Get curated editors’ picks, peeks behind the scenes, film recommendations and more.
The UK boxer Lewis ‘Poochi’ Van Poetsch doesn’t try to lose, but as a career ‘journeyman’, he (very) often does. Age 31, and with a record of 10 wins, three draws and more than 140 losses, he’s settled into a career where a heavyweight title isn’t in his future, but he can still collect a pay cheque giving more talented youngsters ‘a tough night’s work’ while helping them pad their records. Tracking Van Poetsch as he prepares for yet another weekend fight, the UK director Robin Mason’s short documentary Welcome to the Pros (2022) is an affable – and to many, perhaps relatable – account of what it’s like to give up on a dream, accept limitations and, in the process, find comfort in one’s own skin.
Director: Robin Mason
video
Technology and the self
Greetings from Green Bank – the small town where modern technology is banned
10 minutes
video
Stories and literature
What makes John Keats’s ‘Ode on a Grecian Urn’ so enduringly powerful?
10 minutes
video
Human evolution
Far from frivolous, cuteness is a powerful – and still mysterious – force of nature
6 minutes
video
Dance and theatre
How a Noh mask-maker summons a lifelike face from a single block of wood
16 minutes
video
Family life
On a whirlwind morning, a couple learns if they’re facing an unplanned pregnancy
7 minutes
video
The ancient world
What wine vessels reveal about politics and luxury in ancient Athens and Persia
16 minutes
video
Art
David Goldblatt captured the contradictions of apartheid in stark black and white
15 minutes
video
Philosophy of mind
Do we have good reasons to believe in beliefs? A radical philosophy of mind says no
5 minutes
video
Love and friendship
When drawing your muse hundreds of times becomes an exercise in love
7 minutes