#15 The Culture Fix

Celebrity spotting in London, female writers, gothic dreams, Alpha males, backflips in a jumpsuit, Oscar predictions, and Bridget Jones. Huzzah!

The Culture Fix is the place where I share the books, films, music, articles, interviews, plays, exhibitions, places, and even food, I’ve enjoyed recently.

Recommendations may refer to content in either English, Spanish, French or Italian and sometimes not available in English. But since this is a publication called Abroad written by a multilingual foreigner in London, and hopefully appealing to those curious to explore beyond their own borders, this shouldn’t come as a surprise or be an obstacle to widen your cultural horizons.

Welcome to the first Culture Fix edition of 2025!

The beginning of the year has been a prolific time for reading and I’m very glad about that. This was made possible by spending a lot less time online as that disconnection helped me reconnect with my love for books, which means I have great book recommendations to share. I’ve also been watching quite a few films and series and listening to some new music, so there’ll be plenty on those fronts as well as a BAFTAs and Grammys highlights.

And there’s been quite a lot of writing, too. From winter blues and sad lamps to celebritiy sightings in London (real and look-alikes) or the future of Substack after its cofounders have saluted Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk as free speech leaders.

Funnily enough, after publishing that post my Notes feed was invaded by people adoring Substack and everything it has brought into their lives in suspcious in your face kind of way. It was almost as if an algorithm had wanted to send me a reminder that many people actually love it here and I can piss off if I don’t. For the record, I’m not a hater but given my line of work, I have developed an eye to read between the lines when it comes to the direction new online platforms are taking and what it really means for users but Substack seems not to have liked that much.

Another interesting thing that has happened as a result of that post is that now my audience overlap stats tell me that I’m read by people who read the likes of

Letters from an American

by

Heather Cox Richardson

, a Substack mega-bestseller with over 2 million subscribers and a 7 figure monthly income. Except for the fact that I am not American, I don’t write about politics, I most definitely don’t have 2 million readers and I wish I could ever see a 7 figure-sum in my life, I guess the Substack algorithm has got that right again.

“I’ll read what they’re writing”

On this note, while my readers may not come in the millions, I am very grateful to everyone who takes the time to read and interact with this publication or has recommended it. I always learn something from the comments as you readers of Abroad are quite the reflective and witty type.

There have been several new joiners since the start of the year (Welcome everyone!), including a few people who know me in person. As my writing blends the personal and professional at times I was hesitant to tell anyone who knows me in real life either as a friend or colleague about this publication, but they’ve found out about it and their feedback couldn’t have been more positive. It’s lovely to receive their voice messages full of giggles or Whatsapp texts to let me know they’re still laughing about something I wrote, or how I made them look at a situation in a different light through my savage use of sarcarsm.

So thanks to everyone for taking the time to share that you have enjoyed something I’ve written because making people laugh and reflect through my writing are two things I love. And money, that too I absolutely adore, but it’s harder to come by these days because despite the Substack audience stats, I’m still 2 million short of readers I can milk like cash cows.

And now let’s get cracking with our first culture fix of 2025!

On Substack + News/Articles

— Who owns Substack?
— Lessons in Love with Charlie Brown
— Meet Messalina, Bonnie Blue's ancient inspiration
— Who gets to be the folk-hero in patriarchy?
— The desire for a ‘normal’ sex life
— The House of Lords has voted to strengthen copyright protections in AI
— Right on time as Sir Elton John and Sir Paul McCartney are calling for AI protection for artists
— Mona Lisa to be placed in private room as part of sweeping Louvre renovation
— The UK government may be looking at charging streaming platform users a BBC licence fee. Meanwhile BBC World Service is axing 130 roles to save £6m
— Spotify paid out $10bn to the music business in 2024 and is planning to sell concert tickets
— New York Times goes all-in on internal AI tools

Books

— Intermezzo by Sally Rooney
I’ve been very ambivalent towards Rooney’s writing but Intermezzo has tipped the balance and there is a shift in her writing. Her ability to go from dialogue to description and stream of consciousness effortlessly (a sign of her talent no doubt) and keen eye to capture internal emotional estates with accuracy stands out in this novel. I believe Rooney may have found her style and mature writing voice with her fourth book, a poignant story about two brothers, Ivan and Peter, as they learn to navigate loss and grief but also their relationship with each other.

