Culture

Our curated articles offering new takes on the big themes and questions in our culture. Plus reviews of books, film, media and experiences. Culture is one of four key themes covered by Seen & Unseen.

Review
  1. Art
  2. Care
A painting of a haunted looking old man dressed in an imagined military uniform.

Mental health: the art that move us from ostracism to empathy

Susan Gray
Four current London exhibitions show the move towards compassion.
1min read
Article
  1. Attention
  2. Culture
A celebrity wears a highly stylised cuboid suit to the Met Gala.

Here’s to the Met Gala, and to those who weren’t there

Belle Tindall
We’re teaching ourselves that if we’re void of attention, we’re void of significance.
5min read
Explainer
  1. Belief
  2. Culture
An Anglican bishop wearing purple shakes hands with the Pope.

As the Conclave begins, why does the Pope matter today?

Graham Tomlin
The personal, vivid link to the origins of the movement that changed the world.
4min read
Article
  1. AI
  2. Culture
A couple crouch together on a beach in a Studio Ghibli style image.

Is AI animation really harmless fun?

Callum Elwood
Toying around with AI trinkets just feeds our shadows.
6min read
Article
  1. Character
  2. Culture
A dejected football coach squats by the byline.

What happens if your club doesn’t win?

Henry Corbett
In football leagues and life not all of us can be winners.
3min read
Article
  1. Culture
  2. Economics
A montage shows Trump with a raised fist against other images of him and the phrase 'fight fight fight'.

The rights and wrongs of making money with meme coins

Laurence Fletcher
When does investing become speculating, or even addictive gambling?
6min read
Review
  1. Comedy
  2. Culture
A montage shows a group of comedians trying not to laugh.

Last One Laughing: we’re less in control than we think

Jonny Torrance
"Humour is human" and deeply strange.
4min read
Review
  1. Culture
  2. Film & TV
Two actors in 1930s clothes sit in an open car while the film director gestures towards them.

Sinners is standout thanks to Ryan Coogler and his ‘no stupid people’ rule

Giles Gough
A cleverly choreographed culture clash between the living and the un-dead.
4min read
Article
  1. AI
  2. Culture
A desperate man wearing 18th century clothes holds candlesticks

AI will never codify the unruly instructions that make us human

Henna Cundill
The many exceptions to the rules are what make us human.
5min read
Article
  1. Culture
  2. Death & life
Trump and Zelensky sit and face each other.

Is a funeral the right backdrop for diplomacy?

Jamie Mulvaney
Where there's an unavoidable collision between the universal and the individual.
3min read
Article
  1. Belief
  2. Culture
A bassist hauls a double bass of its base as he plays it.

How Mumford and friends explore life's instability

Jonathan Evens
Communing on fallibility, fear, grace, and love.
5min read
Article
  1. Culture
  2. Digital
A man reads a newspaper called The Punch.

Failure to report Nigeria’s massacres reflects a wider media evolution

Chris Wadibia
The new reporters and the struggle to tell the truth.
4min read