Lauren Laverne: 'I take a no-brow approach to culture'

Indie girl turned cultural bigshot Lauren Laverne talks to John Harris in the latest of his National Conversations series of interviews. In a wide-ranging and candid conversation, they discuss sexism on TV, the break-up of her band Kenickie, nostalgia, and her once calling the Spice Girls 'Tory scum'.

Back in her native north-east, Lauren Laverne's father's an academic and her mother's a Labour councillor. While still in her teens, she moved south to launch her band Kenickie at the tail-end of the Britpop era.

When Kenickie fizzled out, she deftly moved into television presenting, and then writing. She's now got her own radio show on BBC 6Music; she's the face of the BBC's Glastonbury coverage; she's a published novelist; she has a column in Grazia magazine; as well as two small children.

In a wide-ranging and candid conversation, John and Lauren unpick no end of issues: sexism on TV, whether radio is also one big boys' club, what to do when you realise your pop career is over, whether or not you should go public with your politics, and much, much more.

A change of heart

This article from the Sky News website relates the story of Bryon Widner, a former white supremacist from Ohio. Finding himself with a family to support and no chance of ever working with his face covered in racist tattoos, he underwent months of painful surgery to have them removed.

Group Communication: Signifiers

Identifying Group Culture

Although group culture is complex, you can get a general idea of the culture that has developed in your group's interactions by examining some key cultural indicators.

• Vocabulary: words group members use that are unique to the group. By studying the vocabulary people use, it is sometimes possible to determine who is part of the group, who isn't, who is new to the group, and who the "old-timers" are.

• Practices: unique group processes. For example, the group may have written documents that detail meeting procedures, yet meetings may not follow those guidelines. Practices are how group members go about accomplishing their tasks.

• Stories: narratives group members tell about the group. Stories often convey the group's values, priorities, power distribution, and member relationships. Stories often have a moral, although the moral may not be explicitly stated. Stories told to newcomers often let the rookie know how group members are supposed to interact and accomplish their tasks.

• Metaphors: the way group members relate unfamiliar things to things they are all familiar with in order to describe an idea or experience. Metaphors are often implied rather than stated explicitly. For example, group members may say, "We smashed it!." This suggests that the group process is a journey. Some metaphors are more explicit, as when group members refer to the group as "home".

• Rituals: provide structure for group work. Rituals include group customs, daily activities that group members perform regularly, and ceremonies, infrequent activities that mark a particular occasion. For example, groups may have parties for members who leave the group.

• Objects: nonverbal symbols that represent key aspects of the group. Logos or emblems are good examples of objects that reflect the culture of a group.

These cultural indicators alone do not constitute group culture. However, by examining group communication in all these areas, you can get a sense of group values and beliefs.

Britain in a Day

On Saturday November 12th, you can get involved in a project that seeks to represent 'Britain in a Day'. You are asked to take a camera with you, whatever you are up to, and film. To find out more go to the project website.

Youth groups in the UK: 'We're about really doing it'

Where do artists first discover they're artists? In school, almost always – stumbling across the instrument they end up playing like a virtuoso, picking up the paintbrush that will eventually lead them to the Turner prize. But government cuts and curriculum changes have placed a question mark over arts in schools. Creative Partnerships, a scheme that saw musicians, actors and artists visit 2,500 schools every year, has been scrapped. And last December, the coalition announced that schools were to be assessed on subjects collectively known as "the English baccalaureate". This doesn't include music, art or drama.

So, if not in school, where will tomorrow's musicians, actors, dancers, directors and artists learn their craft? Step forward extracurricular arts groups. Three – the National Youth Choir, the National Youth Orchestra, and the National Youth Theatre – have been training young talent for decades. How do they do it? Who attends? And what do they get out of spending their holidays immersed in the arts? The Guardian's Laura Barnett spent a day with each to find out.

Read her observations here.

