#BLM
Black Lives Matter Seminar Series: Review
Organized to combat the colonization of humanities subjects, the Black Lives Matter Seminar Series that took place from the 7th to 11th September saw ...
BREAKING NEWS
Main Stories
Two UEA students test positive for coronavirus
Two students at UEA have tested positive for coronavirus. The results emerged on Tuesday 29 September in a statement published by UEA. One of the stud...
Main Stories
Anti-mask protesters seen demonstrating in Norwich city centre
A group of protesters gathered in the Haymarket area of Norwich thursday the 24th of September, demonstrating against the compulsory wearing of masks....
Main Stories
UEA to offer voluntary testing to all students and provide facemasks
UEA has announced coronavirus testing will be made available to all staff and students working on campus from the beginning of the new semester. Any i...
Main Stories
UK Government Outlines new COVID-19 Guidelines
Speaking in parliament today, the Prime Minister set out a number of changes to coronavirus restrictions across the country. The news follows an incre...
News
UK government plan to deport almost 1000 migrants in midst of European crisis
UK ministers have identified almost 1000 channel migrants for deportation. The news comes in the midst of a surge in the number of migrants attempting...
News
Police shutdown illegal rave in Thetford Forest
An illegal rave was broken up by over 100 police officers in Thetford Forest. Footage of the event, that was released by Norfolk Constabulary on Tuesd...
News
Only half of Banham Poultry outbreak cases used track and trace methods
Norfolk County Council has launched its own test and trace programme after backlash against the national system in the wake of the Banham Poultry outb...
News
UK Government misses deadline on confirming whether controversial £217million pound revamp of Anglia Square begins construction.
The UK government has missed the deadline for deciding on whether the renovation of Norwich City’s Anglia Square is to go ahead. A spokesperson for th...
TRENDING
#BLM
Black Lives Matter Seminar Series: Review
Organized to combat the colonization of humanities subjects, the Black Lives Matter Seminar Series that took place from the 7th to 11th September saw academics both from UEA and outside UEA discuss various points about Britain’s colonial past and how it has rippled through our curriculums in the present day. Concrete writers followed up on...
Main Stories
Two UEA students test positive for coronavirus
Two students at UEA have tested positive for coronavirus. The results emerged on Tuesday 29 September in a statement published by UEA. One of the students is confirmed to be on campus, the other off campus. Both students and their respective households are now self-isolating. Anyone who has come into close contact with the individuals...
Main Stories
Anti-mask protesters seen demonstrating in Norwich city centre
A group of protesters gathered in the Haymarket area of Norwich thursday the 24th of September, demonstrating against the compulsory wearing of masks. Approximately 60 people formed a large group carrying signs with slogans such as “Freedom over Fear” and displaying statistics comparing weekly deaths from other causes to those from Covid-19. There was also...
Main Stories
UEA to offer voluntary testing to all students and provide facemasks
UEA has announced coronavirus testing will be made available to all staff and students working on campus from the beginning of the new semester. Any individuals will be encouraged to sign up for the scheme in the early weeks of the academic year, although testing will not be compulsory for anyone at this stage. Those...
Main Stories
UK Government Outlines new COVID-19 Guidelines
Speaking in parliament today, the Prime Minister set out a number of changes to coronavirus restrictions across the country. The news follows an increase from COVID alert level 3 to 4 yesterday, which reflects an increase in cases and infection rate. Pubs and restaurants will now be required to close by 10pm, and staff will...
Sport
UEA Ice Hockey won’t stop!
When you think of ice hockey, you think of big men and a violent sport: Your first thought isn’t necessarily a 5ft 2 girl battling it out with people of all shapes and sizes on sharp metal blades with big sticks. The surprise on people’s faces when I tell them that ice hockey is the...
Sport
Women’s football has been left behind for too long
It was revealed recently that the England women’s and men’s football teams had received equal pay since January 2020. They join Brazil, Australia, Finland, New Zealand, and Norway as the only nations to do so. Though the women’s and men’s teams both achieved semi-finals football in their most recent World Cup campaigns, the Women’s World...
