The Paradox of the IDLES
Pinch’s Border Control EP
From its opening moments, the new Border Control EP from Bristol dubstep legend Pinch channels the time when that culturally and geographically eccentric city in the western United Kingdom felt like the centre of the universe. (...)
Manchester’s A-Sun Amissa
For Burdened and Bright Light will no doubt confuse many listeners accustomed to mainstream popular music. (...)
Wolfgang Voigt’s Germany
When I was little, my German grandfather used to complain that American woodlands were not properly managed. At the time, I figured that this was just another one of his button-pushing remarks, designed to lure people into the sort of debate he loved. (...)
The Battleground Fall Books List
Do you ever get the feeling that you’re living through some kind of crazy dystopian novel? (...)
Brexit Cinema War Chic
War films are the new chic. The most common setting being the Second World War, they’re the perfect genre for Brexit-era flag-waving exercises. It’s no surprise and no coincidence.(...)
Natasha Lennard’s Being Numerous: Essays on Non-Fascist Life
Fascism is the order of the day. One might confuse it with populism, or that the two are somehow vying for supremacy. (...)
The Battleground Guide to Summer Books (And One Magazine)
For the last six months, populism has been the only game in town. If it’s not Salvini it’s been Salvini. Not only was the topic over-reported. Predictions of his triumph were wrong.(...)
Rehearsing Diversity at Eurovision
The hosting of this year’s Eurovision Song Contest against the backdrop of the Israel-Palestine conflict was always going to be controversial.(...)
Chantal Mouffe and the Spanish Election
With the results of the snap elections held in Spain on Sunday still in the headlines, new questions have been raised about the so-called “populist moment” about which so much ink has been spilt of late.(...)