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SubscriptionsSection: Culture
History, music, cooking, travel, books, theatre, film – but also with an eye on the ‘culture wars’, nationalism and identity.
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Odeon of Death Review of the Week: Old Mr Corbyn’s Fudge Shop
The Odeon of Death takes a look at the week’s events through the medium of cinema.
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How Englishness was Created – A Culture, Not an Ethnicity
The Count of the Saxon Shore continues exploring the origins Englishness through the ‘game of thrones’ of seven kingdoms and the ‘Norway plus’ model of the time.
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‘THE BRINK’: Steve Bannon Doc is Scariest Movie of the Summer
Alison Klayman’s new documentary follows the right-wing media executive and one-time Trump confidante Steve Bannon on his mission to create a populist US and Europe.
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MOOD-BASED TRAVEL: Havana Ooh Na Na
In the latest in his series exploring how to experience travelling as a antidote to your mood, Kyle Taylor sets out the hotspots of Havana.
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Living with Attention Deficit Disorder
Mike Stuchbery on his recent ADD diagnosis and why this has provided the breakthrough he needed.
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Brexit and Empire: Nostalgia for a Nation that Never Was is Driving Britain over a Cliff
With the likely next Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, praising Britain today as the ‘Greatest Place on Earth’ all the unlearned lessons of Empire are coming back to haunt us.
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WORD OF THE WEEK: involution
(n.) the act of turning round or back; degeneration, the act of making worse
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DIY Punk Spirit – how Poetry is Thriving while Politics is in Chaos
Ahead of their appearance at the Byline Festival, Salena Godden introduces an interview with the poet Matt Abbott about the Nymphs & Thugs poetry record label and his co-hosting of LIVEwire.
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Spiderman – How to Make a Blockbuster in the Netflix Era
Chris Sullivan hails a new addition to the Marvel franchise, that marvels with its spectacle when all else fails.
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The Odeon of Death Review of the Week: Being There
The Odeon of Death takes a look at the week’s events through the medium of cinema.
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Divide and Rule: ‘Colonial Mindsets Fuelling Islamophobia and Racism’
Hardeep Matharu speaks to Tahir Butt, a Muslim campaigner who spent nearly 30 years in the police, about his experience of racism and identity.
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Love Island and Number Ten – a Beauty Contest for Toxic Masculinity
Salena Godden writes the sixth episode of Pessimism for Lightweights on Bravery in Peckham, Dystopia on Love Island and Comfort in Books
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From Protest to Party: Why Corporate Brands Need to Stop Hijacking Pride and Let Us Riot
Molly Greeves on why the iconic festival celebrating the LBGT+ community must return to its roots to have a real impact on social change.
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The Odeon of Death Film Review: Back to the Future
In the first of our new series, The Odeon of Death takes a look at the week’s events through the medium of cinema.
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WORD OF THE WEEK: Bloviate
(v.) to talk boastfully or pompously; to talk without actually saying anything meaningful
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King Offa of Mercia: Rejoining Europe and a Currency Union
As hustings are held throughout the country as part of that morbidly parochial spectacle that is the Tory leadership contest, the Count of the Saxon shore remembers the internationalism that was always part of the regional nature of English identity.
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THIRTY YEARS OF RAVE: The Police, Ecstasy and Mrs Thatcher
WAG Club founder and DJ Chris Sullivan reminisces and riffs about the rave scene of the late 80s
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Liam Gallagher’s Been Pontificating on Knife Crime – But has he Heard of the ‘Dunning Kruger Effect’?
Otto English on why celebrities, who know very little about the political issues they are offering views on, should stick to their métier.
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The Seven Kingdoms of the North that Shaped Britain’s role in Europe
The Count of the Saxon Shore on the Anglo-Saxon arguments about independence and internationalism over a religious customs union with Europe.
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Midsummers Dreams of Flying: Courage is a Muscle
Salena Godden on how our ancient dreams of the impossible became today’s realities and prove that ‘Pessimism is for Leightweights’
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‘DIE MAUER IM KOPF’: Why Bannon Told Trump to “Build the Wall”
Hardeep Matharu explores the 30th anniversary of the end of the Berlin Wall and how and why the building of walls is making a worrying comeback – in the US and elsewhere.
