Sport vs spectacle
The Ultimate Fighting Championship comes to town
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And then there were five
What does the merger of Penguin and Random House mean for the future of publishing? -
My night with Zizek
Beloved by his many followers, but does anyone really understand what he's talking about? -
Amazon: your local library?
The Kindle is everywhere. In the weeks leading up to Christmas last year, Amazon boasted that they were selling over a million per week. The e-commerce giant has been “introducing” them on their homepage for so long that I’m beginning to wonder when might be a polite time to interject... -
Gimme Shelter
Survival guides always sell well in the USA. Perhaps it is part of the true American dream: one man, possibly holding a gun, protecting his family and his patch of soil. Or perhaps it is the Protestant obsession with linear narratives that end in a day of reckoning. Whatever it... -
Edinburgh’s finest comedy
Once again, everyone has gathered in Edinburgh for the Festival Fringe, the world’s largest arts festival, bringing together some of the world’s greatest comedians. There are thousands of shows on, and I’m not going to pretend that I’ve seen them all, as that would be physically impossible. Many of the... -
Not the Brixton Riots, just some riots in Brixton
I wandered back from my friend’s house at around 8pm on Sunday, through Brixton town centre, where people were still milling about on the streets and packing away equipment from the annual Splash festival, which celebrates the community’s diversity. I got a Chinese takeaway, went home, ate it, and if... -
Richard III: a Good Long Play
I was lucky enough to get a free ticket to see a dress rehearsal of Sam Mendes’s Richard III previewing at the Old Vic last weekend, as I’ve been doing a small project with their new writing programme. I was looking forward to it, though there were rumours going round... -
Italian film festival: mopeds, Mary and masculinity
Cinnecittà Luce and the Italian Cultural Institute teamed up this month to put on the Italian Film Festival, with screenings at the Ciné Lumière in South Kensington, as well as chances to hear music and, of course, sample Italian cooking. For many of the films in the selection, it’s the... -
What Radiohead can teach the book industry
If you own a TV, radio, computer or phone, there is a high chance you will have come across The King of Limbs, the new album by those unlikely digital marketing experts, Radiohead. You may even have listened to it. I had a quick listen—it’s not bad, though I prefer...