Sitdown Sunday: The strange story behind the late Bonnie Tyler's Total Eclipse of the Heart

Settle down in a comfy chair with some of the week’s best longreads.

IT’S A DAY of rest, and you may be in the mood for a quiet corner and a comfy chair.

We’ve hand-picked some of the week’s best reads for you to savour.

1. The data centre next door

close-up-shot-of-data-center-with-rows-of-fully-operational-server-racks-concept-of-telecommunications-cloud-computing-artificial-intelligence Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo

Texas has become the leading data-centre hub in the US. Data centres have an enormous impact on the climate, but the pollutions also affect the people living locally. Wired has spoken with a Texan local who says their house is regularly covered in dust since a data centre moved into the neighbourhood.

(Wired, approx 10 mins reading time)

Garcia and her husband spent more than a year looking for their ‘piece of heaven’ in the country. ‘We took so much time to get it, and my kids absolutely love it. But under these conditions, we no longer have that,’ she says.

2. The European heatwave is killing chickens in France

sasso-chickens-native-chickens-of-france-on-a-farm-in-worcestershire Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo

Much of Europe has been enduring extreme temperatures which has reportedly caused the deaths of thousands in recent weeks. The New York Times has written about how the heat in France is also killing livestock, with chickens particularly vulnerable due to their feathers and inability to sweat.

(The New York Times, approx seven mins reading time)

“Sylvia Goisbault, 47, who lost only 14 of her 700 chickens, said she nonetheless felt ‘guilty,’ because she ‘didn’t raise them to have this kind of death.’ She said that next year, she would adjust the timing of when she grows her chickens, to avoid having slaughter-ready birds in the summer.”

3. AI food slop

Have you noticed shops and restaurants advertising dishes with pictures that look slightly odd? It might be AI. Patrick Hanlon, food critic and columnist with The Journal, has given his two cents on why food businesses should ditch AI slop.

(The Journal, approx five mins reading time)

“It’s brazen at best and false advertising at worst. Your breads don’t look like that, nor do your cakes or coffees. AI has produced a guesstimate of what you sell rather than using the real product you make as the basis. Someone on Reddit called the phenomenon ‘cartoon food’, which is exactly what it is: fake, artificial food images, made to AI house style, and while not illegal, it’s certainly unethical.”

4. World Cup wonders

hamburger-with-french-fries-beer-and-a-u-s-flag-independence-day-4th-of-july-concept Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo

Videos of overseas soccer fans visiting the US for the World Cup are all over the internet. Why? Because people are shocked by offerings like unlimited refills and ranch dressing. According to The New York Times there’s more to it though, with many of these allegedly shocked fans not even being in the US.
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/06/18/dining/world-cup-tourists-food-videos.html

(The New York Times, approx six mins reading time)

“As charmed as they are by the United States, the United States is even more charmed by them. For the past week or two, the country has been gazing with delight at its own reflection in the cracked mirror of social media. World Cup tourists going gaga over gas-station cuisine and Big Gulps has become the feel-good story of the deep-fried American summer.”

5. Death of the world’s largest iceberg

iceberg-a23a-largest-iceberg-on-the-planet-drifting-north-in-the-southern-ocean-iceberg-showing-signs-of-decay-with-arches-and-caves-appearing Iceberg A23a showing signs of decay with arches and caves appearing. Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo

The world’s largest iceberg, called A23a, has died after spending 35 years floating around arctic waters. A23a captured the world’s attention and improved our knowledge of icebergs and marine biodiversity. National Geographic has delivered an ode on the life and death of the block of ice.

(National Geographic, approx 17 mins reading time)

6. The teen hacker who was exposed by his takeaway order

Two British young men were recently convicted for the 2024 cyber-attack against Transport for London. One of the men, Thalha Jubair, was reportedly caught because of a takeaway order to his family’s Tower Hamlets flat.

(London Centric, approx 11 mins reading time)

“So who is the TfL hacker? By attending court appearances, reviewing Telegram messages, and interviewing cybersecurity experts, London Centric has pieced together Jubair’s journey from a Roblox-playing east London child to a criminal mastermind who allegedly extorted tens of millions of pounds from his bedroom as part of the Scattered Spider cybergang.”

…AND A CLASSIC FROM THE ARCHIVES…

7. The history of Total Eclipse of the Heart

madrid-spain-30th-july-2021-welsh-singer-bonnie-tyler-performing-during-the-push-play-festival-at-the-hipodromo-de-la-zarzuela-in-madrid-spain-credit-isabel-infantesalamy-live-news The late Bonnie Tyler performing in Spain in 2021. Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo

Welsh singer Bonnie Tyler died this week aged 75. This 2024 article from Time details the strange history of her song Total Eclipse of the Heart.

(Time, approx six mins reading time)

“Such shamelessness fuels the dazzlingly absurd music video for ‘Total Eclipse,’ a staple of early-days MTV. Set in an abandoned insane asylum made to resemble an English boarding school, there are slow-motion doves, dancing ninjas, fencers, gymnasts, shirtless boys in swim goggles, and enough wind machines and candles to pose a serious fire hazard. Director Russell Mulcahy recounted collaborating on the storyboard with Steinman in the book ‘I Want My MTV,’ an oral history of the cable network. ‘I’d say, ‘Let’s set it in a school and have ninjas in one scene,’ Mulcahy said. ‘And he’d say, ‘Let’s have a choirboy with glowing eyeballs.’ Jim is fabulously, fabulously crazy.’”