Grayson Perry's Insightful Look at AI and This Week's Cultural Highlights
In a compelling new documentary on Channel 4, artist and national treasure Grayson Perry delves into the frightening onset of artificial intelligence, offering a deeply insightful perspective that has captivated audiences. Titled Grayson Perry Has Seen the Future, the programme presents a terrifying yet thought-provoking examination of AI's implications, with reviewer Lucy Mangan praising Perry as the ideal interrogator for such complex topics. This exploration comes as Perry himself expresses indifference towards AI potentially appropriating his work, highlighting the nuanced debates surrounding technology and creativity.
Television: Must-Watch Picks and Hidden Gems
Beyond Perry's documentary, the week's television offerings include a nostalgic journey with David Attenborough in A Gorilla Story: Told By David Attenborough on Netflix, where the broadcaster revisits a family of apes from a memorable encounter fifty years ago. Reviewer Stuart Heritage notes this feels like a final chance to learn from a beloved figure, adding emotional depth to the natural history narrative. Meanwhile, comedians Sara Pascoe and Roisin Conaty subvert the celebrity travelogue format in Zero Stars on Discovery+, touring the world to find the worst destinations with brilliant comedic timing.
For those seeking investigative journalism, Inside the Rage Machine on BBC iPlayer features whistleblowers from Meta and X revealing alarming truths about social media giants, described by Lucy Mangan as a stark exposé of corporate machinations. This documentary underscores the ongoing concerns about digital platforms and their impact on society.
Film: Elegant Mysteries and Emotional Dramas
In cinemas, Christian Petzold teams up again with Paula Beer for Miroirs No 3, an elegantly unnerving mystery centred on a depressed pianist grappling with grief and family dysfunction. Reviewer Peter Bradshaw highlights the film's avoidance of macabre twists in favour of a positive, redemptive conclusion, making it a standout in Petzold's oeuvre. Other notable releases include Ferzan Özpetek's Diamanti, a luscious 1970s costume melodrama celebrating women's lives, and Rebuilding, a subdued drama starring Josh O'Connor as a rancher recovering from a wildfire.
The re-release of the landmark Japanese cyberpunk animation Akira from 1988 offers a startling message of global annihilation, with Bradshaw noting its thanatonic rapture in depicting world rebirth. On streaming platforms, Endless Cookie on Mubi presents trippy tales of First Nations life through hallucinatory animation, blending humour and introspection.
Books: Celebrating Avant-Garde and Confronting History
In literature, Deborah Levy's My Year in Paris With Gertrude Stein is an exuberant celebration of the avant-garde writer, described by reviewer Lucy Hughes-Hallett as a meditation rather than a biography. Greg Doran's Walking Shadow: Love, Loss and Shakespeare combines personal grief with scholarly quest, exploring his loss of husband Antony Sher and a mission to see every First Folio copy. Caro Claire Burke's Yesteryear critiques tradwife culture through a pioneer reality narrative, while Louise Brangan's The Fallen provides a searing account of Ireland's Magdalene laundries.
For a lighter read, Erin Somers' The Ten Year Affair offers a buzzy black comedy on midlife adultery, praised for its razor-sharp wit and exactitude. These books reflect diverse themes from historical repression to modern anxieties.
Music: Experimental Sounds and Traditional Rhythms
In the music scene, Korean American musician Lucy Liyou's album Mr Cobra explores power imbalances through skittish melodies and nursery rhymes, with reviewer Hugh Morris noting its eclectic mix of disco cuts and text-to-speech streams. Tanzanian field recordings in Asili ya Mama capture rarely heard traditional music, described as infectious by Jude Rogers. German baritone Samuel Hasselhorn's all-Schubert disc and Jessie Ware's retro album Superbloom also receive critical acclaim for their artistic depth and sequin-festooned style.
On tour, the Brodsky Quartet and William Barton present an eclectic evening blending folk songs and classical pieces, offering a beautiful fusion of hemispheres. This week's cultural landscape showcases a rich tapestry of insights, from Perry's AI warnings to diverse artistic expressions across media.
