Talk Fuse

    Culture

    Culture covers the stories that shape how we express ourselves and connect with one another. From film festivals and entertainment to social movements and artistic endeavour, these stories reflect the values, conversations and creativity that define our communities. Whether it's a new film project breaking ground, a performer taking their work to new audiences, or society grappling with important questions about identity and behaviour, culture encompasses the ways we live and the narratives we tell.

    This topic matters because culture is often where change begins. The entertainment industry responds to shifting tastes whilst simultaneously influencing them. Artists and creators challenge conventions, spark conversations, and hold up mirrors to society. Social and cultural movements highlight the issues that resonate with people's lives and futures.

    Culture also reflects broader trends in how we consume and engage with content and ideas. From streaming platforms to live performance, from traditional institutions to emerging voices online, the stories documented here chronicle the evolving landscape of how we entertain, educate and challenge ourselves.

    • Community cafe offers ‘hope and hot meals’

      A community cafe has opened in Longley, one of the most deprived areas of Sheffield, offering “pay as you feel” meals cooked from surplus supermarket food. Hope Kitchen Social Cafe was founded by chef Gabriela Socol to give local residents a place to eat and socialise, aiming to tackle both food insecurity and loneliness in…

    • Keith credits training partners for ‘saving my life’

      Former Down hurler Stephen Keith has spoken about surviving a cardiac arrest during a gym session in Portaferry, crediting his training partners’ swift action for saving his life. Keith, 39, collapsed after finishing an exercise session and stopped breathing, but a nurse present began CPR immediately while others fetched nearby defibrillators, keeping him alive until…

    • Venice First Look: Toni Servillo Meets His Match in Mario Martone’s ‘Scherzetto’

      Director Mario Martone has revealed a first-look image from Scherzetto, his feature adaptation of Domenico Starnone’s novel, starring Italian screen legend Toni Servillo. The film sees Servillo play Daniele, a celebrated illustrator whose peaceful solitude is disrupted when he must care for his unruly five-year-old grandson in Naples, prompting him to confront his own childhood…

    • Martin Scorsese Mentee Celina Murga Preps Next Pic, ‘The Rehearsals’

      Argentine director Celina Murga, a mentee of Martin Scorsese, is developing her next feature, “The Rehearsals” (“Los Ensayos”), which will be pitched at the San Sebastián Europe-Latin America Co-Production Forum this month. The film is one of 15 projects selected for the forum and marks a new work from Murga, who is known for the…

    • Hungry hippo horror struggles to scare Louisiana bayou tourists

      The Guardian’s review of Hungry, a hippopotamus-themed horror film releasing on Sky Cinema, finds the animal-attack premise fundamentally unconvincing despite hippos’ real-world danger. The reviewer argues the film struggles to make its titular creatures frightening on screen, undermined further by a title evoking the children’s game Hungry Hungry Hippos, even as the script insists the…

    • Loznitsa condemns EU Venice Biennale funding cut over Russian pavilion

      Ukrainian film-maker Sergei Loznitsa has criticised the European Commission for withdrawing €2m in funding from the Venice Biennale over the reopening of Russia’s pavilion, calling the move “a punishment in kindergarten”. Speaking ahead of the Venice film festival, he argued the funding row distracts from the EU’s own failure to curb Russian gas imports, which…

    • Colm Tóibín revisits Catalan grief and forbidden desire

      Colm Tóibín’s new novella The Bridge revisits Miquel, the young protagonist of his 2006 story A Long Winter, a year after his mother’s disappearance in the snow of the Catalan Pyrenees. Miquel now scrapes by with his harsh father, supplementing their income through smuggling, while a tender and forbidden relationship with the family’s mistreated servant,…

    • ‘We have had enough’: thousands of staff at the University of Sydney walk off the job over AI, job security

      Around 2,000 staff at the University of Sydney walked off the job for a 24-hour strike, driven by disputes over artificial intelligence protections, job security and workload fairness during ongoing enterprise bargaining. The action, backed by roughly 500 picketers stationed at every entrance to the inner-city campus, comes amid deep staff distrust of management, with…

    • Scotland’s Stewart suffers Swansea injury blow

      Scotland striker Ross Stewart is set to miss Swansea City’s next four Championship matches due to a quad injury, a fresh setback for a player who has barely featured since his summer move. The 30-year-old joined Swansea on a three-year deal last month but has managed only nine minutes of football, coming on as a…

    • TV tonight: the unmarried women who were forced to give up their babies

      Tonight’s BBC Two documentary gathers testimony from women who, between 1949 and 1976, were sent to so-called “mother and baby homes” after becoming pregnant outside marriage, forcing them to give up their babies for adoption. It features accounts from Ann in Wales and Joan in Sunderland, alongside former staff at the homes and adults who…