A worrying gulf

What struck me most about these youth groups? Two things: the enthusiasm of the teachers and the joy of the kids – joy in their subjects, joy in meeting others who feel the same way. It is especially stirring to see this at a time when so much is being said about the disaffection of the "lost generation". And these aren't stage-school brats. While private-school pupils still dominate, all three groups (especially NYT) are making a real effort to attract a wider range. What's also clear is that there is a gulf between arts opportunities at the average state school and those at an independent school like Shrewsbury, with its music wing stuffed with instruments. If that gulf continues to grow, we could see fewer state-school pupils even thinking of applying for groups like these. And that's a sad and worrying thought.

Groups, Leadership and Groupthink

Groups we belong to and why.

Group identity and cohesion; group dynamics.

• Group cohesion: tendency to remain intact

• Groupthink: whereby an individuals performance is inhibited by the priorities of the whole group

• Intergroup communication: communication between groups

• Interpersonal communication: communication within individuals

• Intragroup communication: communication within a group

• Group dynamics: how individuals relate to each other within a group

What is a leader? What makes a good leader? Provide an example of what you consider to be a good/bad leader and support your choices by discussing the qualities you think they possess/lack. Who considers themselves a good leader? What are the advantages/disadvantages of being a leader? Think about the the importance of a leader to a group's success.

What makes an effective group? Focus on the terms cohesion and conformity. What pressures exist?

Ricky Gervais - when is a word offensive?

Ricky Gervais recently made comments on Twitter and used the word 'mong'. When disability campaigner Nicky Clarke questioned his use of the word and it's links to Down's Syndrome, a nasty war of words raged between Gervais's supporters and those sympathetic to Nicky Clarke's views. This blog entry by comedian and writer Robin Ince tries to make sense of the issues.

'Mods' - Youth Culture Project

To confirm your understanding of the key terms for the subject you need to prepare a study of 'mod culture' and present it in a format that you are comfortable in using. It should apply all the terminology you have learnt on the course so far and explore the ways that culture is communicated through group interaction.

In doing this task you should see how identity can be formed through social interaction, cultural objects and a desire for group conformity.

Groups: 10 Rules That Govern Groups

What most groups of people have in common.

Much of our lives are spent in groups with other people: we form groups to socialise, earn money, play sport, make music, even to change the world. But although groups are diverse, many of the psychological processes involved are remarkably similar.

Here are 10 insightful studies that give a flavour of what has been discovered about the dynamics of group psychology.

'Quadrophenia' is a 1979 British film, loosely based around the 1973 rock opera of the same name by The Who. The film stars Phil Daniels as a Mod named Jimmy and makes a good example how 'teens' form groups to define their identity. The film, set in 1965, follows the story of Jimmy Cooper (Phil Daniels), a London Mod. Disillusioned by his parents and a job as a post room boy in an advertising firm, Jimmy finds an outlet for his teenage angst with his Mod friends Dave (Mark Wingett), Chalky (Philip Davis) and Spider (Gary Shail). However, his angst and confusion are compounded by the fact that one of the Mods' rivals, the Rockers, is in fact childhood friend Kevin (Ray Winstone). An assault by aggressive Rockers on Spider leads to a serious unprovoked attack on a Rocker who, unbeknownst to Jimmy and his Mod mates, is Kevin.

Ballet Rocks

Part of the Sky Arts "Ballet Rocks" series, choreographer Jenna Lee creates a dynamic and innovative routine for Bloc Party's 2004 breakthrough song "Banquet".

Blur '13': Songs That Saved My Life

Guardian writers are picking their favourite albums. Here, Miranda Sawyer relates how Blur's '13' helped her through the breakdown of a relationship.

"It pin-points that awful desperation in trying be happy when you're not, that desire to be out of the house and out of your mind when you're all messed up. And it shows that, if you really work, beauty can come out of chaos. It aims high – musically and emotionally – and, for me, it's an inspiration." Miranda Sawyer

Beyoncé v De Keersmaeker: can you copyright a dance move?

Works of art often reference other works of art, so is the Belgian choreographer right to accuse the R&B star of plagiarism in her new music video?

