Government Stuff
The EU looks set to grant the UK data adequacy and allow data to continue to flow to our fair isles.
The UK is to launch a new £800m scientific research agency legally entitled to invest in projects that are likely to fail and exempt from freedom of information laws.
More than £18 million has been awarded in the final grants from first round of Culture Recovery Fund.
25 heritage bodies have been summoned to meet Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden to discuss ‘how they represent British history’…
Big fish, little fish, lateral flow. The Prime Minister has suggested that rapid coronavirus tests could help reopen nightclubs.
Dame Julie Walters and Sir Ian McKellen are among the latest stars calling for a resolution to the issue of visa-free EU travel for artists.
UK Music chief exec Jamie Njoku-Goodwin is urging Boris Johnson to include live music in his roadmap out of current restrictions.
Spotify, Apple and Amazon are set to face the wrath of the DCMS Committee next Tuesday in the final session of their streaming inquiry.
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Culture Stuff
Arts & Culture
A new report from the City of London setting out a blueprint for a deeper relationship between the creative and business sectors to accelerate recovery.
Jerwood Arts has announced the 33 awardees receiving £22,000 each through the Live Work Fund.
The 17th cohort of the Clore Fellowship Programme has been announced, with 21 leaders from across the arts and culture.
Dr Martens is dishing out £60,000 to artists for new video commissions at the Institute of Contemporary Arts in London.
Abu Dhabi has launched a bespoke ‘creative visa’ scheme for those operating in the creative and cultural industries.
The Arts Council Collection could be set for a new home… the old IKEA in Coventry.
Design
Somebody’s got the hump on Oxford Street. They’re getting a temporary 25m ‘hill’ to lure back shoppers as part of a £150m revamp.
Coca-Cola is trialling a paper bottle. Dr. Pulper.
New York’s 13th tallest skyscraper, The Spiral by BIG, has reached its full height.
The designer of the New York High Line is to create a similar raised park on a disused railway in Camden.
Theatre & Dance
Big yikes. The National Theatre is shelving its European touring plans due to uncertainty over obtaining visas and work permits in mainland Europe.
Classical Music & Opera
City of London has scrapped plans for a £288m ‘Tate Modern of classical music’ as the pandemic has made the costs unfeasible.
Tourism & Heritage
New evidence has emerged that Stonehenge actually originated in Wales and presumably walked to Wiltshire.
Fragments of a manuscript from the Middle Ages about Merlin the Magician have been found in Bristol University library. I love any tale about Arthur. Probably my favourite cartoon aardvark I’d say.
Museums
The British Museum now has a specific curator responsible for researching the history of its 267-year-old collection.
Books, Press & Libraries
The longlist for the UK’s most prestigious children’s books prize, the Carnegie Medal, has been revealed.
More than a quarter of children never read for pleasure, according to a Childwise survey.
To mark the 50th anniversary of the Mr Men and Little Miss books, the Royal Mint have unveiled some special coins. You can call me Mr. I’m-So-Sick-Of-Staring-At-These-Four-Walls :)
Exhibitions and Events
To mark its big 2-0-0 (HB x), the National Gallery has announced a nationwide programme of exhibitions under the banner NG200.
Not that we can go anywhere, but one day we might, so here’s Vanity Fair with three exhibitions around the world to put in your diary (use pencil).
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Schools Out Forever, the first feature film from Rebellion, is now OUT FOREVER.
Start working on your evil laughs. The first hands-on previews of the hotly-anticipated Evil Genius 2: World Domination are here from Metro, Eurogamer and Screen Rant.
Ooo, nice. Joseph Fiennes is to play Judge Dredd and Richard Armitage and Colin Morgan have also been confirmed for a series of 2000 AD adaptations with Penguin Random House.
The New Scientist talks about the return of Halo Jones: the 50th-century galactic adventurer and one of the great comic book characters of all time.
A ma-hoo-sive 5 stars from Sci Fi Now for The Lady From The Black Lagoon, which charts the lost legacy of movie monster maker, Milicent Patrick.
