Culture Stuff
Arts & Culture
According to ONS stats for October, the arts had the highest proportion of workforce on furlough (34%) compared to the national average (9%).
Culture organisations face a potential ‘artistic hiatus’ in EU partnerships due to you know what, according to research from the Uni of Manchester. Keep it coming, 2020!
The Guardian with the big question facing arts institutions: should they sell their treasures to keep staff and stay afloat? I’m no director, but… yes?
Julie’s Bicycle has announced the winners of the 2020 Creative Green Awards.
New report from Inc Arts looking at who gets ahead and how in UK arts management.
Design
A home-testing kit for breast cancer has won this year's international James Dyson Award.
If you feel like you’ve completed IKEA, then design company Den has a DIY flatpack guesthouse you can assemble in a matter of days!
My little sister has launched Teylu Collective for all your jewellery needs in the lead-up to Xmas. Would be thrilled if you checked it out.
Theatre & Dance
National Youth Theatre’s Christmas auction is now live, including an ultra limited edition James Bond watch set worth over £36k and a Zoom call with Matt Lucas.
From next year, all performances at Battersea Arts Centre will be pay-what-you-can or free in order to widen access. Great idea.
The show must go on. IT MUST! The 2020 Royal Variety Performance is set to take place at Blackpool Opera House with a virtual audience.
A 71-year-old playwright has won the drama category of the King Lear Prizes, the new national competition encouraging older people to write during lockdown.
Museums
Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery has become the first museum to officially partner with Occupy White Walls: the AI driven art platform.
Books, Press & Libraries
Scottish author Douglas Stuart has bagged this year’s Booker Prize for his debut novel Shuggie Bain about a boy in 80s Glasgow supporting his addict mother.
BuzzFeed is buying HuffPost. Blimey.
The pandemic has driven ebook and audiobook sales by UK publishers to an all-time high.
Knight him already. Marcus Rashford has launched a book club to get more children to experience the joy of reading.
The ‘reading tax’ was abolished this year… but yet readers are now paying more on Amazon. Hmmm. HMMMM.
The British Journalism Awards has announced its shortlist of the crème de la crème for 2020. No newsletter category again. RECOUNT!!!!
Exhibitions and Events
The Southbank Centre and Koestler Arts are showcasing works from people in our criminal justice system, revealing the power of creativity in tough times.
The Imperial War Museum has launched virtual festival Refugee Nights, hosted by Hassan Akkad, a Syrian refugee and creator of the BAFTA-winning Exodus.
National Geographic with eight unmissable cultural experiences for 2021 and beyond from all over our fine planet. Bring on a vaccine.
A totally free online course (in podcast form) from the EUCCI on the sociology of culture to keep you busy here.
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Creative Industries & Tech Stuff
A great piece of work from the Creative PEC mapping the 700+ micro creative clusters that help shape the UK’s creative industries.
Film & TV
BAFTA has announced its 2020 Breakthrough list of the hot new talent – and here’s Variety with its 10 actors to watch for 2020. Only 6 weeks left guys! Best be quick!
The Beeb with a look back at the life and career of legendary entertainer Des O’Connor.
ITV has aired its first ever edition of Loose Men to mark International Men’s Day.
Fun read from The Hollywood Reporter looking back at Home Alone as it turns 30. THIRTY! *Slaps aftershave onto face and screams into mirror*
Fashion
Harry Styles has become the first-ever solo male cover star of US Vogue, celebrating gender-neutral fashion in a Gucci dress.
British Fashion Council has announced its digital plans for 2020’s NEW WAVE: Creatives, its annual celebration of emerging talent.
Debenhams has opened a virtual beauty room for shoppers to access expert advice whilst stores are closed. You’re in luck, Ed.
Music & Radio
New UK Music stats show the UK music industry gave a £5.8bn boost to the economy in 2019… but the the sector will effectively halve in size this year.
2018 data but… a new study from Oxford Economics and IFPI has found that the music biz supports 2 million jobs and contributes €81.9 billion annually across Europe.
YouTube now has more than 2 billion monthly music users… and launched its first audio advertising format.
Kylie Minogue has become the first woman to top the album chart across five decades. No luck involved, Kylie!
Ticketmaster has been fined £1.25m for failing to keep its customers payment data secure.
Our man Stormzy is on the influential Black Powerlist 2021, topped this year by Lewis Hamilton.
Gaming
ANOTHER study showing gaming is good for you. Uni of Oxford found that those who regularly play video games reported feeling happier than non-gamers.
Tech & Telecoms
Tech Nation has launched a 5-year UK tech visa for EU citizens – the longest working visa on offer in Europe.
The Financial Times looks at how jobs in tech are on the rise as companies adapt to the new world of working remotely.
Airbnb is heading for a $30bn stock market listing after bouncing back from losing $1bn worth of bookings in March.
Apple is halving the commission it takes from developers on its App Store.
Amazon boss Jeff Bezos has named the first 16 recipients of grants from his $10bn Earth Fund for combatting climate change.
Good week for Elon: third richest person on the planet and SpaceX’s Dragon capsule has docked with the International Space Station not on the planet.
Sifted ponders what Biden means for European startups.
Hi, hope this finds you well… According to National Cyber Security Centre research, if each person in the UK sent one less email a day it could cut carbon output by more than 16,000 tonnes a year.
David Attenborough has been overtaken as the quickest person to reach 1 million Instagram followers by… Rupert Grint. Sirius? No. Ron.
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Appointments & Movers
Graham Norton is off to Virgin Radio; Netflix has hired ITN CEO Anna Mallett as VP of physical production; Monzo’s chief risk officer Lisa Nowell is stepping down after a year; Poet in the City has appointed Lennie Goodings as chair; The Very Group has appointed the Beeb’s Matt Grest as chief information officer
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...And Finally
It’s so cold in part of Canada right now that there are signs telling drivers not to let moose (mooses? meese?) lick their cars. Noted.
MAMMA MIA! According to the Italian Statistics Agency, exports of pasta from Italy rose by 30% in the first half of 2020. Must say, spent a few pennes on it myself.
Groundhogs kept eating this man’s veggie garden so he built them a house. Groundhogs kept eating this man’s veggie garden so he built them a house. Groundhogs kept eating this man’s veggie garden so h
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