4 d. ago ‘Nepo babies should be doing stuff like this’: are rich people ruining or reviving club culture?

London’s underground dance scene is increasingly funded by inherited wealth. From Mike Ashley’s son to a Tetra Pak heir, monied promoters explain their motivationsNestled between Millwall FC stadium and an intersection of south London railway lines, the 350-capacity Venue MOT – once an actual MOT garage – is a cornerstone of the city’s underground music scene. But every Tuesday, owner Jan Mohammed gathers his staff at the bar and tells them how much money it has lost since the weekend.Mohammed, a sculptor, started renting a nearby space to use as a studio more than a decade ago. With no residential neighbours and relatively low costs, he opened Venue MOT in 2018 based on simple intuition: “I thought music could thrive here,” he says. Despite the losses and Mohammed calling his operation a “comedy of errors”, it does. Time Out recently labelled Venue MOT the best nightclub in London and Jamie xx called it “one of the last places in London that feels genuinely free and DIY” after his ...

Politics

4 d. ago ‘Nepo babies should be doing stuff like this’: are rich people ruining or reviving UK club culture?

London’s underground dance scene is increasingly funded by inherited wealth. From Mike Ashley’s son to a Tetra Pak heir, moneyed promoters explain their motivationsNestled between Millwall FC stadium and an intersection of south London railway lines, the 350-capacity Venue MOT – once an actual MOT garage – is a cornerstone of the city’s underground music scene. But every Tuesday, owner Jan Mohammed gathers his staff at the bar and tells them how much money it has lost since the weekend.Mohammed, a sculptor, started renting a nearby space to use as a studio more than a decade ago. With no residential neighbours and relatively low costs, he opened Venue MOT in 2018 based on simple intuition: “I thought music could thrive here,” he says. Despite the losses and Mohammed calling his operation a “comedy of errors”, it does. Time Out recently labelled Venue MOT the best nightclub in London and Jamie xx called it “one of the last places in London that feels genuinely free and DIY” after his...

Politics

7 d. ago How the humble teapot morphed from kitchen staple to designer icon

Sales of tea sets soar as millennials fall in love with ‘cottagecore’ and tablescapingThe British think the cuppa is their national treasure, but a new interest in tea sets among young people is bringing with it an interest in the international cultural significance of the teatime ritual.Online vintage homeware marketplace Vinterior reports a six-fold increase in teapot purchases over the past six months, while sales at John Lewis are up 22%. The Ulla Floral fine teapot in a gift box is its current bestseller. A survey of 2,000 millennials by the home improvement store B&Q earlier this year found that 26% of those surveyed think teapots are back in fashion. Continue reading...

Politics

8 d. ago Dating app fatigue is 'real threat' as Gen Z are struggling to settle down

The dating scene is getting tougher with young people struggling to settle down and the hook up culture getting normalised - This has now sparked the so-called term 'dating app fatigue'

Events

1 week ago Tom Gleisner: the 10 funniest things I have ever seen (on the internet)

The comedian and television presenter shares his subjective selections for laugh-out-loud moments, from stage fails and pollie pratfalls to on-air gaffes and priceless vintage TV clipsGet our weekend culture and lifestyle emailLike many people, my earliest internet videos came courtesy of YouTube and most involved self-injury. Pre-internet, if you wanted to watch people hurting themselves, you had to sit through Australia’s Funniest Home Videos on Channel Nine – or a high school eisteddfod.In recent times, my viewing has moved largely to TikTok. I’m fascinated by how their algorithm determines what I am interested in. Lately, I have been getting a steady stream of defence personnel returning home to surprise their loved ones, testimonials from recovering alcoholics and random people unblocking clogged drains. I have obviously been deemed a sentimental heavy drinker with unresolved constipation. Continue reading...

Politics

3 w. ago Decline of nightclubs feeding demand for festivals – event organiser

James Ralls, founder of the Victorious Festival, says regional events are booming.

