Government Stuff
The latest round of the Culture Recovery Fund has been announced, with 925 arts organisations receiving a share of £107m.
It has been formally confirmed that John Edwards will be the UK’s Information Commissioner from January.
DCMS and the Home Office have announced funding for five projects developing tech for the fight against online child abuse.
Digital Secretary Nadine Dorries has asked the CMA to carry out further investigation into NVIDIA’s proposed takeover of Arm.
60% of UK houses and businesses can now access gigabit speed broadband.
Spain is the latest EU country to offer visa-free touring for UK musicians #PasaportesAzules
The Telecommunications Security Act has now received Royal Assent, aiming to create one of the world’s toughest telecoms security regimes.
GCHQ and the US Cyber Command have announced a partnership to tackle malicious cyber-activities.
The government’s £2.5bn Future Fund has hired a team of investors to help supercharge its investment in high-growth tech firms.
The Department for International Trade is launching a ‘Made in the UK. Sold to the World’ programme to help UK businesses double their exports.
The government wants your views on supply chain cyber security and also the future of wireless networks in the UK.
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Culture Stuff
Arts & Culture
The UK’s cultural sector saw a 60% drop in economic output and over half of jobs furloughed over the past 18 months, according to a University of Sheffield study.
Anish Kapoor will become the first British artist to hold a solo exhibition at the Gallerie dell’Accademia in Venice during the Venice Biennale next year.
The most valuable auction ever held at Sotheby’s has just taken place. $676m worth of Warhols and Pollocks and more from a divorce turned sour.
A Frida Kahlo self-portrait has also just become the most valuable work of Latin American art ever sold at auction.
Five young local residents have been selected to co-found a new creative studio in Thamesmead and to commission Southmere’s first piece of public art.
Paintings in Hospitals have announced OASIS: a pilot project to ease social isolation and loneliness at home with art and creative activities.
Design
A device to stem blood loss from stab wounds, which won the UK’s James Dyson Award, has now also bagged the international version of the prize.
John Puttick Associates’ refurbishment of Preston Bus Station (listed by a guy called Ed, btw) has won the 2021 World Monuments Fund/Knoll Modernism Prize.
The shortlist for this year’s RIBA International Prize has been announced, from a community hospital in Bangladesh to an eye-catching bridge in Copenhagen.
I’m not much of a ‘car guy’ but these electric remakes of classics are cool. First it was a 70s truck from Ford… Now Hyundai with an 80s-style saloon car. Vroom.
Theatre & Dance
The final bunch of West End theatres have reopened – a mere 609 days after COVID restrictions were first enforced.
Classical Music & Opera
Hey all you cool cats and kittens. The English National Opera is teaming up with some TikTok stars for an opera based on Netflix hit Tiger King.
Press, Books & Libraries
This year’s Ballie Gifford Prize for the best non-fiction has gone to Patrick Radden Keefe for his book on the role of the Sackler family in the opioid crisis.
Bill Nighy is to narrate Terry Pratchett’s footnotes in a star-studded re-recording of all 40 Discworld audiobooks.
Twenty-three library projects across Scotland will receive a share of £1.25m in funding from the Scottish Government.
Exhibitions and Events
The Science Museum has opened a new exhibition until next June exploring science in the ancient Greek world. You Odyssey it if you can.
Tis truly the season now, my angels. Stephen Fry joins ORA Singers for their Christmas concert at St Giles-in-the-Fields on 7th December.
We Gather, a group show of five female artists of Black and Asian heritage linking craft to social justice, opens at the Crafts Council Gallery this week.
Partner South East Asia takes place online next week, exploring how the UK and Asian countries can create new collabs and strengthen cultural relations.
Dig out the pics from Malaga ’97. Archives & Records Association are back with another Explore Your Archive Week from Saturday.
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We love to see this. Sniper Elite VR has been shortlisted for best VR/AR at The Game Awards, while Evil Genius 2 is up for best sim/strategy (vote here, btw).
More nominations! Rebellion Publishing’s Campaigns and Companions has been named by Waterstones as one of its best humour books of the year. Woof.
There are over 40 openings at Rebellion right now too, with roles spanning coding, design, web and more.
The Daily Mash names 2000 AD as one of its six nerd gateway drugs to ruin your life. Ideal.
TIGA has announced sponsors for next week’s UK Games Industry Awards (Thursday 25th November. Write it on the fridge).
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Creative Industries & Tech Stuff
Film & TV
Netflix has signed a new deal with the UK’s Shepperton Studios and its set to double in size, too. Woo.
The Beeb has announced a whole swathe of shows to mark its centenary year.