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Whatever they say, Fast Fashion Brands aren’t Sustainable
Erika Koljonen investigates whether cheap and cheerful clothing can be sustainable as the fast fashion brands claim.
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‘John Wick’ Body Count: Do Violent Movies Inspire Violence Amongst their Viewers?
Chris Sullivan on the age-old debate about whether fictional displays of violence increase it in reality, now informed by some groundbreaking research.
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Anybody can be a Hero: The Story of Lilo Hermann
Whenever Mike Stuchbery travels to Stuttgart he is reminded that the courage to resist authoritarianism and tyranny isn’t restricted to a particular kind of individual and here manifests itself in the form of a bookish single mother.
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Watching the Apocalypse? Turn off the TV and Find a Better Ending
Salena Godden’s fourth episode of ‘Pessimism is for Lightweights’ warns of the dangers of too much bad news and the need for hope.
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THE UPSIDE DOWN: The Limits of Charm – Britain’s Worst Ever MP
John Mitchinson on the life and times of Ignácz Trebitsch and the prescient lessons our politicians can take from his grisly demise.
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MOOD-BASED TRAVEL: Hong Kong – City in the Sky
In the latest in his series exploring how to experience travelling as a antidote to your mood, Kyle Taylor sets out the wonders of Hong Kong.
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THE UPSIDE DOWN: Learning to Love Weeds
John Mitchinson explores why weeds force us to think differently about what is and isn’t ‘natural’
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Armour, Kimonos and a Moment of Peace – a Testing Week for Salena
Salena Godden writes her third episode of ‘Pessimism is for Lightweights’ about a testing week that had a precious moment of solidarity
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WORD OF THE WEEK: caciquism
(n.) political bossism; a political system in which one powerful figure wields considerable power or influence The first is that it could win you a game of Scrabble one day. In 1982, a professional player named Karl Khoshaw played caziques (an official alternative spelling caciques) in an international Scrabble tournament and, with a score of…
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Unbroken: The Story of Artemisia Gentileschi
Mike Stuchbery on a renaissance artist who overcame the predatory sexism of her day and survives as an emblem of feminist persistence.
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‘The North Remembers’: How an Anglo-Saxon Game of Thrones led to a Northern Powerhouse
The Count of the Saxon Shore on why ‘the North Remembers’. It was the original source of a progressive, articulate English identity.
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Pessimism is for Lightweights: Episode 2: From Brighton Fringe to Parliament Square.
Salena Godden, poet and writer, continues her whirlwind of readings and gigs at festivals and invites us all to share a moment of peace, community and solidarity. “The Future hasn’t happened yet. The idea that our civilisation is doomed is not an established fact. It is a story we tell ourselves.” – John Higgs The…
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WORD OF WEEK: mebby-scales
(n.) a state of indecision, wavering between two opinions or options If last week’s EU election results taught us anything, it’s that the UK is still as divided as ever. On the one hand, Remainers claimed the biggest victory of the night: add up the votes for all those parties overtly calling for the 2016…
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London Calling – City of the World
Mike Stuchbery recalls a cacophony of people through time, who came to London and made it what it is today.
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London Never Was an English City: and the Anglo-Saxons Always Distrusted It
Built by Romans, shunned by the Anglo Saxons, renewed by the Normans, Britain’s great capital has survived adversity through diversity.
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Remembering Steve Strange: The Ultimate ‘New Romantic’ who Hated the Name
Chris Sullivan, DJ and writer remembers Steve Strange, lead singer of Visage and the New Romantic Movement on what would have been his 60th birthday.
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Pessimism is for Lightweights: Teenage Dreams in Tumultuous Times
On the road with her LiveWire poets, Salena Godden finds hope in youth and poetry’s ability to help us mourn our passing world.
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She Came from Nowhere: The Tale of Jeanne Hatchette
Mike Stuchbery on another stirring story from our European past that shows how small actions can have big consequences.
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A Different Kind of Trip – Mood Based Travel
Kyle Taylor and psychologist Pasha introduce their concept of prescribing where to go and what to do as an antidote for your mood.
