{"id":57958,"date":"2026-03-26T15:15:47","date_gmt":"2026-03-26T15:15:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cardiffstudentmedia.co.uk\/gairrhydd\/?p=57958"},"modified":"2026-03-26T15:22:27","modified_gmt":"2026-03-26T15:22:27","slug":"culture-wars-and-crackdowns-ash-sarkar-in-cardiff","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cardiffstudentmedia.co.uk\/gairrhydd\/news\/culture-wars-and-crackdowns-ash-sarkar-in-cardiff\/","title":{"rendered":"Culture Wars And Crackdowns, Ash Sarkar in Cardiff"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t<div data-elementor-type=\"wp-post\" data-elementor-id=\"57958\" class=\"elementor elementor-57958\" data-elementor-post-type=\"post\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<section class=\"has_eae_slider elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-4b9daf0f elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-eae-slider=\"82906\" data-id=\"4b9daf0f\" data-element_type=\"section\" data-e-type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"has_eae_slider elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-19462c6d\" data-eae-slider=\"27290\" data-id=\"19462c6d\" data-element_type=\"column\" data-e-type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-7f25e4ad elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"7f25e4ad\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000\"><strong>By Oliver Hanlon<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000\"><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000\"><strong>On Wednesday, 4 March 2026, the Glee Club in Cardiff hosted a stop on the book tour for Minority Rule: Adventures in the Culture War, the bestselling debut from journalist and political commentator Ash Sarkar. The evening, titled &#8220;Ash Sarkar: In Conversation,&#8221; featured Sarkar alongside host Oli Dugmore of the New Statesman, discussing the themes of her work. <\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000\"><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000\">Sarkar opened by covering the case of John Davidson at the BAFTAs and how the discourse had pitted disabled and Black people against each other.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000\"><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000\">She expressed that once &#8220;American Twitter&#8221; got hold of the incident, the discourse was soured, especially by figures like Jamie Foxx. Sarkar cited this as a &#8220;micro event&#8221; and a culture war blown out of proportion, when the conversation should instead be focused on Iran.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000\"><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000\">Turning to media mechanics, Sarkar talked about how, &#8220;allegedly,&#8221; Peter Mandelson used to cut off journalists who published quotes he did not like, asking them to call and ask if he &#8220;really meant it.&#8221;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000\"><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000\">Dugmore added that Andrew Marr had once told him about Mandelson calling him whilst he was Political Editor at the BBC to threaten the withdrawal of senior Labour figures from programming.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000\"><\/span><\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-ca61458 elementor-widget elementor-widget-image\" data-id=\"ca61458\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"image.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"720\" height=\"540\" src=\"https:\/\/cardiffstudentmedia.co.uk\/gairrhydd\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/03\/Untitled-2026-03-26T152138.236.png\" class=\"attachment-large size-large wp-image-57961\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cardiffstudentmedia.co.uk\/gairrhydd\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/03\/Untitled-2026-03-26T152138.236.png 1008w, https:\/\/cardiffstudentmedia.co.uk\/gairrhydd\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/03\/Untitled-2026-03-26T152138.236-300x225.png 300w, https:\/\/cardiffstudentmedia.co.uk\/gairrhydd\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/03\/Untitled-2026-03-26T152138.236-768x576.png 768w, https:\/\/cardiffstudentmedia.co.uk\/gairrhydd\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/03\/Untitled-2026-03-26T152138.236-120x90.png 120w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 720px) 100vw, 720px\" \/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<section class=\"has_eae_slider elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-2a63ff4 elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-eae-slider=\"37678\" data-id=\"2a63ff4\" data-element_type=\"section\" data-e-type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"has_eae_slider elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-dcbbab5\" data-eae-slider=\"71211\" data-id=\"dcbbab5\" data-element_type=\"column\" data-e-type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-9ff1d62 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"9ff1d62\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p><span style=\"color: #000000\">They noted that politicians have effectively become pundits whilst Lobby journalists prioritise access over the story. They cited an incident where a journalist encountered a senior Labour figure and was told that none of Keir Starmer\u2019s leadership pledges &#8220;would bind our hands,&#8221; effectively shutting the Left out of power.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000\">In the second half, questions from the audience were put to Sarkar. Asked if paying to hear shared views was self-defeating, Sarkar was candid: \u201cAll of the things that I talk about in terms of the disaggregation and in some way the depoliticisation of left politics, and who is making money from it, it&#8217;s me. I think the value of something like this is that it affirms that you&#8217;re not alone.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000\">Lots of people think the way you do but [a movement] all happens outside of this room.\u201d Sarkar also addressed Cardiff University\u2019s \u00a3200,000 injunction against unauthorised protests, urging a rejection of the &#8220;permission slip&#8221; mentality: \u201cThe status quo responds with authoritarian measures and we go, &#8216;Wait, where&#8217;s my permission slip?&#8217; Keep doing what you&#8217;re doing. You just have to be ready to pay the costs.