Why are countries pulling out of next year’s Eurovision Song Contest?
Several European countries have pulled out of the Eurovision Song Contest, taking issue with Israel being allowed to participate despite its continued war crimes in Gaza and the West Bank since 2023. On Wednesday, Iceland became the fifth country to bow out of the 2026 Eurovision Song Contest, saying...
Current in Culture
What Pantone’s Colour of the Year says about the state of the world
For the first time, a shade of white has been given the prestigious ‘Colour of the Year’ title by Pantone. Every December, Pantone – a media company widely regarded as the mecca of colour theory – announces its annual ‘Colour of the Year’. This title appears frivolous on the face of...
The Warner Bros ownership race could drastically change streaming
Netflix had agreed a deal with Warner Bros to land its studio and streaming assets for $83 billion. That could soon be off the table, however, with the news that Paramount has just proposed an offer of $108.4 billion for the entire company. Can you hear that? That’s the sound...
Beeple’s ‘Regular Animals’ turns billionaires into terrifying robot dogs
A late entry for the most disturbing art installation of 2025, Beeple’s ‘Regular Animals’ features a pen of robotic dogs bearing the likeness of tech billionaires and revered artists. They canter around, snap photos, and take NFT dumps. ‘You may live to see man-made horrors beyond your comprehension,’ declared Nikola...
Report reveals scope of extreme online abuse in English football
The BBC found that more than 2,000 extremely abusive social media posts were sent in a single weekend of Premier League and Women’s Super League action. As someone with roughly two hours per day scrolling X – no, I’m not proud of it – I’m fully aware of just how...
AI free media is fast becoming a modern USP
As people become increasingly fatigued with second guessing whether media bares any hallmarks of AI, ‘human made’ is fast becoming its own USP. How grimly predictable. Earning a crust in the world of publishing means my colleagues and I are more accustomed to dodging AI slop than most. Much like the...
Explaining the Gen Alpha ‘6-7’ TikTok trend
Are you an elderly Gen Zer? Confused about why the kids are nonsensically saying ‘6-7?’ Us too. Every so often, a moment in pop culture will arrive as a reminder that youth isn’t eternal. Hearing an in-joke you don’t understand or missing an obvious conversational reference can make even the most mentally robust person uneasy. Am I out of touch? Has the world moved on? Are we over the hill already? As...
The media has missed the point of the Epstein story
Coverage has fixated on big names and sordid details, but the focus should remain on Epstein’s victims. If you’re an internet user you’ve probably scanned at least one headline pertaining to Jeffrey Epstein in the past week. The child sex offender is back in the news due to newly revealed details around his crimes, and mounting pressure to release the infamous ‘Epstein files’ – a hypothesised document containing the names...
Cambridge Dictionary names ‘parasocial’ its Word of the Year
Highlighting the prevalence of ‘unhealthy’ and ‘one-sided’ relationships people are forming with celebrities, influencers, and AI chatbots today, Cambridge Dictionary has named ‘parasocial’ as its Word of the Year. Can you name a celebrity you feel like you ‘know’ because you’ve paid so much attention to their career and personal life? The person that springs to mind may be an actor, singer, athlete, or influencer. Perhaps you have at least one...
Billie Eilish criticised by Elon Musk after wealth comments
‘She’s not the sharpest tool in the shed,’ wrote Musk on X earlier this week. His comments were in response to Billie calling him a ‘pathetic coward’ for hoarding wealth instead of donating it to good causes. Billie Eilish has been hit with new criticism from the world’s richest man, Elon Musk, in a scathing post on his social media platform X. ‘She’s not the sharpest tool in the...
