“Everybody try laughing, then whatever scares you will go away” - Tatsuo Kusakabe (‘My Neighbor Totoro’)
Not long ago, I travelled to London for a job interview. During the hours and days leading up to the interview I racked my brains going over all of the possible things that could go wrong during the ordeal. Ruminating. Overthinking. In a world where it has become increasingly hard to find work, secure a job, pay the bills and stay afloat, I was drowning in my very own fictional problems. My mind didn’t know when to stop and stress took over my whole…
To move forward, conversations about figures like Churchill must be had.
During the weekend of June 6th, an anti-racist rally took place in central London. The international impact of the Black Lives Matter movement triggered by the police murder of George Floyd in the USA is having a unprecedented ripple effect across the globe. And it very soon reached the UK. Here, the movement takes a shape of its own, in accordance with the country’s particular circumstances and the struggles that are more or less specific to Black and racialised people in Britain today.
In Bristol, protesters toppled a statue of Edward Colston, one of the most prominent slave traders in…
With the situation in the US and the UK quickly heading in the direction of Spain and Italy, can the resilience and strong social cohesion seen in southern Europe be replicated elsewhere?
Despite government-enforced isolation, panic buying and the rapid spread of the virus, social relations feel stronger and healthier than ever in Spain.
It wasn’t too long ago that the reach of Covid-19 seemed to end far from European shores. First it hit Italy and then Spain. Now it has rapidly moved into most other countries in Europe and the Americas, including the US.
A few hours into official lockdown and the Spanish people had already got together to show that they refuse to let the effects of this invisible menace crush their spirits. On Saturday 14th March the country went…
Understanding the recent history of the Basque Country and its relations with Spain can be a cumbersome process for the outsider. Justo Arriola’s work “A los pies del caballo” (“At The Horse’s Mercy”) is a book that attempts to tackle a sad episode of great importance in the country’s history.
It is an episode that many amongst the general public are not familiar with. We are talking about the role the state played in the introduction of “horse” in the Basque Country. …
Anglo America still thinks it’s the centre of the universe but is Hollywood giving way to a more diverse global cultural output?
It’s been fascinating to watch the celebration of the Oscars unfold this year. Nominations aside — many of which are fantastic — the media coverage of the event has provided us with funny posts and fresh memes aplenty.
In case you missed it, the above tweet was posted in reference to some of the bizarre questions from reporters when interviewing Bong Joon-ho, the acclaimed Korean director whose movie Parasite took the award for Best Picture, along with three other prizes (Best Director, Best Foreign Language Film and Best Original Screenplay).
“As a filmmaker, what made you decide to have…
Un extraño relato sobre las interrogantes nasales
Ahora cada vez que estornudo, estornudo en forma de pregunta. Las personas me miran raro, como si no supiesen qué decir. Como si al fusionar el estornudo con una interrogación yo hubiese quebrado las normas sociales. Como si les hubiese roto los esquemas con un estornudo. Achís…!? Así, dicho como con una ligera subida de tono al final. Una suave alteración a la tonalidad última del estornudo que lo cambiara todo. Un impredecible golpe de mano del director de la orquesta. Una floritura extra.
Yo pronuncio esa interrogación imposible a veces en forma de achís, a veces en forma de…
Matt Jones Ruiz
Hi I'm Matt and I write about language, culture, entertainment, music and a bunch of other things. Expect some fiction too.
