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Last week I spent an incredible Saturday roaming across the city-centre venues of Leeds as part of the Live at Leeds in the City 2025. As someone who truly loves live music, it felt like the perfect opportunity to dive deep into the UK indie scene. The concept itself is irresistible: a multi-venue one-day event, held this year on Saturday 15th November, across various venues throughout Leeds city centre. With one wristband you could go from local bars to larger venues in the

It’s a sunny morning in May, and instead of getting out of bed, washing my face, or doing anything even slightly productive, I submitted to the will of Mark Zuckerberg and opened Instagram Reels. A few (dozen) scrolls later, there is a break in the goofy memes and NBA edits: a man wearing a suit, a tie, and a massive grin was strolling across my screen, sharing some Islamophobic comments he had received due to being the “first Muslim elected official to ever run for mayor.’’

This November, Hyde Park Picture House hosted a selection of films from Queer East, a festival spotlighting LGBTQ+ cinema from East and Southeast Asia. Five years in, the festival has grown into a go-to for queer stories you almost never see on UK screens. While Western queer cinema has expanded in visibility over the past decade, films from Asia’s LGBTQ+ communities remain far less accessible. Queer East shakes things up by spotlighting films that disrupt neat, fixed ideas o

On the 28th of November, 2025, Freedom Mills will open its doors for the last time. From “a leaky shell with no running water, toilets or fire exits” (Freedom Mills, RA), to a cornerstone of Leeds’ underground music scene, Freedom Mills has been a beating heart for the city’s ravers and misfits. The space was the perfect, intimate size for promoters to build whatever auditory and visual world they imagined: from Club Cosmos every Sunday, a psychedelic, experimental trip, to s

On the 29 th of September, Trump, alongside Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, announced his  20-point peace plan between Gaza and Israel. This marks the beginning of a ceasefire following the 2 years of conflict that has dominated the news.  However, it is important to note that 2 years may not cover the whole story. Palestine was originally occupied in WW1 by Britain. For those familiar with the work of the British  Empire, it may not come as a shock that this then led to a

While it was showing at LIFF (Leeds International Film Festival), I had the pleasure of watching Perla on the big screen, possibly for its last screening in cinemas in the UK. Alexandra Makarova’s second feature film Perla, is the Jury’s Choice in the Constellation category this year. Perla was certainly a surprise to me as I had heard virtually no buzz for it, neither before or even from other volunteers while I worked the festival. Nonetheless, I was just as won over as the

It Lasts Forever and Then It’s Over (pub. 2024 by Fitzcarraldo Editions in the UK) is a slim, sparse book in brilliant Fitzcarraldo blue. To flip through it, you might notice quite a lot of empty space on the pages. Margins, pauses, generous spaces between certain paragraphs… Hey, I’m being charged £12.99 for this! But don’t worry, reader, we are still getting our money’s worth. The precise minimalism on display here – its unassuming size, a tight yet brilliantly intense sto

Artificial Intelligence is a seemingly unstoppable force. Sam Altman, the creator of ChatGPT, eagerly theorised on his personal blog  back in June about what lies ahead for AI, stating, “We are beyond the event horizon; the takeoff has started.” He goes on to envision a future where AI cures diseases, sends men to the moon, and creates a world where “wonders become routine”.  Meanwhile, Elon Musk has dismissed concerns  over the use of AI, boldly proclaiming that, “It will en

My mother once told me The sea has a way of attracting lost souls. It’s why there are cigarette butts between the sand. And the wind whips in wails, But when it carries me Away from the landlocked and lonely To a bed of brown tide. It feels a little more like being found. Words by Bea Butterworth, she/they