#BLM
Increasing minority representation in cricket
The one-off Bob Willis Trophy recently got underway and is providing excitement to cricket fans across the country, who are very glad that the county game has finally resumed. The competition has so far been heralded as a major success, yet there are fewer than 10 Black cricketers born or raised in the UK taking...
Sport
Why Rugby Sevens players may no longer be dressed to the nines
The coronavirus pandemic has caused financial concern for the vast majority of us and many of the sports we love were badly hit. Clubs have had to adjust their strategies going forward, with their far less transfer activity than before, particularly of big names. However, most of us tend to expect the players themselves to...
SENIOR EDITORS
Sam Hewitson – Editor-In-Chief
Matt Branston – Co-Deputy Editor
William Warnes – Co-Deputy Editor
VENUE
Film
Working as a film extra: here’s the reality
The purpose of a film extra is simply to fill space and blend in. That might seem easy enough, however, there’s a lot more that goes into being a blurry dot floating in the back of the cinema screen than you might imagine. Here’s what it’s really like: It starts with an availability enquiry from...
Film
The New Mutants and The Return of the Cinema
Tango ice blast? Check. Cinema snacks? Check. I had everything I needed for a classic cinema experience. But this time it was different. When not eating, my mask was on. And there wasn’t the usual hustle and bustle of the cinema, where you were shoved up against the person next to you who was telling...
Film
I’m Thinking of Ending Things: Review
I could tell you “I’m Thinking of Ending Things” was made by someone out of their mind. It’s a critique as common as it is vacuous. The film is aggressively obtuse and entirely disinterested in explaining itself, so I have no idea whether I ‘got’ it. But to dismiss the film as deranged nonsense is...
Film
DC Trailers: A Tease of What’s to Come
The DC fandom have been offered several new trailers! Many of the trailers give us a glimpse of these films in any format, though some had little to offer beyond brief teases of the films to come. Firstly, ‘Wonder Woman 1984’, set during the Cold War, shows us that Diana will come into conflict with...
Film
Tenet: an interesting insight into inversion
‘Tenet’ marks the welcome return of the blockbuster to the silver screen. The first film released after lockdown, Christopher Nolan’s Tenet shows us a world of inverted espionage, a means of using time travel as a means to save the world. It has become expected for Nolan’s work to be something of a visual masterpiece...
#BLM
The Sims 4 has a major diversity issue
The Sims is a real-life simulation game, aimed at recreating real life in a way that has been wildly successful. While it is obviously impossible to simulate all aspects of the human experience, the game has been heavily criticised for its focus on American, white, middle- class, suburban life. Compared to past versions, The Sims...
EDITORIALS
EDITOR
New week, new writing, new website04/08/2020
DEPUTY EDITORS
Exceeding expectations04/08/2020
Taylor Swift, Alan Shearer, and me: learning ...04/08/2020
CONCRETE
GLOBAL
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Global
US Court rules NSA spying to be illegal
A court ruling has deemed the NSA’s (National Security Agency) program of mass surveillance of US citizens to be illegal. The program was exposed seve...
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Global
India bans various Chinese apps accused of data theft
India has banned a further 118 Chinese apps amidst heightened tension between the neighbouring countries. 59 Chinese apps were banned by the Indian go...
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Global
Over 140 dead in 20 years: can Mexico save its journalists?
Various press organisations have called for justice after the total death tally of journalists in Mexico has risen to more than 140 over the last 20 y...
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Global
German government confirms Russian opposition leader was poisoned
It has been confirmed by the German government that Alexei Navalny, the leader of the opposition to the Russian government, was poisoned in what Angel...
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Global
Suspects involved in the Charlie Hebdo shootings on trial
14 people are on trial in France under the accusation of involvement with the 2015 terror attack on the Charlie Hebdo offices and surrounding areas in...
FEATURES
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Features
Keeping the Sound of UEA alive amid Covid-19
Back in September 2018 as a young first year, I arrived at UEA with the eagerness to join pretty much every club and society under the sun. The impact...