— La place by Annie Ernaux (A Man’s Place, English translation published by Fitzcarraldo Editions)
With her écriture plate, as Ernaux calls it, La Place won the Prix Renaudot in 1984. In this slim volume, Ernaux shares the story of her father, a working class man who quit school to work, went on to serve in WWI and eventually managed to buy a small shop. But his world clashed with a new order where, after the war ended, access to education offered for the first time social mobility for many working class people like Ernaux. It was a blessing in disguise, however, as she soon realised the cultural and social divide it created between her, the student, and her father, a man who thought people like him didn’t need books or music to live.

— Permafrost, Boulder, Mamut by Eva Baltasar (English translation published by Another Stories)
Eva Baltasar’s trilogy of sorts about female desire was exactly what I needed after the void Rooney’s characters left inside me. Baltasar has become one of the most exciting voices in contemporary literature and her novels (originally published in Catalan),have received critical and commercial success. I found a special edition with Permafrost, Boulder and Mamut in one volume and while each novel has a distinct female protagonist at its core, the three books explore queerness, female sexuality and desire, motherhood, what it means to exist as a woman and the moral obligations imposed on us, and the struggle between freedom and the desire to find our people and our place in the world. Baltasar’s prose is effective and direct and I can see why she’s at the receiving end of so many accolades.

Series

— Machos Alfa, Season 3
If I told you to watch a show where a group of straight middle-aged white men struggle with the slow disintegration of patriarchy, the rise of feminism and the power women are claiming back, the new dating landscape and how losing their traditional place in the world makes them question who they are at the core, you may roll your eyes and make a pass. But this is no regular show. This is Machos Alfa, the product of siblings Laura and Alberto Caballero, Spanish comedy royalty who have proved their talent time and again.

This time they’ve created a show that offers a fresh, clever, non-judgemental and very funny and timely take on how straight men raised under the patriarchy are losing their footing with women as well as in life. Season 4 is already in the making and the show’s rights have been bought for adaptation in other countries. The French have been the first to release theirs, Super Mâles/Shafted. I’ve watched it and I’m sorry to say that you can totally spare it. Stick to the true Machos Alfa made in Spain.

— The Great
Elle Fanning and Nicholas Hoult are absolutely terrific in this absurd satire created by Tony McNamara and set on the reign of Catherine the Great and her husband Peter III, which won them both highly deserved awards.

This is a show like no other. Imagine The Great as what Bridgerton would look like if characters acted as if they were in Peaky Blinders but led by Michael Scott from The Office. While it may not be historically accurate, The Great is so deliciously perfect (and here credit goes to the writing) that you can forgive it anything. Even the overuse of huzzahs. Violence, sex and swearing abound but so do clever and utterly hilarious dialogue and exceptionally strong performances.

In fact, this is very much an ensemble show where every character shines on their own right, but Nicholas Hoult’s performance as a stereotypical Alpha male (extremely violent, sexual addict), but also unexpected foodie, incredibly funny and endearing Peter III makes the most absurd scenarios believable. And guess who he took inspiration for his role which demands great comedic timing and relies on exceptional dry delivery? The one and only Hugh Grant. Huzzah indeed!

Films

— I’m Still Here
If you’re slightly familiar with Latin American history, you probably know that military coups, dictatorships and uprisings or any political orientation shook the region like an earthquake for most of the decades comprised between the 50s-90s, leaving thousands of victims in their trail, whose bodies are still to be found in many cases.

Based on the book written by his son Marcelo Rubens Paiva, I’m Still Here is the true story of one of those unfortunate episodes where Ruben Paiva, civil engineer and former congressman, is taken into military custody in 1971 at a time of instability and upheaval in the country, who has been under a dictatorship since 1964. But it is also the story of how his wife, Eunice Paiva, keeps her family safe, finds new meaning in life and preserves the memory of her husband.

If Dune 2 weren’t nominated for Best Picture at the Oscars, this would be my favourite candidate. The photography -especially the way the light is captured throughout and that 70s grainy image quality- is fantastic and the soundtrack is absolutely to die for.

— Nosferatu
Sometimes you think you don’t like something only to realise you actually do. Robert Egger’s Nosferatu being a case in point. I would have never considered myself a horror fan but if you give me a sombre and gothic aesthetic in the middle of the bleak British weather and release it on New Year’s Day -where people are in no fit state of mind anyway- I’ll probably go on and say yes, like Nicholas Hoult when offered the prosthetic penis of Bill Skargard. Having watched it three times, this film is the stuff gothic dreams are made of. Say what you want about putrefact undead vampires with questionable hygiene, but this film is sexy.

