Bureau of Lost Culture

This is the second part of a conversation with the poet, musician and thinker Penny Rimbaud, co-founder, with Steve Ignorant, of the anarcho-punk band and activist art collective Crass   Crass emerged as a band in 1977, but quickly became something more complex, rejecting rock stardom, record industry norms, releasing records on their own label and using their platform to challenge war, nationalism, consumerism, sexism, and state violence.    In this second part of the interview, we about the events that led to Crass and hear more about Dial House, an old rambling farmhouse in rural Essex, a long-running experiment in collective life — part commune, part refuge, part creative hub. It was here, where he still lives, that Penny's music, philosophy, artwork, debate, and daily survival are entangled. And we hear about the founding of the Stonehenge Free Festival and the death of Wally Hope, cultural terrorism, Penny's work since Crass, and his thoughts on art, spirituality and the self. Music played:  Futility and The Soldier’s Dream (The War Poems of Wilfred Owen) So What (Crass) The Song of Self (With Louise Elliot) You Brave Od Land (With Youth)   For more on Penny and his work   #counterculture #crass #pennyrimbaud #anarchism #capitalism #dialhouse #artschool #wallyhope #stonehengefreefestival

The sea, its myths, and the supernatural is the theme of this special New Year edition of the Bureau when we leave behind our usual waters to set sail into the past of a very unusual counterculture.   For most of human history, the sea has been both a road and a riddle. It promises fortune and freedom — but it also swallows ships whole. And in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, as Britain’s empire spread across the globe, the sea became seen, not just as a physical frontier, but as a psychic one  — a vast, perilous deep where faith, science, fear, and fantasy collided. This is the story the British cultural historian Karl Bell tells in The Perilous Deep: A Supernatural History of the Atlantic, his epic study of sailors’ lore, ghost ships, sea monsters, superstitions, omens and uncanny maritime experiences. We hear about 'the caul' - the protective embryo of an unborn baby said to keep sailors safe, the 'jonah', a scapegoat eyed suspiciously by those on board as responsible for the ship's misfortunes, H P Lovecraft, cross-dressing pirates and  more. This is not a history of battles or trade routes, but of dreams, fantasies and terrors — of the sea as it existed in the minds of those who sailed upon it The Perlious Deep: A Supernatural History of the Atlantic

Kevin Foakes, known as DJ Food, is a DJ, designer, and cultural custodian who played a pivotal role in the early-1990s Telepathic Fish ambient scene. He shares vivid stories of DIY squats transformed into immersive party experiences, filled with art, friends, and eclectic beats. Kevin discusses the unique atmosphere of Telepathic Fish events, the influence of legends like Aphex Twin, and the struggles of balancing creative pursuits with life's changes. He also highlights the enduring legacy of this vibrant underground culture, sparking nostalgia and inspiration for today's DIY artists.

Alaura O'Dell, a musician and occult practitioner, delves into her pivotal role in the counterculture scene as a co-conspirator with Psychic TV and Thee Temple Ov Psychick Youth. She shares her adventurous choices that led her away from conventional life, including her early relationship with Genesis P-Orridge and the chaotic, creative energy of the Temple. Alaura discusses the challenges of balancing motherhood with mythic expectations, the philosophy of sigil practice, and the traumatic impact of the satanic panic on her life and archives.

We are on the brink of a new nuclear age - the energy crisis, the push towards net zero and the gargantuan power requirements of AI demand it - or so we are told.     But here in Britain, the old nuclear age isn’t just a historical footnote - it’s etched into the very landscape.   Tom Bolton went on an epic journey around the UK to explore the extraordinary, imposing locations in that landscape, from the 16 vast concrete cathedral-like power stations on remote coasts to the hidden nuclear missile silos that cast a long, physical, cultural and environmental shadow over Albion - past, present, and into the distant future. His extraordinary new book, Atomic Albion: Journeys Around Britain's Nuclear Power Stations, not only maps the physical geography of Britain’s atomic ambitions, but also digs into their psychic, mythic and cultural impact.  With great power comes great responsibility, as Spider-Man's Uncle Pete said. And of course, where there is state power, there has always been countercultural dissent, quite rightly in this case, because the power we unleashed by splitting the atom could bring us to the very brink of oblivion.. #atomic #atomicage #nuclear #nuclearpower #nuclearweapons #atombomb #powerstaions #albion #atomicalbion #counterculture   

