In a recent issue of the Virginia Quarterly Review, writer Jesse Dukes took a fascinating trip to real-life Tatooine: the desert sets in Tunisia left over from Star Wars. Now photographer Rä di Martino has taken the pics to match.

Folk and punk are the traditional vehicles for musical protest, but Billy Bragg thinks we should listen more closely to Marvin Gaye. His latest album, Tooth & Nail, finds its roots in soul.

Learning from past mistakes, Hiut is a denim manufacturer promising to revitalise a small factory town decimated by downsizing.

Incorrigible British publishers Belly Kids are doling out crafty, pop cultural wit one meme at a time, and all in glorious analogue. 

Sure, Morrissey is a talented man, but his Smiths collaborator Johnny Marr always had guitar playing and producing chops to match.

Morgan Silk knows how to take photos and he also knows how to road trip. His site flicks from the humble towns around Tasmania to immense Mongolian monuments and tiered Philippine villages.

Brian Cox is a nerd who's way cooler than any of us. When we spoke to him recently, the professor of particle physics, physicist at CERN's laboratory in Geneva and former keyboardist for U.K. band D:Ream was all keyed up about stars. 

Our lives are built from circuits, processors, switches and wires, yet most of us don't know how these miniscule things actually make the world work. 

Three albums in, and U.K. rockers Foals seem to be coming of age. One of the more reliably furious live shows doing the rounds today, in brand new LP, Holy Fire, they finally have an album worthy of their arena billing.

Land of the rolling hill, the dotcom bubble and Full House, San Francisco is an obvious destination for travellers looking for a bit of counter to their modern American culture. This map uncovers its best bits.