Hi. I'm Ben Touati, and Popkulturist is mine.

I've spent many years writing about games, TV, film, technology, and the cultural weather around them, for outlets like The Escapist (DE), Esports Insider, and Techopedia. Before Stockholm I lived in Malta, Gibraltar, and Torre del Mar on the Spanish coast, and before that, Germany. Somewhere in Málaga I figured out I no longer wanted to write inside other people's editorial calendars.

Popkulturist is what I made instead.

It's an independent pop culture criticism site, English-language, run from Sweden by someone who was raised on Isaac Asimov and American comics in translation before he could read them in the original. That mix is the editorial position. I'm not American or British, which means I see some things readers in those markets don't and miss some things they catch instantly. The publication runs in the space that creates.

Popkulturist has four subject desks: Screens (TV and film), Games, Pages (comics, books, manga and graphic novels), and Machines (AI, technology, platforms and the companies rearranging everyday life around them). Essays gathers the longer arguments across those desks. Arcade is the playable corner. New pieces arrive when they’re ready, usually several times a week.

The newsletter has a Friday digest, plus an Occasional Dispatch when something off-schedule is worth sending. The Dispatch stays with subscribers rather than appearing on the public site.

What you won't find here: recaps, rankings, ten-things-you-missed listicles, or hot takes engineered for engagement.

The Editorial Policy page lays out my approach to AI in the writing process, sponsorships, corrections, and everything else worth being explicit about.

If you want to follow along, the newsletter is the best way.

Got a pitch, a correction, a sponsorship inquiry, or a strong disagreement? The Contact page has the address, or you can email me directly at ben@popkulturist.com.

Thanks for being here.

— Ben