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.

Article
  1. Culture
  2. Music
A black and white photo shows, singer Leonard Cohen to the right hand side, eyes closed and head inclined slightly upwards.

The holy or the broken: Hallelujah at 40

Belle Tindall
What’s the magic sauce Leonard Cohen mixed into his masterpiece?
5min read
Podcast
  1. Advent
  2. Christmas culture
Five candles sit in a row against a dark background, only one is lit.

Christmas countdown day 1: advent calendars

Alianore Smith
Beyond waiting: Advent’s acknowledgements and expectations.
1min read
Podcast
  1. Advent
  2. Culture
The head of a giant paper dragon glows orange and red against a night sky.

Christmas countdown day 3: dragons and nativity

Julie Canlis
Is your nativity missing a dragon?
1min read
Article
  1. Attention
  2. Culture
A backlit person at twilight holds a hand out towards the camera, holding some fairly lights

Take a walk: the world is weirder than you think it is

From Mockingbird
Psychogeography and the dark alleyways of the mind.
6min read
Podcast
  1. Culture
  2. Podcasts
A yellow book cover reading: Sally Rooney, Intermezzo.

Seen & Unseen Aloud: awe, grudges, and wonder.

Natalie Garrett
Why snow still generates awe, the consequences of grudges, and an open letter to Sally Rooney.
1min read
Review
  1. Attention
  2. Culture
A conductor leans in toward an unseen orchestra with a raised hand.

James MacMillan’s music of tranquility and discord

Jonathan Evens
The composer’s music contends both the secular and sacred.
5min read
Review
  1. Awe and wonder
  2. Culture
Concert goes stand, bathed in warm light, raising their hands in the air, facing away from the camera to the stage

Ezra Collective understands the where and how of transcendence

Josh Richards
Dance music allows us to encounter what’s ’beyond our ken’.
3min read
Review
  1. Books
  2. Culture
Tony Blair rests on the edge of a desk.

Blair’s revelatory sermon to Starmer

Krish Kandiah
What can the former Prime Minister teach about leadership?
5min read
Podcast
  1. Awe and wonder
  2. Culture
A woman sitting in an empty church talks to the camera and gestures with one hand.

Sarah Irving-Stonebraker: re-enchanting the ahistorical age

Nick Jones
In our age of self-invention, we are profoundly disconnected from the history that once gave us identity.
1min read
Review
  1. Belief
  2. Culture
A man looks scarily upwards.

Heretic: Hugh Grant’s brilliance wrestles this tranquilized take on holy horror

Yaroslav Walker
If not original, a dissection of belief needs to be sincere and agile.
4min read
Review
  1. Culture
  2. Grace
three folk musicians face the camera across a meadow

Revisiting Amazing Grace inspires new songs

Jonathan Evens
Today’s musicians capture both the barbaric and the beautiful.
5min read
Column
  1. Culture
  2. Football
A striker is about kick a football towards a goal, a red beach ball sits between him and the goalkeeper.

Referees and stupidity

Jonathan Rowlands
What one referee’s foul-mouthed rant tells us about the nature of sport, and authority.
7min read