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Pop culture

February

Rachel Griffiths plays a brothel madam in a new Nine series.

‘I made smart decisions, I didn’t want to be poor’: Rachel Griffiths

The actor did her time in Hollywood and now calls her own shots, including producing a new series that looks at brothel life in a uniquely lighthearted way.

James Bond (Daniel Craig) and his trusty Aston Martin DBS.

View to a killing: can Jeff Bezos be trusted with James Bond?

A scheming billionaire has once again put the British agent in peril. Fans are hoping Amazon won’t milk the living daylights from the 007 franchise.

Designer Camilla Franks at her Sydney office.

Thinking inside the box: How Camilla cashes in on The White Lotus effect

In the age of streaming, television has proven to be a powerful sales tool for local fashion brands.

December 2024

The extremely busy Lin-Manuel Miranda has written the music for Lion King follow-up Mufasa.

Lin-Manuel Miranda on Mufasa and the secret to a Disney hit

The Hamilton creator, who crafted the soundtrack for the new prequel to The Lion King, reflects on writing songs that have universal appeal.

A still from the HBO TV series based on Elena Ferrante's My Brilliant Friend.

The best TV shows of 2024

The New York Times picks English Teacher, My Brilliant Friend, Shogun, Babylon Berlin and Somebody Somewhere among the series that stood out this year.

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Tom Holland, left, and Dominic Sandbrook, hosts of The Rest is History podcast.

The podcast all of federal parliament is obsessed with

Australia’s political leaders have ambitious reading and streaming plans for the summer break, but one audio program is winning bipartisan support.

Dustin Milligan as Jack Snowman in Hot Frosty.

Five streaming Christmas movies that are so bad, they’re good

“Brain rot” was the Oxford English Dictionary’s word of the year. Here’s some holiday drivel to help you join the trend.

Taylor Swift

It’s the end of Eras: How Taylor Swift changed pop forever

After 149 shows over almost two years, the singer’s blockbuster, career-defining show has come to an end. She could be music’s last truly monocultural figure.

November 2024

Hello Kitty display at the exhibition “As I change, so does she,” marking the 50th anniversary of Hello Kitty at the Tokyo National Museum.

How a cute Japanese icon turned into a $6b industry

The Japanese icon, celebrating her golden jubilee, is emblematic of a global craze for child-like things that has grown in troubled times.

September 2024

Vincent Namatjira, Jessica Fox, Ariarne Titmus, Michael Lee.

The 10 most culturally powerful people in Australia in 2024

What does it mean to be Australian right now? These 10 people made the biggest mark on our national culture this year.

August 2024

Winners of the 2024 World Cosplay Summit, Mioshi and Mamemayo, who competed in costumes of the characters Naruto Uzumaki and Sasuke Uchiha from the popular series Naruto.

The weird, weird world of Japanese cosplay

If you thought break dancing was an odd sport, it turns out being a superfan is also competitive.

July 2024

The Rubik's Cube has remained one of the best-selling toys of all time since its launch in 1974.

Why people are still solving Rubik’s Cube, 50 years on

On the 50th anniversary of the bestselling toy’s invention, there is still a passionate fan base for Erno Rubik’s magical and mathematical cube.

May 2024

Comedian Nazeem Hussain.

How this comedian built a career while working for PwC

His bosses thought he’d just popped out for a moment, but he was actually working at the ABC.

April 2024

As graffiti moves from eyesore to amenity, landlords cash in

From Berlin to London to Miami, graffiti is attracting developers and companies looking for hip neighbourhoods, as well as brands keen to spruik their products.

February 2024

The Walt Disney Company has made exploiting cuteness the key to a century of global domination – from Thumper to Baby Yoda.

From Barbie to Baby Yoda: why we’re trapped in the cult of cute

Anything that reminds us of a baby triggers intense emotions and a willingness to spend money.

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Kylie Minogue has won a Grammy award for best pop dance recording for “Padam Padam”.

Kylie Minogue’s ‘Padam Padam’ delivers her first Grammy win since 2004

The Australian singer’s song has been described as a “hypnotic electro”-inspired dance pop.

January 2024

charles record store melb

How retailers adapt to the crunch

Charles-Eddy Vitry shut down his record store’s physical shopfront in December to go online only after sales plummeted and his rent increased by 20 per cent.

Some of the projections on Las Vegas’ Sphere might leave you feeling like you’re being watched.

The building of the decade is a giant blob in Vegas

Sphere is the building of the year, the decade, possibly the century – an inescapable gravity well of viral content, vivid imagery and vast sums of money.

“The Marvels” has clocked up unimpressive audience numbers.

Is this the endgame for the age of heroes?

Who wants to watch 30 films and 10 TV series to engage with a franchise that continues to spread itself too thin at the expense of quality filmmaking?

Nearly all of chess grandmaster Hikaru Nakamura’s 528,000 followers on Twitch have come aboard since the pandemic began.

Elite chess players keep accusing each other of cheating

Top chess players cannot seem to stop getting into disputes about the integrity of the game.

Original URL: https://www.afr.com/topic/pop-culture-60o