When the filmmaker David Lynch died earlier this year, fans created shrines filled with coffee, doughnuts, cigarettes and blue roses; a level of spontaneous mourning more common for dead rock stars or royalty than filmmakers. His auctioned belongings sold for staggering sums, almost as if they were relics, showing how many people felt deeply connected to his work. Why? David was that unusual figure - an artist who had mainstream success but seemed to remain defiantly and deeply countercultural. How? And, this was a man who had an adjective  - ‘Lynchian’ - named after him But what does that mean? The writer and cultural historian  John Higgs, returns to the Bureau. His new book ‘Lynchian: The Spell of David Lynch’  tries to answer those questions while taking a deep dive into the hidden depths of Lynch's films - where beauty and horror, dream and reality, suburban innocence and lurking evil co-exist; where simple pleasures—coffee, pie, music—take on a sacred resonance in contrast to violence and decay. Where we can take a journey into darkness and out again - changed. And we dig into art, consciousness, dreaming, ideas and the writer's life in these changing times. #DavidLynch #Lynchian #TwinPeaks #CinemaOfDreams #SurrealCinema #BlueVelvet #FilmNoir #Mulhollanddrive #CultFilm #DreamLogic #transcendentalmeditation  

Penny Rimbaud, co-founder of the influential punk-anarchist band Crass and a lifelong activist, shares his journey from wartime childhood to radical living at Dial House. He discusses his disdain for authority, the impact of Zen Buddhism on his art, and the importance of poetry as a heart-centered practice. Reflecting on the cynicism of the 60s counterculture, he emphasizes authenticity in artistry over commercial success. With stories of defiance, creativity, and spiritual exploration, Penny remains a powerful voice for personal autonomy and societal critique.

We walk the streets every day — and through parks, across squares and pavements and along beaches, and mountains, over 'The Commons' — without much thought for who really owns them. These apparently public spaces have often been battlegrounds over public rights. From the rural enclosures that fenced off England’s open fields, through the city squares where protesters have clashed with police, to the gated plazas and shopping malls of today — the story of The Commons is the story of who belongs, who is excluded, who can gather, and who makes the rules. In this episode, we’re diving into that story with historian Katrina Navickas, whose book Contested Commons: A History of Protest and Public Space in England traces how people have fought, for centuries, to claim, reclaim and defend shared space. We hear about The Chartists, about The Greenham Common protests, Occupy, Reclaim the Streets, trespassing and hear some surprising answers to the question 'Who Owns The Ground Beneath Our Feet?' We finish with a recording of 'The World Turned Upside Down' by the wonderful Leon Rosselson #trespassing #thecommons #commonland #theclearances #protest #thechartists #occupy #reclaimthestreets #counterculture  

As musician and activist BILLY BRAGG makes a welcome return as a voice of countercultural sanity, we revisit the Lost History of Skiffle as he takes us on an extraordinary whirlwind tour through the music that the counterculture forgot.   Along the way, we hear about the emergence of The Teenager in post-war Britain, the massive impact of Rock Around the Clock, the Soho espresso bar culture of the 50s and the birth of British youth culture.   We explore why Skiffle, which soundtracked that youth culture for a few intense years and was the inspiration for musicians in The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, The Who and The Rolling Stones, has been oddly forgotten.  And Billy explains why, as the first British DIY musical revolution, Skiffle provided the template for the Punk movement of the 70s that was to inspire him.   Along the way, we get educated about the post-war 'trad jazz' movement, the cultural stranglehold of the BBC - and the terrific transformatory power of a guy - or a girl - with a guitar.   For more on Billy and his book Roots, Radicals and Rockers: https://www.billybragg.co.uk/product/roots-radicals-and-rockers-how-skiffle-changed-the-world-hardback-signed-by-billy/   #skiffle #billybragg #beatles #rock'n'roll #teenager #1950 #musichistory

In the old towns and villages of Britain, before the police, before the tabloids, before social media shame-storms, there were other ways to deal with those who stepped outside the rules. Noisy ways. Cruel ways. Dangerous ways - the 'Rough Music' rituals — part punishment, part performance, part pagan magic — at the dark edge where community, cruelty and celebration collide. Liz Williams, the Glastonbury-based author, folklorist and pagan, came to the Bureau to talk about them.  Her latest book Rough Music: Folk Tradition, Transgression and Alternative Britain, explores often violent, forgotten traditions of noise, mockery, and ritual humiliation — and how they ripple forward into today’s counterculture, protest movements, and online doxing.   And we hear about some other, less cruel, but deeply strange British rituals that cling on: the annual Cheese-Rolling at Cooper’s Hill, The Burryman’s Parade in Scotland and the yearly Shin Kicking competition in the Cotswolds..      #folklore #tradition #albion #cruelty #shaming #doxing #skimmington #roughmusic #counterculture