Talk Fuse

    Topic: Entertainment

    Entertainment brings together the latest from film, television, music and gaming, tracking everything from big studio releases and streaming hits to the smaller stories behind the scenes. Expect a mix of reviews, interviews and features that look at how films and shows come together, the choices actors and musicians make along the way, and how decisions by studios and networks play out once viewers get involved.

    The topic also keeps an eye on the business and cultural side of the industry: how streaming services are reshaping what gets made and watched, the sometimes tangled relationship between entertainment and technology, and the moments when a franchise, format or platform doesn't go the way its backers hoped. Older films, shows and songs feature too, revisited with the benefit of hindsight on decisions that looked different at the time.

    For readers, it's a way to keep up with what's actually worth watching or listening to, understand the reasoning behind the projects that shape popular culture, and see how the industry's bigger shifts affect the entertainment on offer day to day.

    • Strange New Worlds just quietly set up one of Star Trek’s biggest movie storylines, 44 years later

      Star Trek: Strange New Worlds has quietly suggested that Carol Marcus has begun work on Project Genesis, a major storyline from Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. In season 4’s “The Griffin Incident”, Kirk says Carol has been approved for her “dream project”, a line interpreted as setting up the scientific programme that later…

    • John Legend joins apartheid drama as Harry Belafonte

      John Legend has joined Bill Condon’s apartheid-era drama The Road Home, playing US singer, actor and civil-rights activist Harry Belafonte. The film follows South African jazz musician and anti-apartheid campaigner Hugh Masekela, exploring divisions over cultural boycotts and the role of music in challenging racial segregation. Thabo Rametsi leads the cast as Masekela, alongside Guy…

    • Why Some in the Music Industry Are Advocating for Psychedelic Drugs — This Time as Therapy

      Music artists including Melissa Etheridge and Grimes are advocating for greater research into psychedelic-assisted therapy, arguing it could help address addiction, trauma, depression and burnout. The shift matters because drugs long associated with music culture and recreational use are increasingly being discussed as potential medical treatments, while supporters also stress the risks of misuse. The…

    • Post Malone Will Offer ‘A Little Help’ in ‘Storm on Sesame Street’ Special

      Post Malone will appear in Storm on Sesame Street, a new Sesame Street special about a community preparing for and recovering from a major storm. His contribution, an upbeat song titled “A Little Help”, reinforces the programme’s message of kindness, mutual support and rebuilding after an emergency. The special premieres on Netflix and PBS KIDS…

    • In the Busiest Gaming Month of the Year, PS5’s Control Resonant Will Take Up a Lot of Your Time

      Control: Resonant’s main campaign will take about 30 hours to complete, substantially longer than the original Control’s roughly 10-hour experience. The longer running time could make it harder for players to fit into September’s crowded release schedule, particularly as it launches alongside Silent Hill: Townfall. Lead gameplay designer Sergey Mohov gave the estimate in an…

    • The guitarist Jimmy Page knew was a genius before anyone else: “Easily the best”

      Jimmy Page reportedly recognised the exceptional talent of guitarist Eric Clapton before the wider public did, describing him as “easily the best” player he had heard. The account highlights the mutual respect among leading British guitarists during the 1960s, before Page became globally known through Led Zeppelin. Page encountered Clapton while both were active on…

    • Neon Genesis Evangelion Is Coming to Criterion Channel in September

      Neon Genesis Evangelion will join the Criterion Channel on 1 September, bringing Hideaki Anno’s influential anime series to the service alongside two related films. The arrival matters because it broadens access to a landmark work known for combining post-apocalyptic action with an intense examination of identity, trauma and human connection. Criterion will stream all 26…

    • Karol G Releasing New Album Next Week

      Karol G has announced that her new album, No Me Arrepiento de Sentir Tanto, will be released on 7 August. She revealed the news while headlining Toronto’s Rogers Stadium, where she became the first solo woman to perform at the venue, and displayed the album artwork on its screens. Few further details about the record…

    • BBCSSO/Wigglesworth / Booth review – Brett Dean’s song cycle is rich and strange

      The BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra’s first Prom of the season, conducted by Ryan Wigglesworth, featured the world premiere of Brett Dean’s The World’s Wife with soprano Claire Booth. The reviewer found Dean’s theatrical song cycle richly textured and engaging, while Judith Weir’s Moon and Star was praised for its cinematic colour; Elgar’s First Symphony, however,…

    • Holding Absence ‘Modern Life Is Lonely’ | The Album Story

      Holding Absence’s new album, ‘Modern Life Is Lonely’, marks a shift for the Welsh post-hardcore band after completing the trilogy of records that ended with 2023’s ‘The Noble Art of Self Destruction’. Frontman Lucas Woodland says the album looks outward rather than focusing chiefly on his own psyche, examining loneliness, connection and the social effects…