On a showery Saturday afternoon with the sound of thunder echoing in my ears, I set off to Manchester’s Red Bank to sample ...

For those interested in history and espionage, Antonia Senior’s highly compelling new book, Stalin’s Apostles, is a ...

There’s an art to parting, a chance to frame the end credits on one’s own terms.

Ai Weiwei, whose monumental works currently loom large over the hangar-like warehouse space at Manchester’s Factory ...

So near and yet so far. You know that thing where in New York people say you turn a corner and you’re in a completely ...

Anyone who has been through Manchester’s Trafford Park will be familiar with Brian Fell’s landmark sculpture Skyhooks which, ...

There’s an episode of the 90s hit comedy Father Ted where the lads on Craggy Island are visited by ...

When Bonnie Raitt was a young girl, she was enthralled by the power and charisma of such blues and folk greats as John Lee Hooker and Sippie Wallace, modelling her own music and guitar-playing on them ...

As we approach the end of 2025, we’re looking back at the things that have brought us immense comfort during the year. For the team at Northern Soul, books were once again a source of great joy, and ...

The Shawshank Redemption is a play about toxic masculinity. So far, so zeitgeist. But it is also a play about the best of manhood: friendship, loyalty, resilience and hope. It is a story that much of ...

In a world brimming with artificial intelligence, the internet is awash with claims that 2026 is the year of ‘going analogue’. But what’s the evidence? Well, sales of physical media have surged (for ...

The Floral Pavilion sits out on the edge of New Brighton, facing the Mersey with Liverpool’s docks looming across the water. Around it, the place holds that familiar seaside mix: arcades, food stalls, ...