In this time of noise, overload and division, it’s easy to get deep into doomscrolling and overwhelm. So it’s wonderful that writers and broadcasters like Jon Ronson exist in the world. As with his brilliant books (he’s tackled everything from social !media cancellation, to the roots of psychopathy) his podcast Things Fell Apart, takes on theContinue reading “Podcast Review: Things Fell Apart”
Category Archives: Society
Lucifer Over Lanarkshire: Diane Morgan Is A Disgrace
I’m not asking for cancellation here, because, as I previously stated, I have a sense of ambivalence about banning artists, but there’s one actor who really winds me up: Diane Morgan. She’s a disgrace. For those of you unfamiliar with her work, Morgan is a comedy actor who is utterly typecast. Essentially, she plays stupid,Continue reading “Lucifer Over Lanarkshire: Diane Morgan Is A Disgrace”
Is Cancel Culture Over?
Jonathan Richman arguably wrote one of the first songs about cancelling artists due to their dodgy tendencies. Titled ‘Pablo Picasso ‘, the chorus went, “Pablo Picasso was never called on asshole”. and was a pointed critique on his philandering. I wonder what he makes of Louis CK, Russell Brand and Lizzo. Nobody is infallible inContinue reading “Is Cancel Culture Over?”
Film Review: Cat Nation
This quirky documentary, created by film maker Tim Delmastro and You Tuber Chris Broad, an Englishman who has lived in Japan for over five years, follows the Japanese fascination with the domestic felines. From a station master’s cat (below, in jaunty hat) to a temple festooned with Neko beckoning lucky cats, to a slightly OTTContinue reading “Film Review: Cat Nation”
Film Review: It’s A Rockabilly World
… Except it’s not,not really. This Brent Huff documentary from 2016 looks great on paper, purporting to look at the rockabilly subculture in all its sassy glory. Instead, it focuses on the Viva Las Vegas convention, with lots of hipster types with sleeve tattoos, blue hair and brothel creepers. It’s colourful enough, and everyone looksContinue reading “Film Review: It’s A Rockabilly World”
Preview: Women In Revolt! @ Tate Britain
This is an enormously exciting bit of news . Tate Britain has just announced a new exhibition, starting on November 8th, showing the seismic shift in female-led art, politics and culture in the UK. Because it’s not just about Thatcher, The Clash and The Sex Pistols. WOMEN IN REVOLT!ART AND ACTIVISM IN THE UK 1970-1990Continue reading “Preview: Women In Revolt! @ Tate Britain”
The Trouble With Irony
In the first part of this millenium, it seems you couldn’t move for irony. Arched of brow,barbed of zinger, pop culture was dominated by irony. It gave us nu-rave, refurbished arcade games, vintage style, the Burlesque and cabaret revival, and- arguably most prominently – comedy that to many was just plain offensive. I get it,Continue reading “The Trouble With Irony”
Film Review: #Unfit
Directed by Dan Partland, #Unfit :The Psychology of Donald Trump is a compelling, thoroughly absorbing and sobering documentary from 2020, which posits that the Orange Menace may in fact be, as many have long suspected, a malignant narcissist, who is not merely unfit for office, but a global threat. It does allude to The GoldwaterContinue reading “Film Review: #Unfit”
” The Idiots Are Winning “
Created by two British comedy heroes, Chris Morris and Charlie Brooker, Nathan Barley seemed to tap into a truth about how big tech would become, the rise of meme culture, and the lowering of attention spans. It came out in the mid-noughties, but was so prescient about internet trends, years before Tik Tok, Threads andContinue reading “” The Idiots Are Winning “”
Disco Pigs: A Twisted Irish Fairytale
Enda Walsh ‘s Disco Pigs as both stage play and film adaptation, the latter directed by Kirsten Sheridan, launched the career of a certain young Cillian Murphy. I’ve seen a pretty underwhelming recent version of the play, to be honest, but the 2001 film is wonderful: a blistering and beautiful concoction, with Murphy as Pig/DarrenContinue reading “Disco Pigs: A Twisted Irish Fairytale”
Hit The North 