Politics

3 w. ago Michael Sheen says 'I'm not getting paid for this' as he launches most ambitious project yet

Welsh National Theatre is a new creative force for Welsh culture and Michael Sheen is one of the people behind it

Politics

3 w. ago ‘How did this ever get made?’ Gen Z is falling in love (and hate) with Glee

A decade after the finale, new fans are flocking to Glee, causing its songs to shoot up the charts. The internet’s ablaze with TikTok dance homages, Reddit threads – and tonnes of hate watchersThe year is 2009, and Glee has hit like a cultural earthquake. Every week, millions of people around the world tune in to watch a group of American high school misfits belt out musical theatre and pop hits, turning show choir into mainstream entertainment. The cast’s cover of Journey’s Don’t Stop Believin’ becomes an anthem, spending 37 weeks in the UK charts, catapulting its young stars to overnight fame. Glee clubs start in schools across the US and beyond, and Ryan Murphy’s show develops a devoted fanbase – myself included – who proudly call ourselves Gleeks. Online, we dissect every episode on Tumblr, trade theories and wear our fandom, plus the merch we bought to prove it, as a badge of honour.But by the time Glee came to a close in 2015, all its magic had faded. The Guardian reported tha...

Politics

3 w. ago Irish city has been named among 'best in the world' for its stunning food

Food is more than just a necessity - it's a cultural language that can bring people together. These are the best capital cities in the world for foodies

Politics

3 w. ago Balomania review – those magnificent Brazilians and their flying balloons

Documentary follows the baloeiros, who illegally build and release huge decorated balloons in cities, from where they can travel hundreds of milesAn intriguing film set in Brazil, first shown last year at the CPH:DOX documentary festival in Copenhagen, in which expatriate Danish film-maker Sissel Morell Dargis takes a look at a unique grassroots cultural phenomenon: the baloeiros, the ballooners. These are groups of young men, as secretive and loyal to each other as Freemasons, who (illegally) build and release huge decorated balloons in cities, from where they can travel hundreds of miles. Why? As kind of graffiti, or a community self-expression, or situationist artform, or just a subversive gesture of pure joie de vivre that does not need or admit of any explanation.The baloeiros are harassed by the police, on the ostensible grounds that they are part of gang culture, and the authorities encourage local people to inform on those they suspect of building and transporting a balloon....

Politics

3 w. ago ‘We feel the pain but there is also joy’: the healing power of diasporic connection

The Legacies of Enslavement programme aims to atone for the Guardian’s past while highlighting the lasting impact of transatlantic slaveryIllustrations by Ngadi SmartSalvador, Bahia, Brazil. In capoeira – an art form whose origins were carried across the Black Atlantic by enslaved people, but which developed and grew into a cultural form of resistance in Brazil – we sometimes wish each other axé (pronounced “ah-shay”). In doing so, we would be bestowing on our interlocutor life force, vitality or just positive energy in the capoeira roda (circle where capoeira is played) or in life.The term is also used in Candomblé and Umbanda, syncretic afro-Brazilian religions with African roots. For me it also symbolises the ability to harness ancestral knowledge and energy to enrich the jogo (game of capoeira), embodying and paying tribute to those who kept the art form alive. Continue reading...

Politics

3 w. ago Work and money worry young people more than culture wars or climate, UK poll finds

Class, education and gender found to influence difference in views but anxiety about finances was a common themeYoung people are more worried about their finances, work pressures and job insecurity than social media, the climate crisis and culture war debates, research shows.The polling also challenges the simplistic characterisation of generational conflict, revealing that differences within gen Z, whether around class, education or gender, are often more pronounced than the differences between generations. Continue reading...

Economics

last month ‘What the hell is this stuff?’: French people on the culture shock of flossing

While preventative care has not traditionally been a priority in France, US dentistry is ‘very focused’ on itThere are many established, regularly parodied cultural differences between France and the US: style, portion sizes, attitudes towards picking up after your dog.But there’s another – possibly bloodier – contrast: flossing. Continue reading...

Events