Broadcast on how streaming has propelled the revenue of British indies by 15% in the past year to £8bn.
The cast of Harry Potter is returning to Hogwarts to mark 20 years since the first film. 20 YEARS! You can’t be Sirius? No, I’m not. That’s Gary Oldman.
Channel 4 is to triple spend for ethnically-diverse indies and outlined plans for a Sir Lenny Henry Centre-backed review of commissioning diversity guidelines.
Yet more examples of bullying and harassment in the screen industries have been revealed in the second Unseen on Screen report from Bectu.
Youngsters are almost four times more likely than older viewers to watch subtitled TV, according to Stagetext figures.
Netflix is also getting a lil’ less secretive with its top 10 lists of movies and shows by including (rounded) viewing figures for the first time.
The Ringer on how Succession makes wealth look miserable. Definitely made me think twice about becoming a billionaire. Not sure if I’ll bother now.
Fashion
In-store fashion sales have almost doubled in the past year as the high street continues to recover from the bug.
Marks & Spencer has launched its first clothing rental trial.
The average person in the UK has a ‘trainer wardrobe’ worth £474, according to Shoeaholics, and two-thirds of Brits wear them to the office, too. Daaamn, Daniel.
Music & Radio
Everybody calm down. CALM DOWN! Adele’s new album is out. Rolling Stone calls it her ‘best album yet’. Evening Standard calls it a ‘devastating comeback’. I call it ‘pretty good actually’.
The BPI has announced the 20 independent artists to receive grants through the government-funded Music Export Growth Scheme.
Radio 1’s first IRL (in real life) (sort of misses the point of abbreviating if you then explain) Big Weekend in three years is set for Coventry in 2022.
The Other Ed was the big winner at the MTV EMAs. Shock.
Spotify on manoeuvres in the world of audiobooks… They’ve found-a-way to acquire Findaway, one of the industry’s leading names.
Tidal is the latest streaming platform to explore user-centric payouts for artists.
No. Please no… It looks like there’s a new Crazy Frog tune coming just to cap off a spectacular 2021. Ding ding.
Gaming
As the original Xbox celebrates the big 2-0 (Happy birthday. Have a lovely day. Alex x), The Guardian talks to the developers who made its first games.
Tech & Telecoms
Amazon is to stop accepting Visa credit cards in the UK from January – and they’re apparently planning to open 260 supermarkets here in the next three years.
JPMorgan is suing Tesla for $162m after tweets from Elon Musk resulted in the bank losing millions.
A group of US states has launched an investigation into how Instagram targets children.
Beep, beep. Electric vehicle start-up Rivian - which only floated on the New York stock market last week - is already worth more than Ford and Volkswagen.
The Verge on how Meta (The Artist Formerly Known As Facebook) has gone into lockdown after a flood of leaks.
Digital payments platform Paytm has just raised India’s largest initial public offering ($2.5bn), but saw shares fall by 20% on its market debut.
NASA’s moon landing is likely to be delayed by ‘several years’ beyond 2024. Hardly worth it now really.
Public policy consultancy Global Counsel wants YOUR views on regulating the workplace of tomorrow - remote working rules, AI-driven monitoring, etc.
Apple has announced a new Self Service Repair programme so you can fix your iPhone yourself at home. I can barely put a screen protector on.
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Appointments & Movers
Geordie Greig is stepping down as editor of the Daily Mail, to be replaced by Ted Verity; Andrew Marr is to leave the Beeb after 21 years; BAFTA has appointed Dame Pippa Harris as vice-president for television; Arts and Humanities Research Council has announced a bunch of new directors; Matthieu Blazy will be the next creative director at Bottega Veneta; Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra has appointed Sir Mark Elder as principal guest conductor; Gemma Bodinetz is the new director at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland; ex-Talk Talk boss Siân Doyle is to lead Welsh broadcaster S4C; Sarah Smith is the new North America editor at BBC News; Rebecca Holt has been appointed chief executive of Eden Court Highlands; Jordan Paul Clarke has been named as Cameron Mackintosh’s resident composer
One for you? Design Council is looking for a new chair; Soho Theatre is looking for a creative director for their new venue in Walthamstow
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Ed Stuff
Switched on the Christmas lights at Milton Park in Oxfordshire
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...And Finally
This is fun. A map showing the best-selling English artists by county of origin. Stormzy is eyeing up your London crown, Elton.
Right, I’m not having this. Joke. Absolute joke. Straight out of hell, a BAT has won the bird of the year contest in New Zealand.
Julia ‘Hurricane’ Hawkins has just set a 100m world record in the 105+ age category but she’s FUMING as she wanted to go under 1 minute. That’s how she got the nickname.
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