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000\">Sarkar also offered a systemic critique of modern mental health discourse, framing the rise in ADHD diagnoses as a &#8220;downstream consequence&#8221; of predatory technology: \u201cI wonder if our tendency towards labelling and diagnosis is actually taking us away from political critique rather than towards it. Mental health has a kind of mission creep to talk about all the kind of alienation and anomie and suffering that we experience because of the way in which capitalism has developed.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000\">When asked about success in the new media climate and advice for aspiring journalists, Dugmore offered provocative advice on training: \u201cDo not study journalism. Study the thing that you are interested in. I went to Cardiff, I studied politics. And you can then do journalism in the field in which you\u2019re interested. You can teach anyone any set of soft skills; what you can\u2019t teach someone is attitude.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-8f97962 elementor-widget elementor-widget-image\" data-id=\"8f97962\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"image.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" width=\"720\" height=\"540\" src=\"https:\/\/cardiffstudentmedia.co.uk\/gairrhydd\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/03\/Untitled-2026-03-26T151459.243.png\" class=\"attachment-large size-large wp-image-57959\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cardiffstudentmedia.co.uk\/gairrhydd\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/03\/Untitled-2026-03-26T151459.243.png 1008w, https:\/\/cardiffstudentmedia.co.uk\/gairrhydd\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/03\/Untitled-2026-03-26T151459.243-300x225.png 300w, https:\/\/cardiffstudentmedia.co.uk\/gairrhydd\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/03\/Untitled-2026-03-26T151459.243-768x576.png 768w, https:\/\/cardiffstudentmedia.co.uk\/gairrhydd\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/03\/Untitled-2026-03-26T151459.243-120x90.png 120w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 720px) 100vw, 720px\" \/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<section class=\"has_eae_slider elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-2f2bf41 elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-eae-slider=\"36398\" data-id=\"2f2bf41\" data-element_type=\"section\" data-e-type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"has_eae_slider elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-82626df\" data-eae-slider=\"33746\" data-id=\"82626df\" data-element_type=\"column\" data-e-type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-c2537ce elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"c2537ce\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p><span style=\"color: #000000\">Sarkar reinforced this by focusing on strategic integrity: \u201cRule number one is don\u2019t look at what other people are doing, look at what other people are not doing.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000\">&#8220;Novara was born because of a gap in the market. Rule number two is don&#8217;t say anything that you don&#8217;t believe. Rule number three is the importance of trust and affection with the people that you work closely with.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000\">Finally, the conversation turned to tactical voting in Wales. Asked about the choice between the Greens and Plaid Cymru, Sarkar argued for breaking the Westminster duopoly.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000\">\u201cThis is the Leninist in me is that I would probably go Plaid over Green because it weakens the Westminster system,\u201d she said, suggesting the goal is to disrupt the two-party hold rather than being &#8220;guilted&#8221; into voting for Labour.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000\">Sarkar then left to sign copies of her book in the corner of the room.<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Oliver Hanlon On Wednesday, 4 March 2026, the Glee Club in Cardiff hosted a stop on the book tour for Minority Rule: Adventures in the Culture War, the bestselling debut from journalist and political commentator Ash Sarkar. The evening, titled &#8220;Ash Sarkar: In Conversation,&#8221; featured Sarkar alongside host Oli Dugmore of the New Statesman, discussing the themes of her work. Sarkar opened by covering &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/cardiffstudentmedia.co.uk\/gairrhydd\/news\/culture-wars-and-crackdowns-ash-sarkar-in-cardiff\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Culture Wars And Crackdowns, Ash Sarkar in Cardiff<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":509,"featured_media":57959,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","footnotes":"","_wpscppro_dont_share_socialmedia":false,"_wpscppro_custom_social_share_image":0,"_facebook_share_type":"","_twitter_share_type":"","_linkedin_share_type":"","_pinterest_share_type":"","_linkedin_share_type_page":"","_instagram_share_type":"","_medium_share_type":"","_threads_share_type":"","_google_business_share_type":"","_selected_social_profile":[],"_wpsp_enable_custom_social_template":false,"_wpsp_social_scheduling":{"enabled":false,"datetime":null,"platforms":[],"status":"template_only","dateOption":"today","timeOption":"now","customDays":"","customHours":"","customDate":"","customTime":"","schedulingType":"absolute"},"_wpsp_active_default_template":true},"categories":[8286],"tags":[9048,288,2963,9050,9049],"class_list":["post-57958","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-ash-sarkar","tag-cardiff-university","tag-news","tag-novara-media","tag-oli-dugmore"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Culture Wars And Crackdowns, Ash Sarkar in Cardiff - Gair Rhydd<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/cardiffstudentmedia.co.uk\/gairrhydd\/news\/culture-wars-and-crackdowns-ash-sarkar-in-cardiff\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Culture Wars And Crackdowns, Ash Sarkar in Cardiff - Gair Rhydd\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Oliver Hanlon On Wednesday, 4 March 2026, the Glee Club in Cardiff hosted a stop on the book tour for Minority Rule: Adventures in the Culture War, the bestselling debut from journalist and political commentator Ash Sarkar. The evening, titled &#8220;Ash Sarkar: In Conversation,&#8221; featured Sarkar alongside host Oli Dugmore of the New Statesman, discussing the themes of her work. 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