvel, Twitter, Indiana Jones Locations: London, “, Indiana

☆ Opinion: These shots at Prince Harry are cheap – and telling
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-08 | by ( Opinion Holly Thomas | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

CNN —For a man whose life has been marked by ceaseless public interest in his every move, Prince Harry’s performance over the last few days has felt remarkably amateur. The issue of phone hacking by Britain’s tabloid media is far more insidious than some coverage of Harry’s testimony might suggest. In 2021, it settled phone hacking claims with other actors including Martin Clunes and David Walliams, and issued an apology. So much of Harry’s life and experience is unrelatable and apparently contradictory. But none of us is ever likely to be judged as exhaustively — or as loudly — as Prince Harry.

Persons: Holly Thomas, Katie Couric, Prince, Harry, Holly Thomas Holly Thomas , —, MGN, Hugh Grant, Martin Clunes, David Walliams, unreservedly, we’re, Rupert Murdoch, Prince William, Milly Dowler, Murdoch, “, Princess Diana, Chelsy Davy, Harry’s, he’s, Prince Harry, ” It’s, who’d Organizations: Katie Couric Media, CNN, British, Group, MGN, Sunday People, News Corp, FBI, Eton, Twitter Locations: London, Botswana

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