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Editor: Alex Pleasants

On this week’s Break Out Culture, it’s all about literary festivals. The 29th edition of the Lviv Book Forum, Ukraine’s biggest literary festival, is defiantly going ahead with the support of Hay and Ed chats to programme director Sofiya Chelyak.

 Government Stuff 

So it turns out there was a ‘mini’ Budget last week. Here’s Dom Hallas from Coadec with what’s in there for tech startups. Same from Sifted. Here’s the response from Creative UK’s Caroline Norbury, too.  

Here’s Shadow DCMS Secretary Lucy Powell’s speech from Labour Conference where they vowed to take on the tech giants.  

The government looks set to hand the £12m contract for accelerating start-up growth to Barclays over Tech Nation. Tech companies are calling it ‘baffling’

The new Charities Act is set to give museums the power to dispose of objects on moral grounds.   

The NHS app has now hit 30 million downloads in England.  


Up to £200k is being made available for projects testing the security of smart devices.  

 Culture Stuff 

Arts & Culture 
The fourteenth artwork to adorn Trafalgar Square’s Fourth Plinth, two subtly striking bronze figures from Samson Kambalu, has been unveiled.  

Arts Council England is to share its funding decisions for the next National Portfolio on 26th October.  

Southbank Centre has teamed up with Apple for a groundbreaking partnership aiming to empower Black creatives in the UK.  

The Centre for Cultural Value has launched the second round of its Collaborate fund for research partnerships between culture and academia.  

Christie’s has launched its own in-house NFT platform
(finally) allowing sales to exist fully on the blockchain.  

At last! Robots have completed their takeover of the art world! The DALL-E 2 art bot is now open for all to make AI-generated art on literally anything you can think of. 


Design 
Get used to seeing this one, folks. King Charles III has unveiled his royal cypher designed by the College of Arms.  

Indian sustainable architecture studio Wallmakers and founder Vinu Daniel have bagged the prestigious Royal Academy Dorfman Award

Adidas and Soul Cap have teamed up to launch a swimming cap designed for Black hair.   


Theatre & Dance 
The National Theatre is extending its Theatre Nation Partnership network to include every region in England. 

The Royal Shakespeare Company has announced a bunch of initiatives to enhance young people’s access to arts education.  

A show by Danny Boyle based on The Matrix is to open at Manchester’s new £186m venue Factory. Will bend over backwards to get to this one!* 


(*So, basically, in The Matrix, there’s a part where Keanu Reeves ‘bends over backwards’ - really far backwards actually - to dodge a bullet. Hope that helps). 

Tourism & Heritage  
Wired on how climate change is burying important archaeological sites under sand around the world. 

Press, Books & Libraries 
Libraries across the UK are responding to the cost of living crisis by becoming ‘warm banks’ for the vulnerable over winter.  

BBC World Service is cutting 400 jobs in a bid to save £28.5m as part of wider plans to move digital-first. 

The Spectator looks back at the genius of author Hilary Mantel and The Guardian reflects on her towering legacy.  

Seriously good tidings. Bill Bryson is coming out of retirement to record a Christmas audiobook.  

Aw, fwends. The Daily Mail and Mail Online are to stop being rivals and start sharing stories. 


Exhibitions and Events  
War Games, the world’s first exhibition to explore what video games tell us about conflict, has opened at the Imperial War Museum.  

To celebrate Freud’s big 1-0-0, the Gagosian is reuniting him with best buds including Bacon and the National Gallery is hosting a sweeping retrospective

Driving Change, the Roundhouse’s annual event on opening up access to the creative industries, is back on 13th October. Speakers include David Lammy MP. 

In the latest KindredCast, LionTree’s Allison Ross checks in with Artie CEO Ryan Horrigan. The web3 company's mission is to build a universe of characters for app-less mobile gaming - allowing users to play across the social sphere, from Discord to Twitter. Watch here! Listen here!  