— Casa en Flames
Fresh from winning Best Original Screenplay at the Goyas, Casa en Flames is the portrait of a well-to-do Catalan family that has to come to terms with the secrets and untold grudges they hold against each other and which come to light as the family spends a last weekend together at their Costa Brava house ahead of selling it. Fantastic performance from Emma Vilarasau, who plays Montse, the matriarch of the family, and who delivers an incredible moving speech towards the end, as all the seams come undone.

— A Complete Unknown
I can’t say I’m a Bob Dylan fan or have any interest in or relevant knowledge of his music. However, you put Thimothée Chalamet in a film about his younger years, when he broke out to fame, and I’m in. People who like me have never been into Dylan have really enjoyed the film, but Dylan fans may find it doesn’t tell them much they didn’t know aleady. However, director James Mangold was very intent on making a film even non-Dylan fans would enjoy, and he’s succedded. Dylan fan or not, really worth watching for the performances by Chalamet (he’s looks scarily similar to Dylan) and Monica Barbaro, who plays a wonderful and headstrong Joan Baez -the only character in the film able to challenge a young Dylan- and has secured a very well deserved Oscar nomination for this role.

— September 5
Who gets to tell the news and how are they told? That’s the question at the heart of September 5, a film that revolves around the kidnapping and assassination of the Israeli team at the Munich Olympic games in 1972.

If you think you’ve seen this film before, you are probably right (Munich by Steven Spielberg and the documentary One Day in September by Kevin McDonald have covered this ground already), but the difference with previous iterations is that this time the story is told from the point of view of a team of sports journalists. This gives the film is seemingly unemotional veneer as the attention is shifted from the kipnapped athletes to the media and the pressure of covering real time events when there is little information available. Who gets to break the news to the world first? Who truly owns the story that is being told? What are the limits to secure a world exclusive? Think journalism ethics on speed with language barriers and time constraints for proper fat-checking and you’ll have an accurate idea of what September 5 is all about.

— Bridget Jones Mad About the Boy
I’m a Bridget Jones fan, let’s get that out of the way. So I have enjoyed the last film, and I think is a fair ending to the adventures of a heroine of our times, who despite all adversities lived independently in a great flat right in the middle of Borough Market and now has upgraded to a house in the middle of Hampstead where hot men magically manifest when she’s in trouble. The last film in the franchise is fun, endearing, brings back the gang together one more time and has so many references to the original Bridget Jones’ Diary that it’s impossible not to like it. In fact, it’s been the highest-ever opening for a romcom in the UK, which shows how loved the character is, and the cultural impact its had, after nearly three decades. Plus Emma Thompson is in one of the most hilarious scenes -which has reminded me of this clip of Anne Hathaway; and Hugh Grant is always great playing himself the caddish (but also unexpectedly vulnerable) Daniel Cleaver, who we discover has a very worthy successor in case this isn’t the last last Bridget Jones…

BAFTA HIGHLIGHTS

The BAFTAs were hosted this past Sunday in London and while the British Academy tends to vote slightly differently than its American cousins, BAFTA winners usually shade some light on what to expect at the Oscar on 3rd March. I feel this past year there haven’t been truly exciting films that have managed to create the excitement Barbenheimer did in the summer of 2023, which led to the decade’s pop culture defining moment when a Kensational Ryan Gosling sang I’m Just Ken at the Oscars.

Unfortunately there won’t be anything like that this year. To begin with because Kneecap (more about it here), which has received the Outstanding debut by a British writer, director or producer at the BAFTAs, hasn’t made the final shortlist for Best International Film at the Oscars. Shame. The Belfast trio could have liven up the night with their irreverent Irish hip hop.

Kneecap, in fact, lost to Emilia Pérez at the BAFTAs in the Best International Film category. To be honest, after the public fall of Karla Sofía Gascón, I’d be surprised if Audiar’s musical about a Mexican trans drug lord wins anything at the Oscars other than Best Supporting Actress for Zoe Saldaña, who seems to have escaped the polemic unscathed.

As expected, Conclave, the screen adaptation of British writer Robert Harris’ novel, won four awards: Best Film, Outstanding British Film -in case it wasn’t clear-, Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Editing. Unfortunately Ralph Fiennes lost to Adrien Brody in the Best Actor category even though architects aren’t loving The Brutalist and the use of AI in the movie has sparked some controversy.

