What we're reading
- Notting Hill Carnival revellers use graffiti to hit back at Boiler Room, over fears they're receiving unfair funding to cover it.
- Weighing up the benefits of buying a bike over an annual London travelcard.
- Have you noticed the imprisoned puppies on the London underground?
- City Hall are tackling increase in rough sleeping on night tube and night buses.
Things to do
MR BENN: Did you turn on the TV as a kid to watch Mr Benn? Perhaps you read the books about the bowler-hatted hero. Then can you believe it's been 50 years since his creation? An exhibition of concept artworks, sketches, and published book illustrations is on display as well as never-seen-before animation from the original films. Illustration Cupboard (St James'), free, just turn up, 9.30am-6pm
IMMERSIVE EXPERIENCE: What is truth? What is the nature of truth? IWM London invites you to investigate in their immersive sensory experience to coincide with the last chance to see Syria: A Conflict Explored. IWM London, free, just turn up, 10am-6pm (until 3 September)
BYE BYE TIKI: Barsmith's Tiki pop-up is on its way out, so nab a drink or two in this tropical paradise, complete with a bamboo bar, authentic carved Tiki Gods and sprawling palm trees before it's gone along with the dying embers of Summer. Barsmith (Farringdon), free entry, book ahead, noon-midnight
GAY UK: 50 years since the Sexual Offences Act partially decriminalised homosexuality, The British Library have drawn together personal testimonies, original manuscripts, oral history recordings and art from their collection to highlight Gay UK in Love, Law and Liberty. The British Library, free, just turn up, noon-midnight
PUBLIC SPACES: How to take care of our public orchards? This talk will explain all about the Hanwell Orchard Trail local community project in the Grand Union Canal corridor. Learn how to build nature and wildlife habitat improvements in the city and help London become a more sustainable place. Museum of London, free, just turn up, 1pm-2pm
COUNTERCULTURE: The Subculture Archives Pop-Up brings you the counterculture 'icon' that is London Mayoral Candidate Lee Harris for an evening talk, DJ set and exhibition. The Subculture Archives (Carnaby), free, just turn up, 6pm-10pm
ST PAUL'S LATE: When was the last time you visited St Paul's? The twilight hours are a great chance to rediscover the beauty of Wren's great church, away from the hustle and bustle of the daytime crowds — plus, it's a rare chance to take photographs inside. St Paul's Cathedral, £10, book ahead, 6.30pm-9pm
FIRE AND ICE: This innovative writing workshop helps you take the fear out of writing, and get the very best out of your work. Perhaps it'd help us write better listings... Free Word Centre (Clerkenwell), £20, book ahead, 7pm-9pm
OOH LA LA: Not for the prudish or faint-hearted. Director of Dreams of Spanking, Pandora Blake, invites you to a discussion of the wild and wonderful world of feminist porn. How can you access it without contributing to exploitation? Find out everything you've ever wanted to know but been too shy to ask. The Book Club (Shoreditch), £7, book ahead, 7.30pm-9.30pm
JAZZ HANDS: Looking for an evening of powerhouse Indo-jazz funk? Say no more. Electric bass player Shez Raja and his band are leading a talented smooth line-up to get you excited about jazz. 606 Jazz Club, Chelsea, £10, book ahead, 8pm-11pm
Food review: a chaimendous new tea & coffee house
How do you like your tea? Builders? Milk and two sugars? How about flavoured with fresh rose, saffron or lavender, sweetened with Jaggery (a sweetener sourced from Kithul palms) and stirred with a Sri Lankan cinnamon stick? From the deliciously earthy, subtly spiced hand-brewed chai to the homemade clay cups, Costa Coffee this isn't. Pamban Chai and Coffee House is shaking up London's café scene with its velvety, rooibos tea-infused red cappuccinos (for when you can't decide if you fancy tea or coffee), pretty rose petal and chia seed faluda desserts and our fave: the creamy coconut lassi with oat milk, soya ice cream and pistachio. Beverages are sweet without being sickly, spicy without being fiery and reasonably priced too. Hungry? The lamprais (beetroot, aubergine and cashew curry all wrapped in a banana leaf) is proving a firm favourite and had sold out on our visit. Although we'd happily return for a day of procaffeinating among the potted palms and blonde wood interior, a bladder full of chai isn't conducive to a teahouse without a toilet — a minor gripe among an otherwise chaimendous new Camden cafe. Pamban Chai and Coffee House, Camden Market, North Yard, Chalk Farm Road, NW1 8AH. ★★★★☆ Kyra Hanson
Theatre review: Late Company is a gripping success
Trafalgar Studios' intimate set-up is perfect for the dinner-party at the core of Late Company, a short but near-perfect play juggling homophobia, cyber-bullying and parental responsibility. Canadian MP Michael and sculptor Deborah nervously await guests, there is an empty place setting for their late son, everyone's tense, and the revelations are cathartic. In a taut 75 minutes, Late Company serves up a whole evening's worth of black humour-studded shock, anger and sadness. With stunning and heartfelt acting, this is a cleverly constructed and sensitively attacked play that has the audience completely engrossed. Read more. Late Company, Trafalgar Studios, 14 Whitehall, SW1A 2DY, £15-30. Until 16 September ★★★★☆ [Monday - Saturday] Hari Mountford
Art review: upside down palm
An upside down palm tree, a set of ancient Egyptian Canopic jars and a shelf full of books. Odd bedfellows but that's the surreal world of Jennifer Tee for you. It defies explanation, so best to just embrace the madness of it all. Worth noting this is a stronger show than her exhibition at Camden Arts Centre. Jennifer Tee: Structures of Recollection and Perseverance at Kunstraum, 21 Roscoe Street, EC1Y 8PT, free Until 9 September ★★★★☆ [Wednesday-Sunday] Tabish Khan
Good cause of the day: the big bottle count
We all know by now that single-use plastic bottles are a huge part of the pollution of the Earth's waters and a dangerous threat to wildlife. See for yourself the effects floating litter has on London with Thames21's The Big Bottle Count, as one billion water bottles are discarded here every year. Budding citizen scientists are asked to join in to collect invaluable data by counting and removing plastic from the east side along the Thames. Saturday 2 September, east London, free, register, noon-5pm
