The Metropolitan | The Editors | Substack

Christmas

Christmas Movie Season 2025

And a one, two, three, four...

Dec 2 •

The Morecambe and Wise Christmas Special (1969—1980)

What do you think of it so far?

Dec 21, 2024 •

Batman Returns (1992)

Mistletoe can be deadly if you eat it. A kiss can be even deadlier if you mean it.

Dec 7, 2024 •

The Best Way to Spread Gen X Cheer

Over-analysing ‘Elf’

Dec 23, 2023 •

Essays

The corporate theory of value

I seem to have accidentally retired at the grand age of 54 (thus becoming one of the 50--64-year-olds whose ‘economic inactivity’ forms part of the…

Nov 22 •

SPOILER WARNING for Primary Colors (the novel and the film)

Nov 8 •

Enjoy yourself; it’s later than you think

When I was about 13, I overheard a piece of music in the background of a Radio 4 programme and found myself desperately needing to know what it was.

Oct 11 •

The Sound of the Suburbs

Johnny's upstairs in his bedroom sitting in the dark / Annoying the neighbours with his punk rock electric guitar

Sep 13 •

I’m writing a long-form piece about Mumsnet at the moment (more about that in a few months), so I’ve been thinking about my time there a lot.

Aug 23 •

Are we... the baddies?

Culture wars, racism, and single sex changing rooms

Aug 9 •

The latest from

The Editors

Christmas Movie Season 2025

Tobias Sturt

Metropolitan Mixtape: November 2025

Rowan Davies

Metropolitan Mixtape: November 2025

Jon Millington

November '24: A Christmas story

Chris Waywell

April '24: Ooh, you poor man

The Metropolitan

The Metropolitan

Weekly emails about pop culture & society, written by British Generation X. No dunking. No hot takes. No false nostalgia. Choose the 'Free' option when you subscribe to get the weekly newsletter.

Raised By Puffins

Tales of Mystery and Imagination

Edgar Allan Poe (published posthumously)

Oct 4 •

The Secret History

Donna Tartt (Knopff, 1992)

Aug 2 •

Flight 714 to Sydney

Hergé (The Adventures of Tintin, Casterman, 1968)

May 17 •

J. R. R. Tolkien (Unwin, 1937)

Mar 1 •

Can We Show The Kids?

The Wicker Man (1973)

In the wood there grew a tree, and a fine, fine tree was he

Oct 18 •

Spinal Tap (1984)

Jul 19 •

Down By Law (1986)

It’s a sad and beautiful world

May 3 •

‘This story was based on fact. Any similarity with fictional events or characters is entirely coincidental.’ (Copyright notice at the end of Slacker)

Feb 8 •

On The Box

‘A Bit Of’ Fry & Laurie (1989 - 1995)

…oh Christ, I’ve left the iron on

Sep 20 •

The Beiderbecke Affair (1985)

What I don’t understand is this…

Jul 5 •

Sapphire and Steel (1979--82)

…have been assigned

Apr 19 •

The Singing Detective (1986)

All clues and no solutions

Feb 1 •

Track Listing

What a lovely way to burn

Nov 15 •

1990: Love’s got the world in motion

This is a football song

Sep 6 •

1989: C30, C60, C90, Go!

Home Taping is Skill in Music

Jun 21 •

1988: Then & Now… The Best of The Monkees

Monkees are the craziest people

Apr 5 •

Canon fodder

Down with Skool (1953)

Nov 1 •

Catcher in the Rye (1951)

Do we really want to hear about it?

Aug 16 •

The Goon Show (1951—60)

What is this 'Go On Show'?

Jun 7 •

Easy Rider (1969)

Directed by Dennis Hopper; written by Dennis Hopper (and Peter Fonda and Terry Southern); starring Dennis Hopper (and Peter Fonda). Saved from Dennis…

Mar 15 •

Mixtape

Christmas Movie Season 2025

And a one, two, three, four...

Dec 2 •

Metropolitan Mixtape: November 2025

Diplomats, gangsters, monsters and the Christmas playlist

Nov 29 •

,

, and

Metropolitan Mixtape: October 2025

Oct 25 •

,

, and

Metropolitan Mixtape: September 2025

The American Civil War, The Russian Revolution and Jimmy Kimmel

Sep 27 •

Seasons

A Study in Pink (2010)

The scarlet thread of disappointment running through the colourful skein of TV

Nov 26 •

Sherlock Hound (1984) / The Great Mouse Detective (1986)

Holmes Movies: The game is a-paw

Oct 16 •

The Seven Per Cent Solution (1976)

Holmes Movies: Sherlock Holmes meets Sigmund Freud!

Sep 23 •

The Hound of the Baskervilles (1939/1959)

Holmes Movies: beware the moor in those dark hours when the powers of evil are exalted

Aug 28 •

#nojs-banner { position: fixed; bottom: 0; left: 0; padding: 16px 16px 16px 32px; width: 100%; box-sizing: border-box; background: red; color: white; font-family: -apple-system, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, "Apple Color Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Symbol"; font-size: 13px; line-height: 13px; } #nojs-banner a { color: inherit; text-decoration: underline; } This site requires JavaScript to run correctly. Please turn on JavaScript or unblock scripts