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Features
My tumultuous relationship with XR
You never know how people will react when you say “Extinction Rebellion.” The group has aimed to lead the human species away from walking into an earl...
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Features
Let’s get political: Politics Society and Covid-19
When signing up for committee roles this year, I knew we would be taking on a challenge after COVID-19 brought last year to a sharp end. Our predecess...
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Features
COVID-19 and the UEA Library: what’s changed?
The library reopened to students and staff last week with a number of changes in place in light of the ongoing situation with COVID-19. Concrete went ...
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Features
New year, new norm
The only thing we have to fear is not being scared. No, this is not a typing error and I was not trying to quote Franklin D. Roosevelt. But it sums up...
COMMENT
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Comment
Weighing children in school is counter-productive and dangerous
Following evidence revealing obese people are more likely to become seriously ill if they contract Covid-19, the National Obesity Forum has proposed s...
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Comment
What NYU’s disastrous quarantine means for international students in the UK
As US universities have begun opening up for their Autumn semesters, they’ve faced particular attention surrounding their Covid-19 restrictions. Certa...
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Comment
Joe Biden will be the greatest president ever
The headline of this piece makes a statement which many people will find hard to agree with. I think many people, especially of my age and political a...
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Comment
Children should go back to school, but not without drastic changes
I worked in a children’s school throughout lockdown, essentially babysitting the kids of essential workers by running art sessions and playing non-con...
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#BLM
Difficulties with decolonising the curriculum
Spray painted on the base of his Parliament Square statue in London, the new epitaph reads: “Churchill was a Racist.” The words were known to us but n...
SCIENCE
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Science
New evidence discovered from black hole collision
Scientists have discovered the largest collision of two black holes ever detected. Researchers detected gravitational waves originating from 17 billio...
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Science
Is there life on Mars?
With the recent launch of Perseverance, NASA’s most complex and sophisticated rover yet, scientists are looking forward to discovering evidence holdin...
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Science
Is rooftop farming the solution to our urban agriculture problems?
With areas across the world becoming increasingly urbanised, and built up areas sprawling into previously untouched land or farmland, problems are bei...
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Science
Environment: what’s looking up and what’s going downhill?
Things are looking up for: rewilding attempts. ‘Guerilla’ farmer Derek Gow continues on his quest to rewild Britain’s native fauna. The 55 year old ha...
TRAVEL
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Travel
How I stayed active during quarantine
Before our descent into lockdown, my fitness routine wasn’t the best. In fact, I wouldn’t use the word “routine” at all, but rather a sporadic attempt...
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Travel
The ultimate guide to staycation in Norfolk
With exotic holidays off the cards this summer and the foreseeable future, we thought we’d explore the wonders that are right on our doorstep in Norfo...
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Travel
Let’s talk about armchair traveling
Since being confined to our homes in March, the need for escapism has never been greater. As holiday plans crumbled among the general populous, wander...
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Travel
Favorite lockdown recipes: Cheese and herb beer bread
· 3 cups self-raising flour (or plain flour + 2 teaspoons baking powder) · 1 teaspoon salt · 340ml beer · 2 cups grated mature cheese · 3 tablespoons ...
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Travel
Recipe: Easy chocolate brownie cookies
I have made these cookies countless times over the lockdown period and I now always have an emergency frozen batch in the freezer, because they are ju...
SPORT
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Sport
Interviewing UEA Hockey Men’s President Owen Hooper
Hi Owen, there may be a few readers that are unaware of the recent achievements of UEA Men’s Hockey, could you sum it up for them? Yeah absolutely, we...
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Sport
Image rights? More like image wrongs!
In the last year, the number of tax probes launched by HMRC into professional footballers has almost trebled. In an industry that often comes under sc...
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Sport
Why Rugby Sevens players may no longer be dressed to the nines
The coronavirus pandemic has caused financial concern for the vast majority of us and many of the sports we love were badly hit. Clubs have had to adj...
