Opinion: The Culture War Doesn’t Exist
by Amardeep Singh Dhillon
Why, asks Amardeep Singh Dhillon, do we reduce trans and minority rights to questions of culture as if their impacts weren't grimly material?
Tag: culture
ACFM: Trip 32: Myth
Keir, Nadia and Jeremy consider the stories we just can't shake, from Oedipus to Brexit.
ACFM: Microdose: Strikes on Screen
From blacklisted Hollywood dramas to bawdy British comedies, ACFM goes to the movies.
Opinion: The Most Pointless Twitter Discourses Of 2022
by Moya Lothian-McLean
For all the complaints of Twitter’s early death, a hell of a lot of us have remained sadly logged on.
ACFM: Trip 28: Horror
What can horror teach us about the nature of the universe? A Halloween Trip with ACFM.
ACFM: Trip 27: Magic
The revolution will be manifested. Keir, Nadia and Jeremy investigate magic, with music from Siouxsie, Queen and The KLF.
Opinion: NFTs Are Just the Latest Example of Rich People Loving Ugly Shit
by Rachel Connolly
Rich people have always bought ugly stuff, writes Rachel Connolly - it's what you do when you have more money than sense. The fact that normal people do too is the real mystery.
Downstream: Why Are All the Baddies Disabled?
From ancient myths through to the Batman trilogy, pop culture is littered with disabled people and those with facial differences being cast as villains. Why does disability feature so heavily in literary and cinematic traditions, and how has this hypervisiblity had the ironic effect of erasing the experiences of disabled people? Ash Sarkar is joined […]
Analysis: Dave’s Latest Album Demands That Black British Music Be Taken Seriously
by Kojo Koram
On his latest album, We're All Alone In This Together, rapper Dave makes a compelling case for why Black British music should be approached with the same intellectual rigour as the great guitar albums of the past.
Opinion: The North Has Always Been at the Cutting Edge of Culture
by Kojo Koram
Forget the stereotypes, red wall voters aren’t inherently culturally conservative. The north has always pioneered culture.
Downstream: Has the Left Forgotten How to Have Fun?
Ash Sarkar is joined by ACFM’s Jeremy Gilbert to discuss euphoria, liberation, and the wisdom in the rave.
Opinion: England Is in the Midst of an African Renaissance – but It’s Still Racist As Hell
by Kojo Koram
As impressive as England’s current African cultural renaissance is, the goal must ultimately be to create a world free of the painful legacies that produced it, writes Kojo Koram in Contesting Culture, a new series asking who really owns British culture.
Novara FM: Sex, Dissidence, Desire
Jonathan Dollimore joins James Butler to talk sex, subversion and truly dangerous knowledge.
ACFM: #ACFM Trip 16: the Long ‘90s
The one where the gang remember the end of history.
Opinion: Everybody is Doing Identity Politics, Even If They Think They’re Not
by Ash Sarkar
Labour didn't suffer an embarrassing local election defeat because it's 'too woke' for the working class. It lost because it has no idea who the working class actually is in 2021, writes Ash Sarkar.
ACFM: #ACFM Microdose: Jeremy Gilbert on Folk Music
Jeremy Gilbert tunes into the politics of folk music, from communist troubadours to pastoral psychedelia.
Long Read: Money Can’t Free Britney – But a Strike Could
by Eleanor Penny
The pop star inhabits a gilded version of the same cage that traps all wage labourers. She also has the same tools to escape, writes Eleanor Penny.
Opinion: Sex and the City Is Back and I Couldn’t Help but Wonder: Will the Show Finally Throw Off Shackles of Capitalism?
by Eleanor Penny
As the hit HBO franchise returns for its seventh season, Eleanor Penny asks whether our heroines will at last escape their opulent purgatory.