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Creative Industries & Tech Stuff
Film & TV
This year’s Masked Singer was won by Joss Stone dressed as sausage and chips (2021) and the final was watched by whopping 8.6m viewers.
Harry and Meghan are to be interviewed by Oprah Winfrey in a two-part CBS special. Unclear at present if they will also dress as sausage and chips. Will check.
12 movies that everyone will be talking about at this year’s Sundance, as picked by Vox.
The cast of the hot-hot-HOTly-anticipated TV adaptation of Sally Rooney’s novel Conversation With Friends has been announced.
Neal Street Productions have announced the 5 recipients of their new screenwriters bursary aimed at supporting and training ethnic minority screenwriters.
Adam Sandler has celebrated 25 years of Happy Gilmore by walloping a golf ball like the man himself. Get in the hole.
Fashion
Get strutting up and down your living rooms my fashionistas! London Fashion Week is back from today and it’s fully virtual. The Telegraph with what to expect.
Paul Weller has a new collection with Sunspel and talks to GQ about fashion’s overuse of the British flag. Where is your PRIDE, Paul?
Music & Radio
A fresh new approach for this year’s BRIT Awards with Universal Music’s Rebecca Allen and Selina Webb at the helm and Es Devlin and Yinka Ilori on creative direction.
A new BPI report suggests that streaming could drive music exports to more than £1 billion by 2030 with government support.
Radio 2’s Ken Bruce has been named Britain’s favourite radio presenter, according to a poll by Pure.
Warner Music Group has announced an investment in the Arab world’s leading independent record label, Rotana Music.
I know you all so well and I think you’ll like this. Any radio station in the world on a Google Earth-esque map.
Gaming
Twitch and Facebook Gaming both experienced record viewership in January – more than doubling the numbers of the previous year.
Fortnite maker Epic Games has expanded the territory of its ongoing dispute with Apple by filing a complaint with the EU.
Tech & Telecoms
Facebook has blocked people in Australia from viewing and sharing news on its platforms. Here’s Sky with why and what it means for the rest of the world.
But Google has agreed to pay Rupert Murdoch's News Corp for content from its news sites.
The UK economy could grow by £232bn by 2040 with sufficient investment in tech, according to a new report from CEBR and Virgin Media Business.
A Mars rover sent by NASA in search of life (you and me both right now pal) has safely touched down.
Google-powered Chromebook laptops have overtaken Apple Macs in popularity for the first time.
The Competition and Markets Authority has expressed its concern of eBay’s proposed $9.2bn deal to buy Gumtree.
AI innovator Codeplay Software has agreed a landmark deal with the US government to enable its next-generation supercomputer.
O2 has been fined £10.5 million by Ofcom for overcharging more than 140,000 customers.
Former videogame developer Codeplay Software agrees a landmark deal with the US government to enable its next-generation supercomputer.
Jaguar is to be all-electric by 2025. Rawr.
Orcha, a firm reviewing healthcare apps, says 80% of them do not meet NHS standards.
A hotel in Johannesburg has introduced robot staff for customers with COVID symptoms.
New week, NEW record for Bitcoin. Hit the dizzying heights of $50,000 this week. Buy high, sell low, etc.
According to Which?, fake positive Amazon reviews are being sold in bulk online for £5. One to consider for the memoir, Ed.
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Appointments & Movers
Blondel Cluff has been appointed chair of the National Lottery Community Fund; Monzo has appointed Carol Nelson as its US chief exec; Natasha Mann is the new director of diversity and inclusion at Universal Music UK; ITN has hired Lucile Kamar as diversity chief; The UK National Commission for UNESCO has appointed two new UK culture directors: Charlotte Joy and Kate Pugh; duh-duh-duh-duh-du-du-du-duh-BOOP Anne Robinson is the new host of Countdown
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...And Finally
According to a new study by Sky, TV has overtaken the weather as the UK’s favourite topic of small talk. IT’S BECAUSE WE DON’T GO OUTSIDE ANY MORE.
Got to feel for this little guy. A journalist from Liverpool was offered a COVID jab because the NHS mistakenly thought he was 6cm tall with a BMI of 28,000.
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