Democracy, birds and hangover cures – famous fans put their questions to the visionary author

After the ­phenomenal global success, not to mention timeliness, of the TV adaptation of The Handmaid’s Tale in 2017, Margaret Atwood has been regarded as “a combination of figurehead, prophet and saint”, the author writes in her new memoir Book of Lives. Over 600 pages this “memoir of sorts” ranges from her childhood growing up in the Canadian backwoods to her grief at the death of her partner of 48 years, the writer Graeme Gibson, in 2019, with many friendships, the occasional spat and more than 50 books (including Cat’s Eye, Alias Grace and the Booker prizewinning The Blind Assassin and The Testaments) in between.

The author, who turned 86 last week, always likes to take the long view, often from a couple of centuries’ distance. As Rebecca Solnit notes below, she now has a long view of our times. Age and the freedom of being a writer (as she says, she can’t get sacked) make her fearless in speaking out.

A vibrant community tradition to theatrically restage a decisive moment in their independence struggle is vital to Panama’s Guna people

Beyond the written word and photographic evidence, how does one keep history alive? For the Guna people of northern Panama, community theatre emerges as a potent form of cultural documentation and preservation. This vibrant documentary directed by Duiren Wagua, who hails from the same Indigenous community, traces a vital tradition that breathes life into monumental events from the past.

The year 1903 marked the separation of Panama from Colombia. But with this independence came fresh conflicts, as the new Panamanian government refused to recognise Tulenega Shire, an autonomous Indigenous territory formed in 1870. The Guna people were subjugated under racist laws designed to erase their culture and pillage their land of resources. In February 1925, the local population, women included, took up arms in what is known as the San Blas rebellion against Panama’s soldiers, a courageous fight that brought about independence for the region.

The prehistoric birch tar found in Estonia contained traces of saliva that were analysed by genetics experts

A piece of stone age “gum” chewed by a teenage girl 10,500 years ago has been discovered by archaeologists in Estonia.

The Institute of History and Archaeology at the University of Tartu discovered the prehistoric birch tar had impressions of teeth marks and traces of saliva.