FT Weekend Magazine: news, features and interviews from the Financial Times

Emilio Botin, chairman of Spain's biggest bank Santander

©Reuters Jan 25, 2013

Emilio’s perfect storm

Emilio Botín has taken Banco Santander from a modest family business to one of the world’s top 10 banks, in the process acquiring immense power in his native Spain. But is the indefatigable head of this extraordinary dynasty finally about to come unstuck? By Patrick Jenkins

Food & drink

Canada warms up

©Ingram Pinn

There were more impressive whites than reds but – thanks to climate change – reds are no longer pale apologies for wine

– Jancis Robinson

Recipe: far Breton, or custard cake with prunes

©Andy Sewell

‘It may not be French nursery food but it does inhabit a realm where food provokes a reverie of the past’

– Rowley Leigh

©Igor Starkov/Salt Images Jan 25, 2013

Putin and the monk

The apparent influence of the Orthodox church on Vladimir Putin is down to one man. So how did Father Tikhon Shevkunov become the confidant – and, some say, confessor – of the Russian president?

©Annie Sinton Jan 25, 2013

My daughter’s voice

Yes, the device that enables my daughter to talk is incredible – but so is the human effort involved. So rather than focus on the technology, just listen

©Christopher Anderson / Magnum Pho Jan 26, 2013

Neuro visions

As he approaches 80 and reflects on his life as a pre-eminent neurologist and author, Oliver Sacks talks about hallucinations – drug-induced and otherwise

The old railway path, just north of Aldeburgh

©Rob Ball From PURSUITS Jan 25, 2013

A walk with the FT: In Britten’s footsteps

Sound recordist Chris Watson tunes into the Suffolk soundscape that inspired the composer

Simon Kuper

Illustration by Luis Gra?ena of snooty Parisians

©Luis Grañena

When a man is tired of Paris …

Weekend Magazine Columnists

Robert Shrimsley A frosty week for parents …
Gillian Tett Davos take note: we don’t trust you
Nicholas Lander eats out in Marrakech
Undercover Economist schools and house prices
Mrs Moneypenny Golden shots

©Laura Carlin Jan 25, 2013

Can we have too much self-esteem?

’It is impossible to do better if you are under the illusion you’re already the best’

3D printing shows its teeth

Dentists are using the technology to make precise models of patients’ faces, jaws and teeth, so as to plan procedures such as implants and facial surgery

Called to the jar

Ex-St John Bread and Wine patissier Lillie O’Brien now runs her own jam business using traditional copper pans. Here she shares three sticky, seasonal ways to enhance wintry teas and toasts

The Inventory: Carolina Herrera

‘I don’t think ambition ever stops for those who really care about what they do’

A portrait of Amit Trivedi by Asmita Parelkar

Highlights

Emilio Botín has taken Banco Santander from a modest family business to one of the world’s top 10 banks, in the process acquiring immense power in his native Spain. But is the indefatigable head of this extraordinary dynasty finally about to come unstuck? By Patrick Jenkins

The apparent influence of the Orthodox church on Vladimir Putin is down to one man. So how did Father Tikhon Shevkunov become the confidant – and, some say, confessor – of the Russian president?

Yes, the device that enables my daughter to talk is incredible – but so is the human effort involved. So rather than focus on the technology, just listen

As he approaches 80 and reflects on his life as a pre-eminent neurologist and author, Oliver Sacks talks about hallucinations – drug-induced and otherwise

Sound recordist Chris Watson tunes into the Suffolk soundscape that inspired the composer

’It is impossible to do better if you are under the illusion you’re already the best’

Dentists are using the technology to make precise models of patients’ faces, jaws and teeth, so as to plan procedures such as implants and facial surgery

Ex-St John Bread and Wine patissier Lillie O’Brien now runs her own jam business using traditional copper pans. Here she shares three sticky, seasonal ways to enhance wintry teas and toasts

‘I don’t think ambition ever stops for those who really care about what they do’

The first instrument Indian composer Amit Trivedi played was an electronic disk borrowed from a neighbour at 13

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