Phil Harrison

What The KLF Burning A Million Quid Means In 2017

Ahead of Bill Drummond and Jimmy Cauty's plans to do what ever they're planning to do in Liverpool later this month, Phil Harrison looks back to their infamous money burning incident and argues it has a lot to say about the times we live in now

HyperNormalisation: Is Adam Curtis, Like Trump, Just A Master Manipulator?

As the BBC prepares to release Adam Curtis' latest film, Phil Harrison asks if in a fractured society HyperNormalisation is an empty transmission into an echo chamber

Euro 96 20 Years On: Gazza, UKIP, Brexit – Where Are We Now?

Phil Harrison looks back 20 years to Euro 96 and all that, just to ask, "How far have we actually travelled since then?"

Girl Band

Holding Hands With Jamie

Fangs Bared: On Jeremy Corbyn & Media Treatment

The new Labour leader has faced no shortage of critics, from the press to MPs in his own party, adding their voices to a wave of ferocious attacks. What, Phil Harrison asks, does this say about the state of British democracy?

Keeping An Eye On Auntie: The BBC & Pro-Tory Bias

Phil Harrison looks at BBC reporting of the general election campaign and asks if - and for what reasons - the corporation might be abandoning public service impartiality for pro-Conservative viewpoints

The New Prudishness: On Free Speech In Election Year

As the Charlie Hebdo attacks bring issues over the limits of freedom of speech, Phil Harrison looks at how the UK in 2015 is becoming ever-more polarised

We’re All Apprentices Now: On Business TV & Contemporary Britain

As The Apprentice returns to our television screens, Phil Harrison looks at how the programme, and 'business TV' in general, reflects the grim reality of the work market and wider culture in capitalist realist Britain

Things Learned At: Oya Festival

Phil Harrison heads to Oslo, Norway where he encounters cross-dressing sax players, a giant papier mache spliff, and plenty of space to dance. Photos by Johannes Granseth, Steffen Rikenberg and Markus Thorsen.

No More Heroes: How TV Series Utopia Is Right For Now

With its unique mix of black humour and existential paralysis, is Utopia emblematic of the times we live in, asks Phil Harrison. Contains mild spoilers

UKIP’s Bizarre Howl & Why ‘Peak Farage’ Is A Long Way Off

Phil Harrison looks at the insatiable appetite for the UKIP leader, despite his party's incoherent policies, and discusses his dangerous appeal to the public

Deference TV? Political Bias & Why The BBC Should Fight Back

As the closure of BBC3 once more puts the future of the broadcaster into the spotlight, Phil Harrison asks whether the BBC is moving to the right, and what might be done to make it fulfill its important role in standing up to government

Essence Over Style: An Interview With Carla Bozulich

With Carla Bozulich's latest album Boy just released, she speaks to Phil Harrison about her musical history to date, exploring ambiguities and the challenges of confrontation

Cultural Archaeology: On How We Used To Live & The Big Melt

After watching new St Etienne film on London, How We Used to Live, and Jarvis Cocker & Martin Wallace's ode to the Sheffield steel industry, Phil Harrison asks what these explorations of the past have to say about present

Channel 4’s Shameless: The Squalor Porn Of Benefits Street

On the day of its second episode Phil Harrison despairs of the moral blankness at the heart of Benefits Street