Are we Dumbing Down? The Guardian‘s special supplements dedicated to the issue over the past

three Saturdays. “Commentators romped through several decades of intellectual

history, television, cinema, exams, the press and literature.” If the issue concerns you, the cornucopia here includes:

Is America bad for us? How is it possible to maintain cultural difference in a

world run by US corporations?

Why today’s protesters have to be smarter The wising-up of dissent. Making

yourself heard is harder than ever

The death of custom ‘The remnants of what was at least in part an urban culture

“of the people” are being destroyed.’ Richard Hoggart, 1957. That was then. How do things stand now, in the era of Kentucky Fried Chicken and

Rupert Murdoch?

Dubious divisions What does the dumb debate mean for groups that are often

excluded from ‘high art’ yet dominate the landscape of popular culture?

The whole whack: for better or worse, we have unzipped the

very idea of what culture actually is.

From sages to celebrities What does it mean when we stop listening to

intellectuals and pay heed to pop stars?

Sex: The decline of modesty.

Violence: Thug culture is becoming the norm for the mass of young British men, with its roots in films and classroom failure.

Pop: Being dumb may be the essence of pop music,but there are

many varieties of dumb. Still, things are pretty bad.

Books: Pulp fiction: commercial realities are reducing the

chances of truly innovative novels seeing the light of day.

The problem with poetry is that you have to read it.

Art or product? It may be pointless to say Hollywood is dumb, but vitality and variety are under threat.

Zones of pure play: Why video games are good for you.

The highs and lows of film: It’s too simple to argue that the movies dumb down

over time. High and low coexist in different periods, sometimes within

individual films – a cultural history of cinema

from Sunset Boulevard to The Phantom Menace.

Going, going . . . Moaning about cultural decline is as old as the hills;

the long history behind the current dumbing down crisis.

The Bluffer’s Guide to Culture Buffs Having problems getting to grips with all

this hi-lo stuff? We are. Here’s a handy guide to the experts

Classical music Can we only listen to music in bite-sized chunks these days?

Food How come we have wider food experience than our

parents but less food knowledge?

Sport From local hero to pay-per-view demi-god:the money

culture that has turned sportsmen into superstars.

An A-Z of cultural terms What is culture anyhow? A bunch of artworks? An

activity? A habit? A product? A battlefield? A corpse? This A-Z of cultural

terms might help you find out…

The invention of popular culture. We had to create high

culture before we could have low culture.

Architecture: We have squandered the legacy of modernism and destroyed the notion of public duty

Had enough already? Then all too likely you’re part of the attention-deficit

generation.