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The Ticketmaster Oasis Fiasco and the inherent flaws of neoliberal governance
Were you involved in yesterday’s Ticketmaster fiasco around Oasis tickets? I was. I queued for nearly 7 hours, only to be booted out at the end as I was accused of being a bot. Luckily, I was part of a group of us all trying to secure tickets, and one…
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The liberal life of Riley: An ubuntu critique of Inside Out 2
I finally got round to watching Inside Out 2 the other day, and as a father to a 13 year old daughter (and with another not far behind), it certainly struck an emotionally reverbate, and achingly familar chord. The film is great. I want to say that straight away. It…
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Bubblegum Dystopia: The Sweet Decay of Late-Stage Capitalism
I recently came across the term ‘bubblegum dystopia’ (this video explains that it comes from a quip about Terry Gilliam’s 2014 film The Zero Theorem) and oh yes, it’s a *chefs kiss* description of the current conjuncture of late-stage palliative capitalism we find ourselves in… Because while the world boils,…
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Against Future-Proofing
I was sent this paper by a colleague this morning and not only does it make for some extremely depressing reading if you work in (and value the merits of) public higher education, but it also made me extremely agitated by the use of the term ‘future proofing’. In the…
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The Doppelgänger in the Machine
The internet used to be amazing. It was a bustling agora of human thought and debate, where we could share ideas and ideas free from the mechanisms of the market. But now it’s a discombobulating hall of corporate mirrors, with every reflection slightly warped to the will of an extractive…
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The Big Breakfast: the first meal of Cool Britainnia
Yes I know, I’ve perhaps been reading too much of Mark Fisher of late, but I really do think he was on to something. Perhaps it’s because I’m a child of the 90s, maybe because my first ever proper job gave me a front row seat in the ever-accelerating juggernaut…
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The (not so) original sin of Apple’s ‘Crush’ Advert
Apple have a bit of history with controversial commercials. The infamous 1984 cinematic ad directed by Ridley Scott won a sack full of awards, but many commentators highlighted how it signalled the birth of a kind of consumerist tech capitalism in which products’ branding and image were far more important…
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Capitalism & Schizophrenia: A contemporary reading
It will not be a surprise to anyone who has attempted to read it, but Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari’s ‘Capitalism and Schizophrenia’ duology is a labyrinthine experience (to put it mildly). I have picked it up again recently after several years, and despite being wiser and grumpier in my…
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Escaping 1997
Have you noticed that we’re stuck in the year of 1997? If you call recall that time, it was the apotheosis of neoliberalism with Bill Clinton securing a second term as US president and Tony Blair blustered into Number 10 riding the coattails of Cool Britannia culture and associated celebrities.…
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The Bear: Gentrification & its discontents
The opening shot of the highly acclaimed TV show ‘The Bear’ sees the main character Carmen “Carmy” Berzatto staring down a caged brown bear in the heart of Chicago’s downtown. The motif, evidently a dream, nightmare or general vision rather than actual events, serves a telling mark not only of…
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