October has been a month of thinking about place & belonging (as has much of the past few months!)

After spending time at Black Portraiture[s] in Los Angeles, visiting exhibitions and exploring the city's cultural spaces, I've found myself increasingly interested in the relationship between art, history and community.

This month's shelf reflects some of those interests, bringing together photography, Black art history and literature from the Caribbean.

After attending the Black Portraitures: The Black Built Environment conference at the end of last month we’ve been thinking a lot about archives and the spaces communities make for themselves. This list focuses not just on what is happening in the city, but where culture is being documented, shared and kept alive.

Here is what’s on our radar for October.

A monthly collection of what we are visiting, eating, drinking and paying attention to. This month, the Listen List stays close to Los Angeles, moving through food, books, coffee, community and the spaces shaping conversations across the city.

books we’re reading this month

A monthly guide to what we are reading, eating, drinking and visiting.

In this month’s list we explore stories of migration and what we carry with us. An exhibition tracing more than a century of Pan African cultural production. A new London space for ideas from the global majority. Nigerian food reimagined, and a trip to the place where one of our favourite coffee roasters does its work.

This month’s shelf focuses on spiritual initiation, mother daughter wisdom and the violence of state betrayal. They are all very different books, but together ask similar questions.

What do we inherit?
What do we carry?
What do systems try to make us forget?
And what does it mean to return to the truth of who we are?

A monthly guide to what we are up to each month.

This month’s list explores voice, land, adornment, memory and pleasure. A book that speaks to freedom and becoming. A podcast centring Black sustainability. A forest walk for clearing the head. Jewellery with a collected feel. Something sweet from East London.

Africa is the birthplace of coffee, and a new wave of African-owned brands is reclaiming that legacy with bold flavor, ethical sourcing, and deep-rooted storytelling.

These seven standout coffee brands go beyond the cup—blending thoughtful sourcing, cultural celebration, and unforgettable flavor worth adding to your daily ritual.