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.

    • Geese get warmed up for Reading and Leeds in Glasgow: Here’s their setlist in full

      Geese, the Brooklyn alt-rock band fronted by Cameron Winter, opened their end-of-summer UK and Ireland tour with a show in Glasgow, warming up for headline slots at Reading and Leeds festivals this weekend. The gig follows a breakout year for the group, driven by the acclaim for their third album, Getting Killed, and comes ahead…

    • A Ugandan quarry worker carrying rocks on her head: Dan Nelken’s best photograph

      Photographer Dan Nelken discusses his portrait of Janet, a Ugandan quarry worker, drawn from his project HeadStrong, which documents women labourers in and around Gulu, northern Uganda. The image forms part of a wider body of work highlighting how women shoulder much of the region’s physical labour, often while raising children alone, and it matters…

    • EXCLUSIVE: State Dept reveals Portland Antifa connection to Hamas, Iran’s IRGC in sweeping terror action

      The US State Department has designated Autistici/Inventati (A/I Collective), an Italy-based technology collective, as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist entity, accusing it of providing encrypted communications and hosting services to violent far-left groups, including Portland’s Rose City Antifa, alongside Islamist organisations such as Hamas and Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. Secretary of State Marco Rubio…

    • You can now buy music on SoundCloud

      SoundCloud has introduced a beta feature letting artists sell music directly from their profiles, rather than sending fans to third-party retailers such as Bandcamp or Beatport. The move matters because SoundCloud is taking no commission on these sales, meaning artists keep 100% of the revenue, a notably better deal than the cuts taken by rival…

    • Your Oura Ring can’t measure what’s going on in your skull

      Oura, maker of the popular smart ring, is facing a class-action lawsuit alleging it misled customers by claiming the device can accurately track sleep stages such as REM, deep and light sleep. The complaint argues this is impossible because the ring cannot directly measure brain waves, and describes its AI-based sleep-stage estimates as no better…

    • SoundCloud will let you buy music directly from artists

      SoundCloud is introducing a feature that will let musicians sell their music directly to fans through the platform, ending its long-standing role as purely a discovery service. The change addresses a gap that has previously pushed fans wanting to own tracks towards rivals such as Bandcamp, and comes at a time when younger listeners are…

    • ‘The Love Hypothesis’ Trailer: Lili Reinhart and Tom Bateman Embark on Fake Dating Scheme in STEM Romance

      Prime Video has released the official trailer for The Love Hypothesis, its adaptation of Ali Hazelwood’s bestselling STEM romance novel, starring Lili Reinhart and Tom Bateman. The film follows PhD candidate Olive, who impulsively kisses intimidating professor Adam Carlsen to convince her friend Ahn that she has moved on from a shared crush, before the…

    • ARIA blocks AI-generated recordings from Australia’s official charts

      The Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) has confirmed that recordings made wholly using generative AI will be excluded from Australia’s official ARIA Charts, while tracks that use AI in a supporting role will remain eligible. The move brings ARIA’s rules in line with global principles set out by the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry…

    • V&A workers to strike over pay and conditions

      Workers at three Victoria and Albert Museum sites in London are to strike over pay, health and safety, and working conditions, in a dispute that could disrupt visitor access at V&A East Storehouse, V&A East and Young V&A. The Public and Commercial Services (PCS) union, whose members voted 95% in favour of industrial action, has…

    • Guinea’s president dismisses 173 soldiers, including coup ally, for desertion

      Guinea’s President Mamadi Doumbouya has dismissed 173 soldiers for alleged desertion, including Colonel Michel Lamah, who took part in the 2021 coup that brought Doumbouya to power. The move is widely seen as an effort by the president to tighten his grip on the military and pre-empt any challenges to his authority, coming just months…