Hands in the air like we don't really care, it's the Weekender! Welcome!

Over the years The Weekender has brought you the full range of emotions; joy, heartache, anger and sadness, but most of all just good old-fashioned hilarity. This week is no exception, filled to the brim with political outrage, religious fervour, psychedelic adventure and rugs – lots of rugs. Don’t say we don’t ever do anything for you, we’re giving you the best gift of all!

– Rebecca Mock creates animated GIFs so beautiful you’ll lose 15 minutes to them without even realising. The scrolling of the iPad, the twitching of the foot…

– Like an ever-growing snowball of postal goodness, Things is back this week, and it’s the April edition. Give it up for all this great stuff!

– Sweet and hilarious and occasionally a bit gross, this week on Studio Audience we bid goodbye to two of our longest serving podders as they embark on new adventures!

– You can count on Picture Pictures to do wondrous things with an American supermarket in the newest music video for Toro Y Moi.

– Final year students, press pause on the printer! The Graduates is back, and we want you to enter your work for an opportunity to gain 12 months-worth of making the most of us. Crack on!

– Photographer Jake Green allows us a rare glimpse into London’s Evangelical Churches with his new series The Celestials. Here he is on the people he met while making the project.

– British creativity is innately messy and a bit punk, which is why Sarah Lucas has done a marvellous job of representing it at the Venice Biennale’s British pavilion. All hail Sarah!

– What do you need to take into account before starting up a psychedelic publishing press? The nice chappy behind one in Cornwall explains, and it’s not as lysergic and loopy as you might believe.

– The UK has been swept up in political madness this week, which we figured was an ideal opportunity to celebrate the cartoonists making us guffaw at our leaders’ expense. Join us!

– I don’t know which fantastic person came up with the utter brainwave to make Albert Einstein’s handwriting into a typeface, but they should probably get a raise. Fast Co. explains.

– AnOther Magazine takes us beyond the pavilions at the Venice Biennale.

– The award for one of the most innovative election-related artworks goes to brilliant Bompas & Parr, who lit up the London Eye like a pie chart this week, Wallpaper* explains.

– Could the recent trend for fluid gender identities be making its stamp on the design industry, too? The New York Times reckons so.

Maisie Skidmore

Turns out they really, really love carpets in Russia.

Emily Gosling

A lot of people are feeling rather sad and angry and despondent today. While this won’t make anything better, sometimes when I feel sad or angry or despondent I turn to this video, and think of the plight of poor PJ, of Byker Grove and PJ and Duncan fame. This is that utterly heartbreaking, poignant moment where he gets ice-cream down his top. Coz he’s blind. Just one listen of his mournful, immortal line “hold us, Debbie” often makes my issues feel tiny compared to the plight of that poor fictional Geordie.

James Cartwright

After today’s election results I did some research to get the the bottom of what happened. How could Ed lose? Turns out an article in The Sunday Sport back in 2013 left cat-lovers up and down the country concerned about his ability to govern. Cat-lovers hold the power.