Review
Culture
3 min read

Most popular 2024: Belle Tindall

From wildness to digital hurting, Belle's top takes of the year.

Nick is the senior editor of Seen & Unseen.

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Mirnada regales a chat show.

We’re wrapping up the year reviewing what articles were most popular with Seen & Unseen readers. Our second analysis is of Belle Tindall’s takes on the year’s events. What did our staff writer, well,  write about?

Musical highlights old and new featured prominently.  As Leonard Cohen’s Hallelujah hit the Big Four-Oh, Belle captured its appeal to so many artists and listeners. The new musical highlight was the release of Nick Cave’s Wild God album. What of wildness? Several of Belle’s articles tacked this key theme of 2024.  She also returned to the hold live music has on a crowd. As well as reporting on Cave’s tour, her analysis of the appeal of Jack White’s stripped-back tour is excellent.

Did I forget to mention Taylor Swift? Sorry, Belle.

But life is not one big sing-a-long. It hurts. From the digital slight of ghosting to the true horrors of Nigeria’s violence, trauma was a recurring theme too.

Finally, Belle conduct some literary detective work after reading Miranda Hart’s new biography.

In reverse order

10 – The holy or the broken: Hallelujah at 40

What’s the magic sauce Leonard Cohen mixed into his masterpiece?

Explore more articles on themes in this article: Music, Sin, Suffering.

9 - Nigeria’s terror survivors share their stories

This violence is not gruesome fiction, it’s reality.

Explore more articles on themes in this article: Freedom of Belief, Trauma.

8 – Did Nick Cave’s tour just take thousands to church?

He’s picking holes in the idea that religion is where freedom goes to die.

Explore more articles on themes in this article: Belief, Music, Wildness.

7 - The Wild God we can't coerce

Weird and increasingly encountered beyond the wilderness.

Explore more articles on themes in this article: Belief, Music, Wildness.

6- Ghosting is not immature, it’s plain cruel

The dehumanising behaviour hiding in plain sight.

Explore more articles on themes in this article: Attention, Digital, Psychology.

5 - The utter miracle of disliking an election result

Voting is a profound act of love.

Explore more articles on themes in this article: America, Politics.

4 - Taylor Swift proves Mr Bennet right

Romanticism: ruining lives since 1800. And we love it.

Explore more articles on themes in this article: Music, Resurrection, Romance, Taylor Swift.

3 - Nick Cave’s Wild God challenges a too comfortable culture

Eavesdrop on profound discomfort and raw wonder.

Explore more articles on themes in this article: Belief, Joy, Weirdness.

2- Jack White’s breaking the biggest rule in rock 'n' roll

What if the greatest cultural moments were the ones barely anyone saw?

Explore more articles on themes in this article: Music.

1 - Miranda Hart's diagnosis of the unseen

Beyond a medical illness she's on to something supernatural.

Explore more articles on themes in this article: Books, Comedy, Trauma.

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Seen & Unseen Aloud
1 min read

New episode: Seen & Unseen Aloud

Listen to a curated selection of recent Seen & Unseen articles. This episode: the power of attention as evinced by Simone Weil; a look at Sir Paul McCartney's unseen portraits of the Beatles; and the grief at the death of Matthew Perry and unexpected twists in the story of real life.

Nick is the senior editor of Seen & Unseen.

a man looks to the distance beside an American flag

This week we consider the power of attention - the giving and receiving of it and its power for healing but also the complexities of fame; Justine Toh considers what Simone Weil's philosophy of attention has to say to western culture's attention battles; Jamie Mulvaney takes us to the National Portrait Gallery in London to look at Sir Paul McCartney's unseen portraits of the Beatles; James Cary speaks of the grief at the death of Matthew Perry and unexpected twists in the story of real life.