Political Pandora

Pandora's Vinyl: I'll say it upfront: this is not your traditional Dogrel Fontaines. If you came here expecting more sneering Dublin street poetry, you might as well pack it up now. Romance is the sound of a band that's discovered they can make their guitars shimmer like oil slicks and decided to lean hard into that discovery. It's their "what if we tried being pretty?" album, and honestly? They pull it off better than they have any right to.

Both Amazon and the judicial system of South Africa have acted as neocolonial powers, employing colonial tactics to further dispossess the Khoisan people. In this case, Amazon as neocolonial infrastructure is supported by the divide and conquer strategy and by the South African post-apartheid legislature and judiciary, which ensures the systemic erasure of the Khoisan people.

The crafts that once connected us and the earth have faded from view and taken with them fundamental relationships. A political enquiry into these media allows us to take craft seriously, as a tool to imagine and shape more cooperative, sustainable and liberating ways of life. This has never been more necessary than amidst our epoch of rapid accumulation, consumption and disconnection.

I would suggest that Cregger’s follow-up, Weapons, is him trying to reverse engineer an even more successful movie by having multiple swerves throughout the entire thing. The whole film does follow one story, in which an entire classroom of children save for one shockingly disappear into the night, running out of their homes with seemingly no explanation, and throwing the entire community into turmoil.

Evolving. That’s the optimal way to describe the United Kingdom’s current political climate. Reform UK, a party long derided as fringe, is suddenly exerting pressure on Westminster politics. The party, led by Nigel Farage, has experienced a sharp rise in support — with a YouGov “mega‑poll” projecting Reform UK as the largest party if a general election were held now —  redefining the usually predictable political system of the UK.

The story of climate technology transfers reveals both the pitfalls of older North–South models and the opportunities that new forms of cooperation present. Traditional approaches have been constrained by credit rating biases, intellectual property barriers, and the chronic underdelivery of international climate finance. While China has forced technology transfers in a way that few other countries can, this has not been without its pitfalls.

In the shadow of the Bodhi tree, where Buddha attained enlightenment, a profound struggle continues to unfold. The Mahabodhi Temple, Buddhism’s holiest shrine, remains at the heart of a protracted and deeply symbolic conflict between Brahmanical control versus Buddhist reclamation of sacred heritage.

In previous conflicts between India and Pakistan, there was a general sense that it was our governments who were at war and not the people. But this time, it seemed different. There was a parallel war being fought on social media. It was clear that the governments on both sides wanted to shape public opinion through controlling the flow of information. 

Pandora's Vinyl: Here's the thing about Virgin: it hits different. Not in the uber calculated way where pop stars pretend to be vulnerable for TikTok moments, but in that rare, slightly uncomfortable way where you feel like you've stumbled into someone's actual therapy session and they're too busy having breakthroughs to kick you out, for better or worse. 

When Fantastic Four was released in 2005, nobody knew what to do with superhero movies. It  is probably best understood as a mainstream studio’s attempt to capitalise on their recent unexpected success without quite understanding the catalysts of their popularity.

The second law, the Two Status System Act, attaches two different statuses to immigrants. Those fleeing from persecution due to political beliefs, sexual orientation, and religion will be granted asylum. In contrast, those who leave their country for wars and natural disasters will have a harder time entering the Netherlands and gaining an asylum permit. 

Pandora's Vinyl: Brandon Woody’s debut album, For The Love Of It All, with Blue Note Records, is a dynamic masterpiece that captures longing, tension and love, and stands as a testament to his beloved hometown of Baltimore.

According to the Forum ERF Policy Portal, scholars have questioned whether the standard Mercator projection was a political tool that contributed to the scramble for Africa by various Western powers. By making the continent look small and ‘conquerable’, it could have played a role in the colonisation of Africa. The late 19th and 20th centuries saw the peak of colonialism where Western powers competed fiercely for colonies in Africa, Asia and the Americas.

From subversive thrillers to gothic-pop odysseys, Pandora’s entertainment staff weighs in on the films and albums that have defined 2025 so far. Here are our mid-year favourites, spotlighting the boldest, strangest and most unforgettable works of the year.

Pandora's Vinyl: The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess, Chappell Roan's debut album, is more a glitter coded celebration of queer selfhood and euphoria, an exorcism of small-town restrictions than it is a compilation of songs.

In the 1920s, New Orleans saw the emergence of a new genre within its African-American communities. It was an expression of their musical culture and a form of resistance against classical styles. Since jazz in the U.S. was formed as a resistance against the oppression faced by the African-Americans, were these values retained in the Indian Jazz scene? Did it stay closely linked to the elite audiences who consumed it, or did it also culturally emancipate certain populations?