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21 Jul 2026 21 Jul 2026 Breaking Bad, Greatest Television Series: The 2026 Case The 2026 verdict on Breaking Bad: the finished arc, Ozymandias, a Guinness record and Better Call Saul build the definitive case for TV's greatest show. ZOD Culture Editorial Team 13 Jul 2026 13 Jul 2026 The Lion Before Hercules: Leo From Babylon to Nemea The deep myth of Leo: Babylon's Great Lion in MUL.APIN, the Nemean beast Hercules strangled and skinned, and how one lion travelled from Sumer to Nemea. ZOD Culture Editorial Team

11 Jul 2026 11 Jul 2026 Leo Dates, Traits, and Mythology Leo runs July 23 to August 22, at the height of summer. A guide to its dates, the Nemean Lion, and Regulus, the royal star at the heart of the constellation. ZOD Culture Editorial Team

9 Jul 2026 9 Jul 2026 Capricorn Dates, Traits, and Mythology Capricorn runs December 22 to January 19, opening at the winter solstice. A guide to its dates, the Sumerian sea-goat, and the Tropic of Capricorn. ZOD Culture Editorial Team

8 Jul 2026 8 Jul 2026 Scorpio Dates, Traits, and Mythology Scorpio runs October 23 to November 21. A culturally literate guide to its dates, cusp drift, traditional traits, Babylonian myth, and Ophiuchus. ZOD Culture Editorial Team

1 Feb 2016 1 Feb 2016 Time Regained in a Vacuum Edward Learman writes through a sleepless night to trace the school memories, isolation and half-answers behind a decade of clinical depression. Edward Learman

31 Jan 2016 31 Jan 2016 A 21st Century Problem – Maintaining ‘A Room of One’s Own’ Yasmyn Shaikh takes Virginia Woolf's room of one's own into the 21st century, where debt and precarity make creative space ever harder to keep. Yasmyn Shaikh

18 Aug 2015 18 Aug 2015 On Survival: Lessons from a Festival Exploring Sexual Abuse Tanaka Mhishi reports from Clear Lines, the UK's first festival exploring sexual violence and consent through theatre, art, comedy and discussion. Tanaka Mhishi

21 Jul 2015 21 Jul 2015 Daniels Langeberg On Photography, Cycling & Exploration Urban designer Daniels Langeberg on how photography and cycling through Shanghai's megalopolis help him read cities and make better creative work. Daniels Langeberg

30 Jun 2015 30 Jun 2015 To see an ocean of dreams in a mere teardrop as Wichita falls After losing a friend to suicide, Benjamin Eli Levine writes on empathy through Chen Si, who patrols Nanjing's bridge to talk strangers back from the edge. Benjamin Eli Levine

9 Jun 2015 9 Jun 2015 The Cost Of A Pretty Penny An unasked-for glass of tea leads Aryanna Prasad to examine beauty as women's unofficial currency and the real cost of a pretty penny. Aryanna Prasad

2 Jun 2015 2 Jun 2015 All For None And None For All: The Depressive Effects of Western “Progress” Aryanna Prasad links America's individualist creed to its silence around mental illness, where saying 'I need help' takes the greatest courage. Aryanna Prasad

20 May 2015 20 May 2015 “NOT ALL MEN” Misogynist Buzzwords & their Implications Sam unpacks 'not all men' and other misogynist buzzwords, showing how each derails feminist criticism while posing as harmless common sense. Sam

14 May 2015 14 May 2015 Women in a Wasteland – George Miller’s ‘Mad Max’ Anthony Laurence on the Mad Max franchise, whose gasoline-soaked masculinity gives way to Furiosa and the women of Fury Road's wasteland. Anthony Laurence

8 May 2015 8 May 2015 Dear Fellow Humans #GE2015 Elsie Bryant's letter to fellow humans before the 2015 election: a plea to vote with empathy for social justice, equality and the environment. Elsie Bryant