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#BLM
Increasing minority representation in cricket
The one-off Bob Willis Trophy recently got underway and is providing excitement to cricket fans across the country, who are very glad that the county ...
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Sport
Women’s football has been left behind for too long
It was revealed recently that the England women’s and men’s football teams had received equal pay since January 2020. They join Brazil, Australia, Fin...
VENUE
ARTS
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Arts
The resilience of Native American artists through the pandemic
The pandemic has hit us all in some capacity, but Native American artists and craftspeople have suffered a particularly huge loss. Creativity is an in...
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Arts
Poll: Public lacks confidence in the government’s aid for the arts
In a statement, culture secretary Oliver Dowden described the arts as “the soul of our nation.” The arts have huge cultural significance in this count...
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Arts
Banksy and the migrant crisis
The ever-elusive Banksy has funded a search-and-rescue boat to aid refugees from north Africa attempting to enter Europe. The boat has reportedly resc...
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Arts
Cans or canvases? How beer cans became modern masterpieces
Beer cans have undergone a seismic shift, in what has been described as the “beer-art renaissance”. Long gone are the days in which beer shelves purel...
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Arts
Norwich Theatre heads outside after months in lockdown
Norwich Theatre has paired up with the Norwich-based circus company Lost In Translation to create Interlude in Chapelfield Gardens, a pop-up venue int...
BOOKS
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Books
Dawn O'Porter's So Lucky: a refreshing twist on regular chick lit
Although I’m usually averse to consuming any literature that could be described as “chick lit”, I had heard great things about Dawn O’Porter’s writing...
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Books
‘Reclaim her Name’: a new collection released under authors’ real names
Historically, there has been a major disparity in the treatment of male authors in comparison to female authors. In an attempt to counteract this, som...
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Books
Huckleberry Finn: conscious resistance against unconscious racism
Around the same time BLM marches gained momentum, I read Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain. Set in the 1840s when slavery was still an industry in some s...
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Books
Douglas Adams’ Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy celebrates its 42nd birthday in 2020
On the 25th of May every year a small collection of fanatics across the world will walk out on the streets holding on their person a standard 30” by 5...
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Books
Should we mourn GCSE poetry?
Ofqual’s decision to make GCSE poetry optional in 2021 has sparked mixed opinions, with the current Poet Laureate, Simon Armitage, and other wri...
CREATIVE WRITING
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Creative Writing
A Walk on the Beach
The beach is my haven, where I can go to remember. I go when my home becomes too full of melancholy memories. Usually they build up slowly, but today ...
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Creative Writing
A Pier Outstretched into an Ocean
Reached through the ocean, ran through the reef – stopped where the waters turned dark, into the unknowable. We were just kids then: five-, ten-, twel...
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Creative Writing
A modern house built on grey clouds
Old hoping thing Go gently now On those dark nights, Where rats huddle in the garden’s compost heap To hide with empty thoughts. Billowing across the ...
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Creative Writing
Hectic
Hectic. That’s the only word I have for today. Sure, it’s been in the works for months – I signed the agreement weeks ago – but nothing can prepare yo...
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Creative Writing
My Illness Has Teeth
Debby asked me to keep a tally for the number of cups of coffee I drink per day. I keep the tally in my mind. Three so far today, I think. If d...
FASHION
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Fashion
Thin privilege: the blurred lines of style and skinniness
If you’ve been active on social media recently, you’ve probably seen that strawberry dress popping up again and again. The $490 midi dress by fashion ...
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Fashion
The gentrification of Depop
We are entering Oxfam’s “Second Hand September”, and with it, an increased focus on sustainability and the ethics of clothing retailers. As the resale...
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Fashion
Fashion on film: the whimsy of Wes Anderson
“There are still faint glimmers of civilisation left in this barbaric slaughterhouse that was once known as humanity.” So says M Gustav in Wes Anderso...
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Fashion
Mannequins, models and diversifying fashion’s ideal body
When you hear the word model, what are the first words that come to mind? Skinny? Tall? Attractive? Such associations have, over time, left a damaging...
