TV, internet and other media

Monday, 15 July 2019 13:36

Godzilla vs. Bambi? American monopoly capitalism vs. European public service broadcasting

Written by Dennis Broe

Dennis Broe reports from the recent Fontainebleau conference on series TV, and the growing conflict between American-owned media companies and European public service broadcasters The Americans are coming! The Americans are coming! This is the cry of alarm of European broadcasters, the majority of whom are part of publicly owned…

Friday, 12 July 2019 14:31

Should politics be comedy? Donald Trump - one giant, bad joke

Written by Doc Ritchie

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Doc Ritchie surveys how comedians have treated Trump, one 'giant, bad joke' Republicans are blaming President Obama for creating Donald Trump while others say he was created in a lab when a young real estate developer was bitten by a radioactive douchebag. – Conan O'Brien, American comedian Ukraine, April, 2019:…

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Monday, 08 July 2019 07:43

After Life

Written by Tony McKenna

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Tony McKenna reviews After Life, the new black comedy-drama written by Ricky Gervais for Netflix Ricky Gervais has two seminal qualities which make him a wonderful writer. One, he has a capacity for cruelty, a hangover from his background as comedian, for good comedy is often cruel. Gervais does not…

Ricky Gervais Netflix

K2_PUBLISHED_ON Friday, 19 April 2019 08:16

The Voices

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Written by Jim Mainland

The Voices by Jim Mainland, with images by Peter Long The voices arrived every morning. In fact, I often seemed to wake to their jibber-jabber. They weren’t the voices of anyone I knew, despite the intimacy they assumed. They weren’t people who would normally have anything to do with the…

Today

K2_PUBLISHED_ON Wednesday, 17 April 2019 16:02

Call the wealthy to account! Serial incest in Game of Thrones and Taboo, and serious tax avoidance in the real world

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Written by Dennis Broe

Dennis Broe finds parallels between the rich and powerful in the final season of Game of Thrones, and their modern-day equivalents in the real world It’s wildly and devilishly seductive, glamourous, and the ultimate expression of unbridled passion. It functions as a key plot device driving the story in shows,…

Paradise Papers

K2_PUBLISHED_ON Friday, 12 April 2019 16:13

Don’t just stop the wheel, break it! Feudalism, capitalism and revolution in Game of Thrones

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Written by Sean Ledwith

Sean Ledwith reviews Game of Thrones The trailers have been scrutinised down to every second of footage. The stars have conducted their interviews in the form of an elaborate dance in which no significant plot element is revealed. The online theories have exhausted every possible twist. We are now only…

K2_PUBLISHED_ON Wednesday, 10 April 2019 13:00

Serial TV: Platforms, Concentration and The Same Old Thing

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Written by Dennis Broe

Dennis Broe reports from the Series Mania festival, previews some of the new series due to hit our screens, and surveys trends in the ever-concentrating, hugely profitable industry of digital media There certainly was mania, with over 60 series being screened, three days of industry panels, and with masterclasses (extended…

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Friday, 22 March 2019 14:42

Serial TV, Digital Accumulation, and Distracted Working-Class Audiences

Written by Dennis Broe

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Dennis Broe outlines the thesis of his new book, Birth of the Binge, about the way the television series has developed more intrusive, abrasive and profit-generating ways of manipulating viewing habits, preparing some sections of the working class for digitally advanced jobs, and others for the drudge sectors of the…

Wednesday, 06 February 2019 10:09

Facebook and why we should all own it

Written by Paul Victor Tims

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Paul Tims, our regular Culture Punch columnist, sums up the problems with Facebook and calls for an end to private ownership of such an important means of human communication I think it’s fair to say that Facebook is now a ubiquitous means of communication. In the western world, it’s used…

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Wednesday, 05 December 2018 17:47

Culture Punch: The BBC's right-wing bias

Written by Paul Victor Tims

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Paul Tims lays into the BBC's right-wing bias. In this article, you’ll see that there are all sorts of valid political and cultural reasons for my personal distaste of the BBC. However, in the interests of full disclosure, I should also admit that I may have been soured by the…

Monday, 01 October 2018 15:47

Reds Behind the Sofa: The Radical Politics of Doctor Who

Written by Sean Ledwith

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As we get ready for the next series of Doctor Who, Sean Ledwith praises a show which regularly features forces of emancipation outwitting forces of oppression. This October Jodie Whittaker will make her debut in one of the most eagerly awaited British television seasons of the decade. For the first…