1 May 2015 1 May 2015 Why Don’t Young People Vote? The only sure thing about this year’s general election is uncertainty. But one thing seems set in stone – the majority of young people are not going to vote. Alice Glynn

14 Apr 2015 14 Apr 2015 “You may house their bodies but not their souls” Taimour Fazlani reads Gibran against the tuition-fee system, arguing that debt and dogma are stripping the soul from British university learning. Taimour Fazlani

24 Mar 2015 24 Mar 2015 Why ZOD Culture Matters, and Why There Is Hope One of our students is the founder and editor of ZOD Culture; other students have written for it. I admire them for what they do. Dr. Michael Neu

17 Mar 2015 17 Mar 2015 A Small Island Insight In this region of Melanesia, Islands are small states that get pushed around and often manipulated by powerful corporations. Mui

3 Mar 2015 3 Mar 2015 The Changing Cultural Paradigm Ancoats, once Manchester’s industrial heartland, is now a test case for urban renewal where cultural planning, artist-led change, and gentrification collide. Daisy Kidd

1 Mar 2015 1 Mar 2015 Peace ZOD Culture follows the word peace from Gandhi through the commodified counter-culture, asking what it still means beneath the branding. ZOD Culture Editorial Team

26 Feb 2015 26 Feb 2015 Why America Needs Black History Month Every February, Black History Month returns to inspirit black innovators and remind white America that black lives matter. Aryanna Prasad

12 Feb 2015 12 Feb 2015 Will You Be Arrested For Reading This? Jeffrey Hernandez reads the 2015 Counter-Extremism Bill and Cameron's vow that obeying the law will no longer keep the state out of your life. Jeffrey Hernandez

27 Jan 2015 27 Jan 2015 Materialism that Undermines Capitalism David Gould argues postmodern relativism disarms critique of capitalism, and that taking objects' value seriously is a materialism that resists. David Gould

24 Jan 2015 24 Jan 2015 Would you shoot the president? Would you shoot the president to stop a nuclear strike? Elijah Joshua Pryor dissects the dilemma and what such questions reveal about morality. Elijah Joshüa Pryor

21 Jan 2015 21 Jan 2015 The systematic sexual abuse of young girls The Independent Inquiry CSE into Rotherham revealed that approximately 1400 children were sexually exploited in the borough situated in the South of Yorkshire. Emily Hoyle

20 Jan 2015 20 Jan 2015 Sexism in The Media & Its Violent Implications After intervening to protect two girls from harassment, student Tugce was fatally attacked in Germany, framing this essay’s critique of sexism and violence. Stop Bild Sexism

13 Jan 2015 13 Jan 2015 The Importance of Diversity in Cinema Anthony Laurence on cinema's representation problem and why film must offer heroes and role models who are not, by default, white men. Anthony Laurence

6 Jan 2015 6 Jan 2015 “Every Pair of Jeans Has its Story” Taimour Fazlani looks past the style blogs' devotion to ask what fashion costs, tracing every pair of jeans back to the hands that made it. Taimour Fazlani

23 Dec 2014 23 Dec 2014 Education and Power I: Machine Minds Tom Moulton traces capitalism from feudal origins to a dominance so normalised that 9-to-5 work and excess consumption now pass for human nature. Tom Moulton

11 Dec 2014 11 Dec 2014 The Decline of Richard Pryor: Uncensored In 1986 Richard Pryor appeared on The Barbara Walters Specialas a different kind of character, his lissome features, slender, fractured and unseemly. Hassan Que

11 Nov 2014 11 Nov 2014 The False Idols Series Part I: Lest We Forget Dave Martin questions the remembrance ritual of 'lest we forget', asking what exactly we remember, why, and whom the ceremony really serves. Dave Martin

1 Nov 2014 1 Nov 2014 Global Visionaries: Erick Matsanza – Spice Chungu Orsod Malik speaks with Erick Matsanza and Spice Chungu, African visionaries whose work defies the West's bleak single story of the continent. Orsod Malik

17 Oct 2014 17 Oct 2014 Dear College Kids, Would You Listen to Samantha White? Aryanna Prasad watches Dear White People as a biracial student and asks whether Justin Simien's satire can make America talk honestly about racism. Aryanna Prasad

3 Oct 2014 3 Oct 2014 Genocide begins with the Silence of the World Zekarias Kebraeb is a human being who can fly because he has wings in his soul. To us Zekarias Kebraeb is an immigrant. Just an immigrant. Benjamin Eli Levine

23 Sept 2014 23 Sept 2014 Normativity Part III: Ethnocentrism & Normativity In 2014 the issue of identity is still one of relevance in Britain. Newspapers paraphrase Enoch Powell on a seemingly weekly basis. Dave Martin

15 Sept 2014 15 Sept 2014 Normativity Part II: Heteronormativity and the LGBTQIA community Dave Martin examines heteronormativity and the UK's first same-sex marriages, asking which social norms still exclude the LGBTQIA community. Dave Martin

1 Sept 2014 1 Sept 2014 CGI – A Case of Less or More? From Melies's 1902 moon voyage to CGI-saturated blockbusters, Anthony Laurence asks when cinema's special effects stopped being special. Anthony Laurence

16 Aug 2014 16 Aug 2014 Pornography: Instructional? Fantastical? Or Neither? Jeremy Barras tests adult actresses' claims of empowerment against the industry's realities, asking if porn is instructional, fantasy or neither. Jeremy Barras

4 Aug 2014 4 Aug 2014 Normativity Part I: The Atheist Doctrine Dave Martin examines how forum atheism mirrors the religions it rejects, assembling a doctrine and narrative of its own from anti-theist polemic. Dave Martin

1 Aug 2014 1 Aug 2014 Sabriye Tenberken & Paul Kronenberg: Facilitative Humanitarianism Orsod Malik interviews Sabriye Tenberken and Paul Kronenberg, whose Braille Without Borders and kanthari turn idealism into working humanitarianism. Orsod Malik

28 Jul 2014 28 Jul 2014 My Cuban Luxury: Privacy In a bare Havana casa particular, Aryanna Prasad finds the one luxury America denies her: privacy in a country beyond US cultural imperialism. Aryanna Prasad

9 Jun 2014 9 Jun 2014 ‘no Justice, no Peace’ in a white supremacist capitalist patriarchy Benjamin Eli Levine traces 'no justice, no peace' from Rodney King to Mike Brown through bell hooks' white supremacist capitalist patriarchy. Benjamin Eli Levine

1 Jun 2014 1 Jun 2014 Acknowledging Privilege Oppression is a system in which one group maintains supremacy over another, simple enough. How exactly does one group maintain supremacy over another? Orsod Malik

24 Apr 2014 24 Apr 2014 The Very Direct Democracy When UKIP backed referendums and recallable MPs, Dave Martin asked what direct democracy would really deliver for voters and the working class. Dave Martin

22 Apr 2014 22 Apr 2014 Blink And You’ll Miss It – 6 Films You May Have Missed In 2013 Anthony Laurence revisits six films of 2013 that slipped past the box office and the Academy, from Park Chan-wook's Stoker onward, all worth your time. Anthony Laurence

16 Apr 2014 16 Apr 2014 Doctoring What It Means To Be Desi An overheard Starbucks conversation leads Aryanna Prasad through the careers, marriages and expectations that define what it means to be desi. Aryanna Prasad

9 Apr 2014 9 Apr 2014 The ‘Melting Pot’ Myth A classmate's question about the melting pot leads Aryanna Prasad through August Wilson's plays to the myth at the heart of American diversity. Aryanna Prasad

31 Mar 2014 31 Mar 2014 The New Great Migration: From the Furnaces to the Basketball Court Via Alfredo Vea's gods go begging, Jeremy Barras follows the new Great Migration from the furnaces to basketball courts sold as escape routes. Jeremy Barras

