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. Culture
  2. Music
Side by side, two rodeo riders on horses trot toward the camera. One is Beyonce, the other a cowboy

Beyoncé’s breaking barriers

Krish Kandiah
Cowboy Carter sees the star crack her whip in the temple of the music industry.
6min read
Article
  1. America
  2. Conspiracy theory
A sleeping voter sits and snoozes next to voting booth.

Will America succumb to the undertow?

Jared Stacy
A returning expat asks if an exhausted majority is, in fact, asleep.
5min read
Essay
  1. Culture
  2. Film & TV
A bloody and shocked boxed leans on the ropes

Scorsese’s fusion

Sonny Tindall
The director's whole canon is infused with religion.
5min read
Interview
  1. Art
  2. Culture
Head and shoulders of a speaking man.

How to look at our world: Aaron Rosen interview

Jonathan Evens
In a visual culture how we gaze becomes more important.
11min read
Review
  1. Books
  2. Culture
A Chinese stamp depicts a map of the country from which people march holding a little red book

Remembering red on red

Simon Burton-Jones
The cultural revolution's factions have a disconcertingly contemporary feel.
4min read
Essay
  1. Culture
  2. Freedom of Belief
A black clad pilgrim squats and holds his head on the side of a desert road as other pilgrims walk along.

Inside one of the world's great pilgrimages

Andrew Thompson
Invited to experience Arbaeen, a vicar ponders its perpetual lament.
8min read
Column
  1. Culture
  2. Eating
A tired-looking chef turns around to look across his shoulder.

We could all benefit from hospitality’s bear hug

Krish Kandiah
In a compelling series, The Bear offers a richer and nuanced redemptive journey.
6min read
Article
  1. AI
  2. Culture
Two construction workers stand and talk with a humanoid AI colleague.

We’ll learn to live with AI: here’s how

Andrew Briggs
AI might just help us with life’s dilemmas, if we are responsible.
10min read
Podcast
  1. Culture
  2. Easter
A casually dressed man perches on railing balancing, clasping his hands and looking around.

Seen & Unseen Aloud: Easter

Nick Jones
The big questions of our experience. Is temperance vital? What's more real than raw politics? And, are we loved and missed?
1min read
Review
  1. Books
  2. Culture
A woman in 18th century clothes sits within a windowsill reading a book

The beliefs that made Jane Austen and her world

Beatrice Scudeler
A ‘fashionable goodness’ lay at the heart of the author and her writing.
6min read
Review
  1. Books
  2. Culture
A poet stands and speaks, raising an arm.

Theresa Lola's poetical hope

Jonathan Evens
The death-haunted yet lyrical, joyful and moving poet for a new generation.
5min read
Article
  1. Culture
  2. War & peace
An orthodox cathedral, with prominent roof domes.

Letter from the Balkans

George Pitcher
An audience with a crown prince tells the story of troubled lands and resilient inhabitants.
4min read