Fellow nominees included Coman Domingo for Sing, Sing and Sebastian Stan for The Apprentice (more on both films in the last Culture Fix), Thimothée Chalamet for A Complete Unknown (he’s the only reason I’ve watched that film in first place and he’s brilliant in it) and last but not least, the bane of my existence and object of all my desires, Hugh Grant for Heretic. I’m so glad he got a nomination for Best Actor because he was fantastic as a religion-obsessed psycho, a character for whom he created a very detailed back history.

I’m disappointed, though, that Hugh Grant didn’t present any awards this year because his introductions are memorable, whether he goes full Oompa Loompa like last year, or sticks to being himself when he presented long-time friend Richard Curtis with an honorary Oscar.

With the exception of Grant, Adrian Brody will compete at the Oscars against the same actors in his category so one could think it’s almost in the bag. However, the Academy may want to reward Chalamet for his portrayal of a young Bob Dylan instead as this would create the sort of moment award ceremonies are made for: if Chalamet won, he’d be the youngest Oscar winner ever, beating Brody, who currently holds that title for his performance in The Pianist.

Meanwhile, Conclave doesn’t have it easy competing against the best film made last year and more than deserving winner of every award it gets nominated to. Yes, I’m talking about Dune 2. The fact that Denis Villeneuve hasn’t been nominated in the Best Director category as well is a crime so I hope the Academy at least recognises the miracle he’s pulled off with this film. Translating Frank Herbert’s arid prose into a visual feast that captivates the mind and the senses is no small feat.

In the Best Supporting Actor category Kieran Caulkin emerged as the winner for A Real Pain and while he seems to be the favourite for the Oscars, he’ll have to fight for against a very strong Jeremy Strong (yes, it was intentional) who is terrifying as Trump’s mentor Roy Cohn in The Apprentice, and a very convincing Yuri Borisov in Anora, who I’m happy to see nominated and hope to see in many more films after this. I think Strong should be the fair winner because he eats the screen. However, this might send out the wrong message at a time when the MAGA epidemic is spreading like wildfire across the US -and according to the NYT bringing sexy back-, so I doubt he’ll stand a chance against Culkin (most likely winner) or Borisov (worthy opponent and rising international star in the making).

On the leading women front Mikey Maddison was a very deserving winner for her extraordinary raw performance in Anora - which seems to be the Oscars’ favourite for Best Film- while Zoe Saldaña bagged the Best Supporting Actress. Saldaña has a fair chance to win again at the Oscars, redeem Emilia Pérez, and close a very exciting awards season for her, although Monica Barbaro and her rendition of Joan Baez in A Complete Unknown is not to be underestimated and she could be a surprise winner.

In the Oscar race, however, Maddison has tough competition in Brazilian actress Fernanda Torres, who is a force of nature in I’m Still Here and has already won a Golden Globe, and the Best Actress will be decided between the two of them. Demi Moore was Golden-Globe good in The Substance, but not Oscar-worthy good in my opinion. If she beats Maddison or Torres it’s the film industry making up to her for past wrongs, but it seems unlikely.

Interviews/Podcasts

— I've recently discovered Fashion Neurosis, a podcast where designer Bella Freud explores the connection between fashion and identity as her guests lie down on a couch. With that surname, the apple couldn’t fall far from the tree. Guests to date have included (among others) Kate Moss, Kristin Scott Thomas, Jonathan W. Anderson, Nick Cave, Cate Blanchet and Zadie Smith, whose episode I really enjoyed listening to.

— I’ve started listening to the special Bridget Jones podcast by

Pandora Sykes

— My favourite French woman, Philippine Leroy-Beaulieu, in conversation with my favourite French man, David Castello-Lopes, for his Small Talk podcast. When I grow up I want to have half the class, effortless style and intelligence this woman has.

— I can’t get enough of Nicholas Hoult and Elle Fanning promotional interviews for The Great and theirch aotic energy and fantastic chemistry. These two need to do more comedy shows and films together. The world needs it.

Music

— I couldn’t resist the temptation to share a personal playlist for Valentine’s Day. It’s actually a good one to listen to anytime of the year even if I say so myself.

— The Human Fear by Franz Ferdinand
Franz Ferdinand’s sixth studio album came out on January 10th and it’s been playing non-stop ever since. Overall The Human Fear is a return to the sound fans have come to love and recognised from the Glasgow band yet it’s somehow different, an amalgamation of who they were and who they are now with a new formation.