17 Mar 2014 17 Mar 2014 Jennifer McCord’s Passion For Live Music Photography Nineteen-year-old photographer Jennifer McCord on immortalising moments, the rawness of black and white, and her passion for shooting live music. Jennifer McCord

11 Mar 2014 11 Mar 2014 From the Depths of a Melting Pot into the Circles of a Neoliberal Inferno: Part I Benjamin Eli Levine maps how neoliberal ideology and identity politics atomise us into cells of a panopticon while claiming to set us free. Benjamin Eli Levine

24 Feb 2014 24 Feb 2014 TRUTH, BELIEF & THE FLOATING CHRYSANTHEMUM The Involuntary Bystander separates truth from belief, tracing how personal certainty hardens past the point of sanity in faith, sport and science. The Involuntary Bystander

15 Feb 2014 15 Feb 2014 Reviewing The Most Recent Spike Jonze Masterpiece Hassan Que reviews Spike Jonze's Her, where Joaquin Phoenix's Theodore falls for an operating system in a luminous near-future Los Angeles. Hassan Que

11 Feb 2014 11 Feb 2014 A Response To Tony Blair’s Recent Contemptible Claim Jeremy Barras answers Tony Blair's claim that religious difference, not ideology, will fuel this century's battles, and finds it contemptible. Jeremy Barras

1 Feb 2014 1 Feb 2014 Feminism – Challenging Basic Conceptions Orsod Malik leaves a Brighton lecture on women's liberation startled by how many of his peers still resist the basic conceptions of feminism. Orsod Malik

30 Jan 2014 30 Jan 2014 Have Your Voice Heard ZOD Culture opens the ZC Blog to emerging writers and visual artists, inviting generation Y creatives to showcase work and have their voices heard. ZOD Culture Editorial Team

22 Jan 2014 22 Jan 2014 The Tale of Dexter Morgan Anthony Laurence looks back on Dexter at the end of its eight-season run, asking how television's blood-spattered antihero lost his way. Anthony Laurence

14 Jan 2014 14 Jan 2014 Duggan’s Just Deserts Or Have We Deserted Justice? Oliver Brooks dissects the inquest that ruled Mark Duggan's shooting lawful and asks what an unarmed man's death means for British justice. Oliver Brooks

23 Dec 2013 23 Dec 2013 Slut Shaming & the Censorship of Music Videos Emily Hoyle takes on slut-shaming and the calls to censor music videos, asking why Miley Cyrus became the scapegoat for a sexualised culture. Emily Hoyle

5 Nov 2013 5 Nov 2013 A British Graduates Summer in Shanghai A British graduate recounts an internship summer in Shanghai, where crowded metros, new customs and a paradoxical culture reshaped his view of work. William Murphy

30 Oct 2013 30 Oct 2013 WHAT THE FUCK IS A JAY ELECTRONICA? Jeremy Barras chases the mystery of Jay Electronica, hip hop's engineered enigma who built a legend from anonymity and a single mixtape. Jeremy Barras

24 Oct 2013 24 Oct 2013 Jeff Nichols’ MUD & Idea Recycling Anthony Laurence admires Jeff Nichols' Mud, then traces its debt to Dickens' Great Expectations and asks when homage becomes idea recycling. Anthony Laurence

25 Sept 2013 25 Sept 2013 Has the US Supreme Court Just Induced A Pharmaceutical Game of Russian Roulette? Karen Bartlett lost her skin and sight to a routine anti-inflammatory drug; Jeremy Barras asks how the US Supreme Court left patients unprotected. Jeremy Barras

20 Sept 2013 20 Sept 2013 Vince Gilligan’s ‘Breaking Bad’ – is it the greatest television show of all time? Anthony Laurence weighs Breaking Bad against television's best and asks whether Vince Gilligan's meth-lab tragedy is the greatest show ever made. Anthony Laurence

