Beyond time-travelling aliens and intergalactic invasion plots, Doctor Who is political; it always has been, and always will be. Sylvester McCoy, who played the 7th incarnation of the titular Doctor, understood that one of the factors that propelled Doctor Who’s success was the political subtlety it holds within. As the longest-running science fiction show in history, airing its first episode in the wake of JFK’s assassination, the programme was quite literally born in the mi

Donald Trump did not engineer the decline of American soft power, though he would probably trademark it if he could. Instead, he is one of its clearest consequences and biggest brands. Long before he entered the White House, faith in the American model was already eroding at home and abroad. Trump emerged from this decline and has spent his presidency accelerating it. After failing to secure a Nobel Peace Prize last year, Trump petulantly wrote to Norwegian Prime Minister Jon

Reform UK’s burgeoning popularity has never stemmed from policy alone. A central pillar of its appeal has long rested in the promise of purification; an anti-establishment, anti-corruption party supposedly untainted by the deceitful Westminster habits that have set Labour and the Conservatives hurtling towards electoral devastation come 2029. If polls are to be believed, this gambit will reap lucrative electoral dividends for Nigel Farage’s latest insurgency project. But the

Boards of Canada, a Scottish electronic music duo, are soon to release their first LP in 13 years. ‘Inferno’, will be available through Warp Records and conventional streaming from the 29th of May. The duo released their first full length LP, ‘Music Has the Right to Children’, in 1997, an album which has since been described by Simon Reynolds as ‘the greatest psychedelic album of the ‘90s’. ‘Music Has the Right to Children’ represented a crystallisation of what is now recogn

On the 4th of November 2026, South Africa is holding its municipal elections. Johannesburg, the city built on gold and still the economic hub of Sub-Saharan Africa, has found itself in a mayoral race caught between politicians' moral stance on the Middle East and their ability to fix a decimated, chronically underfunded infrastructure. Helen Zille is the Democratic Alliance's (DA) candidate for Johannesburg. In a system of proportional representation, the DA is the main liber