Although this album lacks the kind of track that punches you in the gut as you listen to it and has you play it on repeat for days, tracks like The Doctor, Build it Up, Tell Me I Should Stay, Bar Lonely, Cats and Night and Day have great potential to become future FF classics.

It’s not easy for a band that has been active for two decades to keep making consistently good music but Franz Ferdinand somehow have always managed to stay true to themselves while making music the girls still want to dance to.

— Aligator Bites Never Heal by Doechii
Like many artists that end up becoming favourites and are played over and over, Doechii appear in my life unexpectedly out of Tampa, Florida, with What it is?, a song that took me back in time to the sounds of my teenage years and made me want to listen to more of her music instantly.

And that’s how I got to Aligator Bites Never Heal, a fantastic record which has won Best Rap Album at the recent Grammy Awards, in an edition where Doechii was the most nominated female rapper (the other two nominations she received were for Best Rap Performance for Nissan Altissima and Best New Artist, which went to Chappelle Roan).

If you’re a fan of Lauryn Hill, you will recognise her musical influence in Doechii, which she has discussed openly. Like Hill in her day, Doechii doesn’t shy away from calling out the music industry’s practices and how artists are now expected to come up with viral TikTok hits (as she sings about in Denial is a River) if they want to survive instead of being allowed to create albums. Luckily she had a clear vision of the music she wanted to make and how and stuck to it, which has produced an award winning record and proved that good music will always have an audience.

Doechii is also a fantastic live performer, as she proved at the Grammys as well as at the Stephen Colbert show, and at her fabulous, all-female Tiny Desk concert. The Swamp Princess is here to reign.

Grammy highlights

— Chappelle Roan’s speech after winning Best New Act flagged the many challenges emerging artists face and asked labels to take action. She faced criticism over her words, which some judged misinformed, but she may have stirred a few feathers nonetheless because Universal has launched a mental health fund.

— Sabrina Carpenter’s playful performance at the Grammys (with a cheeky a wink to Beyoncé’s “Someone’s getting fired” line) was a treat. This woman is surely aware people have developed Espresso-fatigue by now, so she found a way to give the song a spin and mix it with another of her hits, Please, Please, Please, to create something new and fresh for the occasion. Pity people didn’t even bother to get up and dance.

— I had no idea who Benson Boone was until February 3rd, when my Instagram decided to display non-stop videos of a man in a baby blue jumpsuit jumping from a piano and doing a backflip. When I finally watched one of them with sound I was confronted with the reality that this man was doing all that while also hitting an impossibly high note upon landing from his backflip. WTAF. I’m dizzy if I get up too fast in the morning in complete silence.

Needless to say that I have now watched his Beautiful Things (how hadn’t I listened to this song before???) Grammy performance a million times, give or take. Not sure that’s been a good idea because now my romantic standards have been raised to impossible heights and unless a man enters the scene singing a killer song and doing a backflip looking like a million pounds in a tight sequinned jumpsuit, I honestly can’t be bothered.

— Taylor Swift having the time of her life despite not winning in any of the categories she was nominated for. You can argue she’s spent the last year and a half being celebrated through her record-breaking Eras Tour so it’s only fair the Academy let her walked home empty handed and focused on celebrating other artists.

However, the way she enjoyed the musical performances dancing like no one was watching, celebrating every artist on stage or fangirling when listening to Beyoncé’s speech after winning Best Country Album (a category Swift herself has won in the past) have inspired me to enter my Taylor Era and be more celebratory of people doing well in life.

More importantly, the confidence she exuded in that killer red dress has made me realise it’s about time I flaunted what I have because it only goes downhill from here with every passing day and we all know it.

I recently wrote about how I bumped into Bill Nighy at a café, remarked how elegant he looked and how this was the second time in a year this has happened to me. Apparently, spotting the famous actor in central London is a thing and constitutes the kind of event that catapults you to the category of true Londoner.

Someone recently asked me about the Life in the UK test questions and I joked that if you want to know if someone is really integrated in this country, ask them who they think the next Bond should be instead of how many members there are in a jury in Wales and England as opposed to Scotland. For people in London that question should be replaced by when and where they last spotted Bill Nighy and what he was wearing.

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Abroad is an independent publication about London, living in between cultures, languages, books, music, films, creativity, and being human in the age of artificial intelligence.

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