19 Sept 2013 19 Sept 2013 The Female Gaze, Women Viewing Sexualised Women Emily Hoyle asks why women look at sexualised women, from lingerie campaigns to magazine covers aimed at a female, not male, audience. Emily Hoyle

15 Sept 2013 15 Sept 2013 Tom Johnson & Jack Eden's Another Britain Project What makes you British? Does being of an ethnic minority make you less British? How about your religious beliefs? How has Britain's national identity changed? Orsod Malik 14 Sept 2013 14 Sept 2013 The Dissension Between Western Actions and Western Values Mark Richards charts the widening gap between Western governments' professed values and their record of military intervention and security policy. Mark Richards

12 Sept 2013 12 Sept 2013 Ornamental Islam Riding through London toward Ibrahim El-Salahi's Tate exhibition, Hassan Que finds in Islamic art a free form of worship beyond tradition. Hassan Que

11 Sept 2013 11 Sept 2013 A Report Regarding the Recent Inscrutable Events in Syria Jeremy Barras asks whether Western strikes over Assad's sarin attack would extinguish Syria's 'moral obscenity' or simply ignite a deadlier fire. Jeremy Barras

11 Sept 2013 11 Sept 2013 Lina Silverman’s Open Letter To America Lina Silverman, raised across the Middle East by Foreign Service parents, writes an open letter to America about 9/11, identity and belonging. Lina Silverman

10 Sept 2013 10 Sept 2013 Vanessa Omoregie’s Camgirls Project Vanessa Omoregie explains her CamGirl Project, which pairs Renaissance paintings with internet selfies to reframe how girls see themselves online. ZOD Culture Editorial Team

2 Sept 2013 2 Sept 2013 Frankly, It’s Deeper Than The Ocean Hassan Que dives into Frank Ocean's Channel Orange, an ice-cold corridor between hedonistic dreams and his own lukewarm middle-class world. Hassan Que

1 Sept 2013 1 Sept 2013 Nothing Was The Same, He Says. Orsod Malik reviews Drake's Nothing Was the Same from Los Angeles, the final stop on the modern artist's pilgrimage in search of inspiration. Orsod Malik 28 Aug 2013 28 Aug 2013 Cinema’s declining Middle Class: Why have studios stopped taking risks? Matt Spencer-Skeen argues Hollywood now funds only tent-pole franchises and Oscar bait, abandoning the mid-budget films where risk once thrived. Matt Spencer-Skeen

24 Aug 2013 24 Aug 2013 Celebritism and Cronenberg’s ‘Antiviral’ Following in the footsteps of your father is never a meningeal task, especially when your father is acclaimed filmmaker David Cronenberg. Anthony Laurence

18 Aug 2013 18 Aug 2013 The Contextualisation Of Fiction Matt Spencer-Skeen asks why Hollywood villains built from the West's real fears have become as beloved as the heroes who defeat them. Matt Spencer-Skeen

16 Aug 2013 16 Aug 2013 Is The Excuse For Ignorance Inexorable? After Lee Rigby's murder, Jeremy Barras confronts the reflex to damn Islam wholesale and asks whether the excuse for ignorance is inexorable. Jeremy Barras

16 Aug 2013 16 Aug 2013 Raunchy Role Models & The Women Who Look Up To Them Emily Hoyle asks why young women idolise pop's hypersexualised stage acts and what raunch culture sold as girl power teaches its youngest fans. Emily Hoyle

16 Aug 2013 16 Aug 2013 The Music Industry’s Altering Digital Landscape Over the past decade the music industry has continuously adapted and evolved in order to survive the transition from analogue to digital. Mark Richards

11 Aug 2013 11 Aug 2013 What does Zimmerman’s acquittal mean for America? Benjamin Eli Levine asks what George Zimmerman's acquittal for killing Trayvon Martin reveals about race and justice in post-King-dream America. Benjamin Eli Levine

80 essays · the complete run

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