Category: Culture

Among writers’ Christmas memories are a magical Brexit escape to Spain, an expat boy’s first experience of snow, a night on the tiles and Chistmas Day in a War Zone.

Across Sussex, local food partnerships are springing up to address the myriad problems stemming from the UK’s flawed food system that is not only making us ill, but also harming our planet. And our central government is lagging far behind these growing grassroots community groups…

Around 2 million people visited the iconic woodland home of Winnie-the-Pooh last year, Sussex’s beloved Ashdown Forest. But after losing its crucial EU funding due to Brexit, the Forest is desperately short of the basic funds needed to maintain and conserve it…

Pete Jones, the Sussex DJ who’s been giving a platform to up-and-coming musicians for 14 years on Brighton’s Radio Reverb reveals why he never gets tired of nurturing & promoting new local talent…

When Joni Mitchell’s album Blue came out in June 1971, the author Vivienne Griffiths, herself then an aspiring folk singer, had not long returned to the UK from an exciting year of travels in the USA. “Even now,” she says, “I only have to hear the opening chords of the songs, with their haunting music and evocative lyrics, and it conjures up this memorable time in my life.”

The wonderful fact is that this team really does represent what it is to be English today. They represent Englishness and belonging. They inspire those of us from immigrant backgrounds to embrace being English and to be proud to support the team. Sport does have a way of doing that. And it is especially needed for a country that has been so divided in recent years.

The British seaside is enjoying a renaissance this year due to Covid overseas travel curbs. Back in the day, far fewer holidaymakers went abroad, instead flocking to the nearest bit of coastline for fun regardless of sun, as can be seen in a new exhibition at Hastings Contemporary Seaside Modern featuring work by a range of 20th century artists span-ning 50 years, from the 1920s to the 1970s.

In this week’s Bylines Network podcast, Chris Davis in Brighton and co-host Connor Lamb in Newcastle (North-East Bylines) have a lively and revealing discussion about what Pride means to them and share their personal experiences of growing up queer. They also interview the Labour MP for Brighton Kemptown, Lloyd Russell-Moyle, who is only the second British MP to be open about living with HIV. Their conversation proves fascinating, covering everything from the history of Pride to its subsequent commercialisation, and the empty virtue signalling or “Pride-washing” that some corporations are now guilty of. And they don’t shy away from asking perhaps the most contentious question of them all: which Brighton Pride headliner was better – Kylie or Britney?

Sussex Bylenses is pleased to showcase the work of 12-year-old Ben Muir, a young photographer from Steyning. Photo editor David Holden writes: “Ben’s composition and eye for detail demonstrate a natural talent usually only achieved after some years of practice.”

The new Mastermind show host, Clive Myrie, reveals how his dream of becoming a journalist was given wings while at Sussex University in an exclusive interview launching their online Festival of Ideas (9−12 June).

Many activities that prolong exposure to heavy breathing have been given the go ahead for indoor activity, such as working out at the gym, laughing with mates down the pub or chatting over a meal at a local restaurant, not to mention thousands of fans gathering at a football stadium to watch a game, no doubt doing what fans will – hugging, celebrating, chanting and singing! So why has the Government banned all amateur choirs from rehearsing indoors?

A retired, lifelong left-of-centre activist ponders what constitutes a meaningful legacy, and worries his generation is failing to leave the next with the right kind of wealth…

Many actors, directors, producers and technicians have suffered at the hands of Covid-19 and the impact that the virus has had on the economy, but also owing to live performances being banned during lockdowns.

Banning face coverings in our new, post-Covid world of legally enforceable face mask mandates sounds implausibly ironic. But that’s exactly what has happened in Switzerland.

Why the EUnity Remainer Dinners with Friends group won’t be celebrating Europe Day at the pub

Bob Dylan will be 80 this month. Superfan James Joughin looks back at the music legend’s long career and wonders … will he return to Brighton for his Big Day?

“Leave Spotify on and go live your life for a couple of hours. Then come back and see what Spotify has selected for you. 90% won’t do much for you but that other 10% … that could be life-changing.”

“After slouching around Preston Park a few times I was getting bored and it was then, with the startling visibility of those early lockdown weeks, that I noticed the distant peaks glistening on the horizon, and hatched a vague plan to head up there and ‘explore the South Downs Way’ as my tattered Brighton guidebook maintained I should.”

The BBC is under threat as never before, as right-wing organisations and MPs work to lower its status in the eyes of the nation, while people in the younger age groups are switching off. Solutions for this problem exist – but who has the courage to implement them?

A group of East Sussex Remainers found a foodie way to not only beat the Brexit blues, but to continue to travel Europe even during lockdown. Ginny Foster reports on a Covid-secure idea to share good food, drink and company.

The arts sector more than pays its way – and deserves the extra support it has received during the pandemic, whichever way you look at it.

Theatre maker Tamsin Shasha is passionate about the power of story-telling through live performance. Here she talks about two theatrical adventures during lockdown, in Brighton and in Berlin.