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Justin Lewis

@whenisbirths.bsky.social

3.1K followers 1.5K following 16K posts

Author/editor/carer, S Wales, probably autistic: NEW BOOK!: Into the Groove, out on 2 Oct 2025. Textcast archive: https://firstlastanything.co.uk/about/ (next run of eps from late Oct) Email: [email protected] ko-fi.com/firstlastanything .. more

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Justin Lewis is a Professor of Communication and Creative Industries at the Cardiff School of Journalism, Media and Cultural Studies at Cardiff University. He is the Director of Clwstwr, an Arts and Humanities Research Council and Welsh Government funded Research & Development innovation centre for the Screen and News sectors and Media Cymru, a £50 million, 23 partner consortium, funded by UK Research and Innovation, Cardiff Capital Region and Welsh Government, designed to boost inclusive and sustainable media sector innovation in Wales. He is also Chief Field Editor for Frontiers in Communication, a global Open Access publisher. .. more

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Justin Lewis @whenisbirths.bsky.social · 9d

OUT NOW, my month-by-month guide to 1980s pop, from ABC to XTC, and from Madonna to Neneh. #IntoTheGroove, published by @eandtbooks.bsky.social.

Cover of
INTO THE GROOVE: THE 1980s:
THE ULTIMATE DECADE IN MUSIC HISTORY
by Justin Lewis (me)

'An epic compendium of stories and trivia from the 80s music scene'

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Justin Lewis @whenisbirths.bsky.social · 2h

Yes, this idea you almost always have to have a personality rather than an expert who is also good on television. There’s no shortage of the latter.

Justin Lewis @whenisbirths.bsky.social · 2h

I know you can’t construct TV with this in mind anymore, but the number of things I happened on almost by accident.

Justin Lewis @whenisbirths.bsky.social · 2h

Yes, there’s this obsession with feeling over thought which doesn’t help either.

Reposted by Justin Lewis

Ian Greaves @greavesian.bsky.social · 2h

Tony Hall actively squeezed out criticism on arts shows, which I think was a bad move. It has created the wrong sort of critical distance, as have arts programmes made by artists. And if I see another arts documentary opening with an auction, I will scream.

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Justin Lewis @whenisbirths.bsky.social · 2h

And Film 87. They should bring that back, but just doing the films of 87, obviously.

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Justin Lewis @whenisbirths.bsky.social · 2h

I know the ratings for The Late Show weren’t great but god I miss it. And The South Bank Show and Arena and Omnibus.

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Justin Lewis @whenisbirths.bsky.social · 2h

Furthermore: while enthusiasm is all very well and we ‘live in a multichannel world, you have to grab their attention blah’, the presentation now can be a bit too desperate and ‘please like us’.

Justin Lewis @whenisbirths.bsky.social · 2h

I say it all the time but how is there no regular weekly TV programme about cinema or art or music (apart from Later, sometimes) or media, or books - and yet there seem to be about 45 programmes a week on the Royal Family or true crime.

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Justin Lewis @whenisbirths.bsky.social · 2h

Can I just say here how underwhelming most Sky Arts output is, save for the odd buy-in?

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Justin Lewis @whenisbirths.bsky.social · 2h

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Justin Lewis @whenisbirths.bsky.social · 3h

It nearly all goes on pop coverage now and a lot of that is very very surface.

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Justin Lewis @whenisbirths.bsky.social · 3h

Why C4 used to be amazing. They used to televise opera at least monthly.

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Justin Lewis @whenisbirths.bsky.social · 3h

People’s fucking houses.

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Justin Lewis @whenisbirths.bsky.social · 3h

You look at those extraordinary Arena docs on iPlayer and they’re hardly difficult viewing. Anyone could appreciate them. God knows, I did.

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Justin Lewis @whenisbirths.bsky.social · 3h

As I’ve often said, so much of it went into ‘lifestyle’.

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Justin Lewis @whenisbirths.bsky.social · 3h

I think one reason we have an elitism divide with the arts now has a lot to do with the reduction of proper documentary and discussion from TV. There used to be something on every single night like that.

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Justin Lewis @whenisbirths.bsky.social · 3h

I think the single version of Subculture does at least hide Bernard’s all-time lousiest vocal performance. I find it quite catchy, myself, it’s got that sort of It’s a Sin vibe in the keyboard riffs. Still a lot better than State of the Nation, for me.

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Justin Lewis @whenisbirths.bsky.social · 3h

Going to be on Times Radio tomorrow. Yes, further details to follow.

Reposted by Lesley A. Hall, Justin Lewis, David Underdown

David Nice @davidnice.bsky.social · 3h

Excellent article. Shameful that it's 'either football or opera'. observer.co.uk/news/columni...

It’s not opera that’s elitist but the idea that art is to...

The myth that culture has not been for the masses is debunked in a new book

observer.co.uk

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Justin Lewis @whenisbirths.bsky.social · 21h

Occurs to me that breathless political reporting these days celebrating dodginess has more than an echo of the worst kind of rock hackery.

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Justin Lewis @whenisbirths.bsky.social · 21h

The ‘bad boys’ of anything… just yuk.

Justin Lewis @whenisbirths.bsky.social · 21h

Not to sound censorious about it but imagine you have to live with characters like that.

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Justin Lewis @whenisbirths.bsky.social · 21h

Remembering somehow the Amazon review for the last book where someone asked why there weren’t more mentions of death like Keith Moon’s for instance and I just found it hard to celebrate the squalid nature of rock n roll.

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Justin Lewis @whenisbirths.bsky.social · 21h

Hard to avoid the story in Wales esp with the disgraceful police attitudes.

Justin Lewis @whenisbirths.bsky.social · 21h

Since that conviction and a few other stories, I have definitely seen a reduction in the celebrations of edgelord rock’n’roll behaviour. Even when not criminal, a lot of it just looked pathetic.

Justin Lewis @whenisbirths.bsky.social · 21h

Horrible day, will be glad to see the arse-end of it.

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Justin Lewis @whenisbirths.bsky.social · 21h

There was a lot about it on the news here, due to its locality.

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Justin Lewis @whenisbirths.bsky.social · 21h

Forever haunted by the reports of what that pos did.

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Justin Lewis @whenisbirths.bsky.social · 1d

And that's why I restrict myself to small bags of extremely bad-for-you sweets.

Reposted by Justin Lewis

Andrew Male @andrewmale.bsky.social · 1d

I’m in this new @mojomagazine.bsky.social interviewing the great Brigitte Fontaine, telling you How To Buy Electric Miles Davis (in short: buy it all) and reviewing the wonderful new Steve Gunn LP plus multi-disc reissues by William Basinski and The Dream Syndicate.

MOJO 385 - December 2025

INCLUDES
JOHN
LENNON
INSIDE HIS ROCK'N'ROLL REVOLUTION
142
REVIEWS
PLUS BRIGITTE
FONTAINE
JANE WEAVER
PATTI SMITH
WRECKLESS ERIC
RICK DAVIES RIP
PRINCE
PSYCHS OUT!
MILES DAVIS
ELECTRIFIES!
FINE
YOUNG
CANNIBALS
EAT TO THE BEAT LUCINDA
WILLIAMS
AMERICANA'S HEART & SOUL
EAGLES
"LEAVING WAS AN ACT OF SURVIVAL"
THE
REPLACEMENTS
LET IT BE!
+ JMIHENDRIX
"DEVASTATINGLY LOUD! COMPLETE INSANITY!"

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Justin Lewis @whenisbirths.bsky.social · 1d

Ricky Gervais also.