Initially, De Keersmaeker was pretty acid about the whole thing, saying that she'd seen local school kids perform her work better, and expressing amazement at the Beyoncé team's effrontery. "I'm not mad, but this is plagiarism. This is stealing," she told Studio Brussel. And up to a point you have to sympathise with her; the notion of the artist ripped off by the corporate machine is not an edifying one. Petty's attitude is certainly high-handed. "I brought Beyoncé a number of references and we picked some out together. Most were German modern-dance references, believe it or not," she told MTV, possibly under the impression that she was referencing the work of the late Pina Bausch, rather than that of the Belgian (and very much alive) De Keersmaeker.

Read more here.

And she may well be right. Watch Beyoncé's new Countdown video, directed by Adria Petty , and watch Thierry De Mey's 1997 film Rosas Danst Rosas (named after De Keersmaeker's company) and you can see remarkably similar moves in the two works. They're a tiny part of the whole, but they're there.

Media, Culture & 'Dumbing Down' - Morrissey - 'Songs That Saved My Life!'

Cultural icon Morrissey discusses how the media is obsessed with insignificant issues and fails to make valid critical comments on the state of nation, the august riots, contemporary culture and the current music scene in an interview with clashmusic.com. Read it here.

Watch the video below and consider the cultural implications that the song implies:

Contemporary Theory for Culture & Media

Contemporary Issues In Media & Culture

Rolf Harris v the Art Establishment

This article from The Telegraph discusses the popularity of Rolf Harris's painting with the general public and why his work is dismissed by the Art Establishment. To quote Judith Woods in the aritcle "Harris clearly paints whatever takes his fancy, and perhaps it is this absence of a unified focus, this blithe lack of psychological depth, that so irritates the establishment."

Antony Gormley v Jack Vettriano

Antony Gormley and Jack Vettriano are both artists who are hugely popular and commercially successful. But whilst Gormley is a member of the Royal Academy and his work can be seen in high profile galleries and public spaces around the world, you will never see Vettriano's work in Tate Britain or the National Gallery. Why?

'Exit Through the Gift Shop' Reviews

Read these reviews of the Banksy film from The Guardian and Telegraph.

Warhol and Basquiat

Andy Warhol used everyday images of consumer society, such as 'Marilyn' and 'Coke Bottles' (Tate Modern). These appealed (and still do) to lovers of popular culture. Warhol wanted to shun the ideas of elitist high culture, but at the same time he embraced the wealth, fame and recognition that it brought him.
Warhol encouraged a young street artist called Jean-Michel Basquiat. Was he bringing attention to a talented young man who would have no hope of recognition without Warhols' patronage or was he exploiting him for his own gain?

The Birth of Conceptual Art

Picasso attempted to move beyond visually realistic and purely representational art. 'Weeping Woman' 1937 (Tate Modern), was painted at the time of the Spanish Civil War.

Jackson Pollock painted his unconscious, emotional responses. 'Summertime: No.9A' 1948 (Tate Modern) was created by splashing, throwing and dripping paint onto a canvas.

Street Art at The Tate

Here are two articles written at the time of Tate Modern's Street Art exhibition in 2008. Francesca Gavin asks if there is an element of hypocrisy behind our attitudes. Alice Fisher comments on how an anti-establishment movement has taken over The Tate.

More Graffitti Wars

Another Banksy piece in Bristol has been defaced. This article from the Guardian tells the continuing story of 'war' between the followers of Banksy and King Robbo.

The Culture Show

Architecture, art, TV, films, theatre, music and much more are featured on The Culture Show on BBC2. It's back on for the next few weeks, so catch it on iplayer. You can also look at clips from the last few years by visiting the archive (see 'Useful Blogs and Websites')

What Is Culture?

Stuart Hall (cultural theorist) explains culture as a system of representation that constructs "shared conceptual maps" of the world. These maps allow individuals with different experiences and sensibilities to communicate with each other, nevertheless. Culture is often defined in these terms -- as the externalized systems of meaning that are shared within a society and that allow members of that society to communicate. For example, Jay Mechling says, culture is a set of dynamic social contracts that help societies "organize difference." They produce consent but not necessarily consensus.