Speaking of video games, younger generations are spending more and more and more time playing them. Kindred Media examines how gaming has become the most popular leisure activity for millenials and gen Z.  

 Creative Industries & Tech Stuff 

Film & TV 
The BFI has unveiled Screen Culture 2033: a new 10-year vision for the television and film sectors of the UK. 

Lord Grade, the new Ofcom chair, gave the keynote at the RTS London Convention and said the organisation would not regulate culture wars.   

Khhhhhh. Phhhhhh.
(Use your imagination). A digital Darth Vadar voice is to replace James Earl Jones after 45 years. Here’s how a Ukrainian AI company is working its recreation magic

Fashion 
Burberry’s rescheduled London Fashion Week show finally strutted into town this week with The Guardian calling it a “blockbuster display of its firepower”.  

To Paris, mes petit pois! The iconic hooded Saint Laurent dress returned and Cher stole the Balmain show. Ahhh should have gone. If I could turn back time.  


Music & Radio 
Rihanna! Where have you been all my li-i-ife! She’s set to perform the Super Bowl halftime show in February. Not long, Rih. Better get to work, work, work, work, work.   

We’re down to the final two for which city will host next year’s Eurovision. Will it be Glasgow? or will it be Liverpool? There’s only one way to find out… 

The Other Ed is backing Music Venues Trust’s campaign for greater community ownership of music venues. 

David Bowie’s handwritten Starman lyrics have sold at auction for £200,000 and I think it's blown my mind.  


Gaming 
GAMES STREAMING NEWS: Netflix is forming its first in-house game studio - and Google is shutting down its cloud gaming service, Stadia.  

Tech & Telecoms 
BOSH! NASA has successfully smashed an asteroid into pieces with a spacecraft. Good practice for if we face a Deep Impact moment. Here it is captured on telescopes

TikTok could be facing a money-jiggling and money-folding fine of £27m for failing to protect the privacy of children.  

Apple is shifting some iPhone production from China to India.  

The EU has hired an external VC firm to jumpstart its stalled startup financing scheme - and they’re considering a new law to help those harmed by AI products.  

All new vehicles sold in the large fruit, New York, must be zero emissions by 2035.  

Elon Musk is back on top as the richest man in the US.  

Good read from the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change on ten uncomfortable truths for policymakers when it comes to tech.  

Bitcoin has a greater climate impact than beef farming. Wow.

Scottish Water is using drones to inspect Scottish sewers. Oh no! U-AV a major blockage!
(Classic newsletter joke that one). 

Much like DALL-E, Meta has unveiled AI which can turn any text prompt into video.  

Much like Supermarket Sweep, a private mission to Venus proposed for next year will have just 5 minutes to find what it’s looking for: life. 

 Appointments & Movers 

Tony Gallagher has been appointed editor of The Times, with John Witherow becoming chairman after 10 years in the role; Daniel Lee is succeeding Riccardo Tisci as creative director of Burberry; Doreen Bogdan-Martin is to be the UN’s first female tech agency chief; Trevor Noah is stepping down as host of The Daily Show in the US; David Collins has been appointed exec director of Northern Ballet; former Roblox music chief Jonathan Vlassopulos is joining Napster as CEO; London-based David Kosse is leaving his role as vice president of international film at Netflix; Sony Music’s Charlotte de Burgh-Holder has been elected chair of the Official Charts Company; Samantha McShane has been appointed as creative director of Manchester Camerata 

One for you? UK Theatre is looking for a policy and research officer  

 Ed Stuff

Set to talk on a University of Manchester panel on digital harms this week, as well as TechUK panel at Tory Conference  

...And Finally

This is quite fascinating. The Guardian unpacks the imaginary world of a New Zealand MP who spent 60 years drawing characters and elaborate plots and never telling a soul.  

Greggs has thanked a squirrel for an ‘enthusiastic first shift’ after it was trapped in a Scottish branch for three days forcing it to close. He was nut asked back.  

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