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Fashion
The problem with Shein
Fashion retailer Shein has shot up in popularity over the last few years; I myself have shopped with them many times before and have always loved the ...
FILM
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Film
Working as a film extra: here’s the reality
The purpose of a film extra is simply to fill space and blend in. That might seem easy enough, however, there’s a lot more that goes into being a blur...
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Film
The New Mutants and The Return of the Cinema
Tango ice blast? Check. Cinema snacks? Check. I had everything I needed for a classic cinema experience. But this time it was different. When not eati...
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Film
I’m Thinking of Ending Things: Review
I could tell you “I’m Thinking of Ending Things” was made by someone out of their mind. It’s a critique as common as it is vacuous. The film is aggres...
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Film
DC Trailers: A Tease of What’s to Come
The DC fandom have been offered several new trailers! Many of the trailers give us a glimpse of these films in any format, though some had little to o...
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Film
Tenet: an interesting insight into inversion
‘Tenet’ marks the welcome return of the blockbuster to the silver screen. The first film released after lockdown, Christopher Nolan’s Tenet shows us a...
GAMING
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#BLM
The Sims 4 has a major diversity issue
The Sims is a real-life simulation game, aimed at recreating real life in a way that has been wildly successful. While it is obviously impossible to s...
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Gaming
Lockdown games
With lockdown came days that felt like forever. Days stretched into weeks, and weeks into months. But there was one shining light which got me, and so...
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Gaming
Super Mario’s 35th Anniversary announcements
There was… enough to get excited about from Nintendo’s Super Mario Bros. 35th Anniversary announcement. While I have no interest in getting a Game &am...
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Gaming
Favourite games of the last generation
Although I played Dragon Quest XI on the Nintendo Switch, it was originally released on PS4 in 2017. The main criticism of the Dragon Quest series is ...
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Gaming
Gamescom 2020 overview
Gamescom 2020 gave us so much to look forward to, with a crazy amount of highlights despite the online-only nature of the event. Here are the two thin...
MUSIC
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Music
Fiona Apple’s ‘Fetch The Bolt Cutters’: Six months on
Fiona Apple’s Fetch The Bolt Cutters was released in April 2020, seven months earlier than expected, allowing listeners to use it during lockdown. I s...
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Music
The environmental impact of live music
Without question, the live music industry is facing a time of unprecedented disruption and uncertainty due to Covid-19. However, even before the pande...
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Music
Eighties revival: the rise of nostalgic music in lockdown
Nostalgia plays a significant part in music being a source of escapism. During this pandemic, nostalgic music has played a significant part in many pe...
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Music
How lockdown made me find my love of music again
Though most things in life came to a halt when lockdown hit, music didn’t. It is one of the only things that continued throughout this scary tim...
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Music
Favourite song covers
‘The Star Spangled Banner’ by Jimi Hendrix Nothing captures the dying spirit of America quite like Jimi Hendrix’s cover of “The Star-Spangled Banner.”...
TV
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TV
Anticipated Autumn Arrivals
His Dark Materials: Season 2 I don’t watch a lot of television. I have certain shows I adore and very few I actively keep up with and religiously watc...
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TV
Cancelled TV: ‘American Vandal’ and ‘Forever’
I have two go-tos when it comes to shows cancelled too soon: American Vandal – one of the best comedies of recent years and another victim of Ne...
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TV
Mrs America: an accurate retelling of Second Wave Feminism?
‘Mrs America’ breathes life into the women at the front of second wave feminism and their fight for equal rights. The nine-part miniseries follows bot...
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TV
A Rewatch of… The Midnight Gospel (2020)
When you rewatch something, that overall experience can never be the same again – the mental circumstances occurring as you watch will always be diffe...
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TV
Outer Banks: Mystery and Drama
Outer Banks is one of Netflix’s top series at this time. Designed as a blend of dozens of 80s movies and TV shows, it is set in the beach vacation des...