Four sustainable design companies to watch out for this year
From carbon positive public seating, recycled surfboard tables, to papier-mâché guitars & repurposed plastic furniture – we’re rounding up some of the most innovative sustainable designs yet. It’s no secret that humans have historically neglected sustainability and longevity when creating designs for public spaces, appliances, and home furniture. Our affinity for...
Current in Culture
Studio Ghibli’s Nizo Yamamoto sells art to support Ukraine
Yamamoto works for the legendary animation company Studio Ghibli. He is selling an original piece of art to help support Ukraine’s relief effort via UNICEF. If you’re at all into animation, then you’ll be very familiar with Studio Ghibli. Heralded as one of the most influential and well-renowned animation companies in...
You Decide – is horror’s portrayal of ageing women problematic?
In the modern age of horror, elderly women playing the roles of ghoulish antagonists is fast becoming an obsessive genre trope. Many such films hold up in a commercial and critical sense, but is this perhaps indicative of harmful gender values still present within Hollywood? The Shining is one of...
These prefab ‘skins’ could make homes more energy efficient
One of our biggest challenges as we strive for a net-zero world is making existing buildings energy efficient. However, a German engineering start-up may have an ingenious solution to speed up the retrofitting process. Working smarter – and not harder – could be the solution to improving our current problem...
Opinion – ‘Pam & Tommy’ helps and hinders female exploitation
The new biopic – shunned by its titular star Pamela Anderson – has raised the question: at what point should we stop reclaiming someone’s experience for entertainment? Lingering beneath its comedic overtone, Hulu’s new series ‘Pam & Tommy’ unpicks an ominous 90s mega-scandal: the theft and illegal distribution of Pamela...
Opinion – Kim Kardashian shouldn’t be telling us to ‘work harder’
When will famous billionaires realise they’re too out of touch to offer worthwhile career advice to the rest of us? I’m starting to believe the only thing worse than men spending millions to blast themselves into space for 30 seconds is the trend of famous, privileged white women telling normal...
Media is finally encapsulating the realities of being young today
Though some directors have been accused of virtue signalling their way onto the silver screen, there’s no question that Gen-Z’s hyper-awareness has made media the most diverse it’s ever been. It’s safe to say that representation on screen has notably increased over the last few years, though it hasn’t come easily. There has been a divisive stance on how to best incorporate diversity into mass media, with quite a few instances...
How has Ukraine’s music scene been affected by the war?
Economies, oil prices, humanitarian aid, and many other services have been impacted by the ongoing Ukrainian and Russian conflict. Musicians and artists have asked for the right to protest on streaming services and indie labels could be irreversibly damaged. Ukrainian musicians and industry representatives have called for streaming services – such as Spotify and Apple Music – to approve the inclusion of political messages on album artwork. Those inside Ukraine...
NFT platforms tipped to disrupt the music industry
As popular streaming services like Spotify continue to take the lion’s share of revenue away from music artists, NFTs may help them regain control over their enterprises in the near future. In the future, the ability to listen to your favourite artists may depend on you finally wrapping your heads around NFTs. Sorry, but it’s for a good cause. If you keep up with any sort of industry news, you’ll already...
Could memorial coral reefs replace traditional graveyards?
For those trying to remain eco-friendly well into the afterlife, being cremated and turned into a host for living coral might sound rather pleasant – but is this new trend actually sustainable? Although most people presume that once we’re dead nothing really matters, humans often ask each other (or state unprovoked) what they want the people around them to do with their body once the inevitable happens. I know, for example,...
