The women who shaped Sigmund Freud and a hero who can’t feel pain – what to watch, read and do this week
Think of Sigmund Freud, the “father of psychoanalysis”, and a few images probably come to mind. A smouldering cigar. His small wire-frame glasses. And of course, his psychoanalytic couch – the divan his patients would lie on during sessions. While the couch has become an enduring symbol of Freud’s practice, and indeed for therapy more generally, few people know that it was originally a gift from one of his wealthy woman patients, Madame Benvenisti.
It’s on show at London’s Freud Museum as part of the exhibition Women & Freud: Patients, Pioneers, Artists. Until May 5, the space will be packed with works that celebrate the women in Freud’s life.
Throughout the exhibition, images, film footage and artworks are brought together to ask questions about the women of psychoanalysis. Whether they are patients, analysts, friends and family, or artistic inheritors of its legacy, the show offers much food for thought.
Marie Bonaparte, great-grandniece to Napoleon, intervened to save Freud from the Nazis. She is remembered through previously undisplayed correspondence. Portuguese artist Paula Rego’s work speaks to Freud’s ideas about the family. And contributions to the wider field of psychoanalysis by American-born Maria Battle Singer, Britain’s first black psychoanalyst, are finally celebrated.
Women & Freud: Patients, Pioneers, Artists is at the Freud Museum until May 5.
The dance of death
White Lotus Mondays have become a ritual in my household. If you’ve been watching season three, you probably have the same questions as me. Who is going to die? Who is going to kill them? And what on Earth is going on with those brothers?
For most viewers, this season, set on the Thai island of Ko Samui, has been a slower burn than the previous one. And who isn’t missing Jennifer Coolidge’s unforgettable turn as the eccentric heiress Tanya McQuoid? But, for my money, series three has now more than earned our trust. The latest episode delivered confrontations, realisations and some jaw-dropping escalations.
As we head into Monday’s 90-minute final episode, we’ve been reflecting on the way the show’s creator Mike White has engaged with Buddhist philosophy. Brooke Schedneck, an expert in contemporary Buddhism and religious tourism in Thailand, explains what the show gets right and wrong about common Buddhist practices.
White Lotus is streaming on Sky Atlantic and Now TV.
Read more: What 'The White Lotus' gets wrong about the meaning and goals of common Buddhist practices
One thing most of this season’s White Lotus characters have in common is a love for a good dance – whether neon-daubed at a full-moon party, dripping with sweat in a mega club or vibing on the decks of a super yacht.
Thailand’s dance culture has its roots in a movement that began in dingy bars in the UK, before spreading to Ibiza, eastern Europe and finally Asia. We asked the experts behind new book Transatlantic Drift, which tracks the emergence, evolution and global spread of nightclubs, to explain the history of dance music and the spaces it’s enjoyed in. As they explain, from basements to beaches, dancefloors have always mirrored social change.
Transatlantic Drift by Katie Milestone and Simon A. Morrison is out now.
Read more: A brief history of dance music – from basements to beaches, dancefloors have mirrored social change
The pain of uncertainty
Another book on our reading lists this week is Embracing Uncertainty by entrepreneur Margaret Heffernan. As our world faces a perfect storm of environmental, societal and economic challenges, the need to support innovation and champion persistence has seldom felt greater. Heffernan’s book explores how writers, musicians and artists can thrive in our unpredictable world.
We asked professor of cognitive neuroscience David Pearson for his take. He found Heffernan to be an engaging storyteller and thought the book’s hopeful and inspiring stories pointed the way to a more optimistic future.
Embracing Uncertainty by Margaret Heffernan is out now.
Read more: Embracing Uncertainty: what we can all learn from how artists thrive in an unpredictable world
Jack Quaid – son of Dennis Quaid and Meg Ryan – has quietly been making a name for himself as an actor to watch. I greatly enjoyed his work in Companion, an AI-gone-wrong thriller that deserved far more attention. And he showed his romcom chops in 2019’s wedding caper, Plus One.
Now he’s turning to another genre, action, as the lead in Novocaine. Quaid plays Nathan, a man who feels no pain and is on a mission to save the girl of his dreams from the bank robbers who have taken her hostage. He takes bullets without flinching, grabs a hot pan with his bare hands and fishes a gun from a deep frier – all without feeling a thing.
As far as the movie goes, it’s a recipe for zany, if gory, fun. But in real life this condition, known as congenital insensitivity to pain, is far from a superpower. Pain may not feel nice, but it saves lives, as our medical expert explains.
Novocaine is in cinemas now.
Read more: Novocaine: the movie action hero with a real-life syndrome that makes him immune to pain