A gig from an audience perspective bathed in red/orange light.

Culture is Bad For You?

Is culture still bad for you? Five years on, the authors of Culture is Bad For You return with new evidence on who benefits from culture and who is still shut out.

For Everyone

Thu 23 Oct 14:00 - 16:00

Online

Tickets

The authors of Culture is Bad For You return with new evidence on who benefits and who is still shut out.

What role does culture really play in our lives and for whom does it make the most difference?

This special Curious About session brings together the authors of Culture is Bad For You (O’Brien, Brook, Taylor), the landmark study that challenged the assumption that culture is universally beneficial. Their research revealed how access, opportunity and value in the arts are deeply shaped by class, race and privilege, showing that the cultural sector often reinforces inequality rather than dismantling it.

In this panel, the authors reflect on the book’s findings in today’s context and invite an open conversation with cultural educators, artists, and practitioners.

Free and online.
Thursday, 23rd October 2025
2pm to 4pm

We’ll be asking:

Who really benefits from arts and culture, and who is excluded?
How can we use evidence to reimagine a sector that is genuinely good for all?
What practical steps can educators, artists and organisations take to widen access and shift power?

Panellists:

Dave O’Brien – Professor of Creative & Cultural Industries - University of Manchester
Orian Brook – Chancellors Fellow - University of Edinburgh.
Mark Taylor – Senior Lecturer of Quantitative Social Science, University of Sheffield.

Bios:

Dave O'Brien is Professor of Cultural and Creative Industries, University of Manchester. Since completing his PhD on urban cultural policy in the Department of Sociology at the University of Liverpool, he has written extensively on key issues in the cultural and creative economy. His most recent book, Culture is bad for you, was co-authored with Orian Brook and Mark Taylor. His policy work includes the ground-breaking Measuring the value of culture report, and he was a co-author on the Panic! report, as well as the Creative Majority and Making the Creative Majority reports.

Who is this for?

For arts leaders, funders, educators, policymakers and practitioners who want evidence they can act on.

Why attend?

This is a rare chance to hear directly from the authors of Culture is Bad For You and to reflect on what their work means for your own practice. You’ll leave with: