Current issue

Here are a selection of excerpts from the current issue. You can see more in the current issue page here

Planet magazine has been offering a radical approach to the culture and politics of Wales and the world for nearly half a century. You can read a little more about our history here

Gareth Leaman details the reasons why Wales as a partially devolved polity barely existed in the UK general election campaign. He describes the troubling dilemmas for parties who want to defend Wales against the depredations of a Tory-led British state. What can be learnt for the future?

Our Welsh Keywords offers contemporary perspectives on the meaning of words in Welsh, inspired by Raymond Williams’ Keywords. In this issue, Angharad Tomos explores the responsibility of passing on the ‘gwaddol’ – the precious non-monetary ‘endowment’ of Welsh-language culture to children in post-industrial Penygroes. What does this mean in an era of austerity and grassroots community regeneration?

Dan Evans argues that the nuclear industry is now deeply enmeshed with the Welsh Government and local elites. He traces how Wales’s ruling party U-turned to championing an industry which creates devastating risks to our planet. What does this say about Wales’ relationship with international capital?

Following the general election, T. Robin Chapman reflects on how satire has developed from an era of pen-and-ink cartoons to GIFs and memes. He argues that mockery gave voice to problems of populism and powerlessness that the Welsh electorate still experience in 2020.

Support and Sponsorship

Planet is hosted in the Old College at Aberystwyth University. For more information about the New Life for the Old College project see https://www.aber.ac.uk/en/oldcollege/ Planet receives financial support from the Welsh Books Council and is sponsored by The School of English, Communication and Philosophy and The School of Journalism, Media and Cultural Studies at Cardiff University. For more information about how you or your organisation can support us please contact us here.