Culture is reported here as evidence rather than entertainment. Coverage includes music scenes and protest song, cinema and censorship, religious practice, language policy, memorials and contested history. Each profile connects a cultural argument to a political one, showing what a population will tolerate. For readers who find the mood of a country informative.
Music, film, religion, language and public memory reported as indicators of what a society believes and what its government can get away with.
Eighteen Swedish Academy members, a fifty-year vow of secrecy, and a single October vote decide who becomes literature's most visible writer for a year — a process a 2018 scandal forced open just enough to see how it works.
Deshawn Carter
Thousands of municipal pairings survived the wars their capitals fought — and occasionally did the reconciling.
Deshawn Carter
Every Games gets a UN resolution asking the world to stop fighting for a fortnight — and the world almost never does.
Deshawn Carter
Nazi-era registries, Interpol's stolen-works database and claimant portals hold hundreds of thousands of records — the quiet engine of every restitution headline.
Deshawn Carter
UNESCO's intangible heritage lists turned living culture into international paperwork — and into a surprisingly fierce competition between states.
Deshawn Carter