The Last Mixed Tape

James Hetfield says Metallica are here to entertain, not influence people with politics. But can you separate the music from the world that gave it meaning?
From Master of Puppets and …And Justice for All to “One” and “Don’t Tread on Me”, we explore Metallica’s complicated relationship with power, war and political expression. As the band bring their music to the Las Vegas Sphere, we ask whether an artist can spend decades singing about control and corruption, then leave those ideas at the door.
A video essay from The Last Mixed Tape about music, art, politics and the strings that pull us along.

On Dopamine Chamber, Fontaines D.C. construct a seductive, apocalyptic world of electronic textures, cinematic grandeur and unsettling beauty. It’s a bold evolution for a band whose journey from the restless streets of Dogrel to the theatrical universe of Romance has continually challenged expectations.
In this episode of The Last Mixed Tape, we explore the haunting beauty of “Where Is Gone?”, the significance of Rosalía’s first collaboration with the band, and the Irish identity that continues to shape their music. Through the lens of David Cronenberg’s Videodrome, we consider the relationship between music, memory, technology and the worlds we construct around ourselves.

Shane MacGowan changed Irish music by changing what Irishness was allowed to sound like.
From the traditional songs of his childhood in Tipperary to the collision of Irish folk and punk that created The Pogues, Shane MacGowan spent his life challenging the boundaries of Irish culture.
He was accused of corrupting Irish music. Instead, he helped redefine it.
The Pogues gave voice and dignity to an Irish diaspora living between countries, while Shane’s own understanding of Irish identity was never confined by borders. Decades later, a new generation of Irish artists from Lankum and The Mary Wallopers to Madra Salach and Fontaines D.C. are taking that same restless relationship with tradition in entirely different directions.

The Sickbed of MacGowan is an exploration of Shane MacGowan, The Pogues, Irish music, Irish identity and the musicians continuing to tear open the boundaries of what Irish culture can be.

For almost three decades, Garvaghy Road in Portadown has been at the centre of one of Northern Ireland’s most enduring disputes over parades, identity, history and territory.
In 2026, the Drumcree standoff has returned to the headlines.
As the Orange Order seeks to march along the Garvaghy Road for the first time in almost 30 years, local residents have gathered in protest. And amid the confrontation, something unexpected has become part of the story: music.
The Mary Wallopers and members of Beoga have performed on Garvaghy Road alongside a community using music, singing and collective expression as part of its resistance.
In this episode of The Last Mixed Tape, Stephen White explores Garvaghy Road, Drumcree, Irish music, cultural memory, political protest and the strange power of music to occupy a space.

Following the controversy that saw Macklemore removed from the remaining US dates of Ed Sheeran’s Loop Tour, Stephen White looks beyond the headlines to ask what the story reveals about power, money and freedom in the modern music industry.
Promoters, venues, billionaire owners and corporate interests can control the spaces where music happens, raising a bigger question about what happens when an artist’s politics collide with the commercial machinery behind the stage.
Then Macklemore announced FREE PALESTINE, a new series of concerts beginning in Dublin before moving to Paris and London, with proceeds going to organisations providing humanitarian, medical and other support to Palestinians.
The Importance of Being Macklemore is an essay about music, power, capitalism, political expression and the strange relationship between artists and the people who control the rooms they perform in.