The upcoming FIFA 2026 World Cup, held across North America, is already beset by controversy, from the hypocrisy of Trump being handed a ‘FIFA peace prize’, to price-gouging and environmental concerns. Plus: five years since the ‘Super League’ protests.
Gorky’s 1904 play ‘Summerfolk’ follows a group of wealthy, self-absorbed friends, obsessed with bickering about about ‘deep’ questions of life. Within this biting critique is an eerily familiar picture: an unstable world on the precipice of revolution.
Readers review ‘The Mountain’, Gorillaz’ musical celebration of internationalism; ‘Fall of Eagles’, a 1974 BBC drama covering class struggle in the early 20th century; and ‘Everybody to Kenmure Street’, a documentary on the struggle against an immigration raid in Glasgow.
The English National Opera recently produced a faithful production of Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill’s ‘The Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny’. The play is a cautionary tale about how readily a society ruled by money and excess can descend into barbarism.
Louis Theroux’s latest documentary, ‘Inside the Manosphere’ attempts to penetrate the misogynistic world of Tate-style influencers. In this iteration, however, the filmmaker lets his ordinary stoic mask slip – revealing, at points, the liberal haughtiness of the BBC establishment.
Yorgos Lanthimos’ ‘Bugonia’ was recently nominated for four Academy Awards. With its dark, surreal exploration of conspiracy theories, alienation, and ruling-class parasitism, this film resonates with the widespread outrage against the Epstein class.
‘Attack of the 50 Foot Comrade’ by RCP member Elleanna Chapman, a recent exhibition at the Saatchi Gallery, used pop-culture imagery to display the importance of revolutionary ideas and methods. Elleanna discusses her work with ‘The Communist’.
As Western imperialism pummels Iran, looking for regime change while promising ‘freedom’, Ryszard Kapuściński’s ‘Shah of Shahs’ – first published in 1982 – provides a valuable insight on the rottenness of the imperialist-backed Pahlavi dynasty, leading to its overthrow.
In the latest issue of The Communist, readers review Park Chan-Wook’s black-comedy thriller ‘No Other Choice’; Nia DeCosta’s gory yet hopeful ‘28 Years Later: The Bone Temple’; and Adam Forrest Kay’s examination of stagnating modern science in ‘Escape from Shadow Physics’.
Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl Halftime Show has dominated the headlines this week, with its defiant celebration of Latin American culture against a backdrop of Trump’s imperialist provocations across the Americas. But not everyone is happy with this subversive musical performance.
‘Ukrainian Diary’ is the first major UK retrospective of photographer Boris Mikhailov, a key figure in Soviet non-conformist photography. Encompassing 60 years of work, this exhibit sheds light on the complex reality of daily life in Soviet and post-Soviet Ukraine.
Jesse Welles, an American folk singer from Arkansas USA has captured the burning mood brimming within American society. Welles has tapped into an anti-establishment and anti-war feeling which has invoked an emotive response from many.