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FEARLESS, INDEPENDENT JOURNALISM ON CULTURE, POLITICS AND TECH

WEEKEND EDITION

The Met Gala’s fake feminism worships male wealth. But women can see through it now

May 8, 2026

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5 min read

The Met Gala’s fake feminism worships male wealth. But women can see through it now

Jeff Bezos’s idea of ‘female empowerment’ just divides and weakens us. It’s solidarity that brings strength, writes Natasha Walter.

Natasha Walter
Natasha Walter
Richard Dawkins’s chatbot isn’t conscious: it’s just all talk

May 8, 2026

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5 min read

Richard Dawkins’s chatbot isn’t conscious: it’s just all talk

The acclaimed scientist spent time with Anthropic’s ‘Claudia’ and couldn’t believe she wasn’t sentient. But Dawkins' own work has taught us that complexity can exist without a divine spark, writes neuroscientist Anil Seth

Anil Seth
Anil Seth
Cory Doctorow: Comrade Trump is the unwitting hero of a green revolution

May 5, 2026

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7 min read

Cory Doctorow: Comrade Trump is the unwitting hero of a green revolution

In the first of a new monthly column for the Nerve, the author and cyber-activist argues that by dumping cheap solar panels on Asia and starting a catastrophic war in the Gulf, the president has started a headlong rush for cleantech that no eco-activism could match

Cory Doctorow
Cory Doctorow
Stewart Lee: Did you see that story about the crypto tycoon and Farage? It bears repeating

May 8, 2026

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4 min read

Stewart Lee: Did you see that story about the crypto tycoon and Farage? It bears repeating

Just in case you hadn’t come across it – and it wouldn’t be surprising if you hadn’t – here are the salient details

Review of the Week: Rosalía at the O2

May 8, 2026

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3 min read

Review of the Week: Rosalía at the O2

The Spanish star’s multifaith, multilingual live spectacular – featuring saints, sinners, an orchestra, and an incense-burner overhead – would make anyone a believer, writes Nerve music critic Kate Hutchinson

Wellness scammers promise to ‘reset your nervous system’ for money. Don’t believe them

May 8, 2026

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5 min read

Wellness scammers promise to ‘reset your nervous system’ for money. Don’t believe them

'Vagus nerve stimulation', which scientists still don’t fully understand, has become a trend – pushed by influencers who could cause serious harm, writes the Nerve's Lucia Osborne-Crowley

The Recommender: Rosie Jones

May 8, 2026

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3 min read

The Recommender: Rosie Jones

The comedian, author and star of Pushers shares her current cultural favourites

The Nerve Weekend Dish: Ranie Saidi’s lime steamed sea bass

May 8, 2026

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2 min read

The Nerve Weekend Dish: Ranie Saidi’s lime steamed sea bass

The London-based supper club host shares a fragrant recipe for ikan siakap stim – inspired by one of his beloved Malaysian grandmother’s dishes, painstakingly recreated for his debut cookbook

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PALANTIR SPOTLIGHT


The Palantir pipeline: how Peter Thiel's surveillance firm hired more than 30 senior UK officials

Apr 24, 2026

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8 min read

The Palantir pipeline: how Peter Thiel's surveillance firm hired more than 30 senior UK officials

The AI company holds £670m in UK government contracts. It has also hired dozens of senior officials from the departments awarding them – raising what transparency experts call an 'acute' corruption risk, write Charlie Young, Carole Cadwalladr and Ian Tucker

Charlie Young
Ian Tucker
Carole Cadwalladr
Charlie Young, +2
Palantir's social media manifesto is a blueprint for technofascism

Apr 24, 2026

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5 min read

Palantir's social media manifesto is a blueprint for technofascism

The surveillance firm’s viral X post calls for hard power, conscription and the end of pluralism. AI expert and academic Mark Coeckelbergh on what happens when technology becomes the gateway to authoritarianism

‘It beggars belief’: MoD sources warn Palantir’s role at heart of government is threat to UK’s security

Mar 13, 2026

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10 min read

‘It beggars belief’: MoD sources warn Palantir’s role at heart of government is threat to UK’s security

Experts say that claims UK data remains under government ownership miss the point that the company has the capability to build its own detailed picture of the British population, and even infer state secrets. Report by Charlie Young and Carole Cadwalladr

Charlie Young
Charlie Young

POLITICS & INVESTIGATIONS


Pete Hegseth's Crusader tattoos aren’t just symbols – they're a battleplan

Apr 28, 2026

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5 min read

Pete Hegseth's Crusader tattoos aren’t just symbols – they're a battleplan

The US secretary of war has ‘God wills it’ inked on his right arm and a Jerusalem cross on his chest. Now he is directing hostilities against a Muslim country, writes Kat Tenbarge

The billionaires' eugenics project: how Epstein infiltrated Harvard, muzzled the humanities and preached master-race science

Feb 13, 2026

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14 min read

The billionaires' eugenics project: how Epstein infiltrated Harvard, muzzled the humanities and preached master-race science

Edge - Jeffrey Epstein's favourite intellectual salon - was sold to me as a gathering of the world's finest minds, writes Virginia Heffernan. The files reveal it was something far darker: a decades-long project that cloaked eugenics, race science and sexual misconduct in Ivy League respectability

Virginia Heffernan
Virginia Heffernan
Nigel Farage wants to build a British ICE. Keir Starmer may have handed him the tools

Apr 8, 2026

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11 min read

Nigel Farage wants to build a British ICE. Keir Starmer may have handed him the tools

Reform’s proposed "Deportation Command” would integrate NHS, police and financial data into a single surveillance database. Meanwhile, Palantir has signalled it won’t stand in their way, and campaigners say Labour’s new data law opens the door. By Rei Takver

Rei Takver
Rei Takver
Sangita Myska: Should Bitcoin investor Nigel Farage be promising to pass laws boosting crypto? Of course not

Apr 26, 2026

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4 min read

Sangita Myska: Should Bitcoin investor Nigel Farage be promising to pass laws boosting crypto? Of course not

In the US, Trump is already riding roughshod over glaringly obvious conflicts of interest. We can’t let the same thing happen in Britain

Sangita Myska
Sangita Myska

CULTURE


‘Oestrogen gives me patience!’: psychotherapist Philippa Perry on hormones, whodunnits and the power of hope

May 5, 2026

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7 min read

‘Oestrogen gives me patience!’: psychotherapist Philippa Perry on hormones, whodunnits and the power of hope

The agony aunt and Nerve columnist talks to Ursula Kenny about how her life as a shrink – and the joys of getting older – inspired the detective in her debut novel

Ursula Kenny
Ursula Kenny
The Nerve Hotlist

May 5, 2026

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3 min read

The Nerve Hotlist

This week’s top cultural picks – from Kneecap’s new album to a riotous female-led Tudor play – as enjoyed by our team of editors and writers

Deborah Frances-White: Women are being sedated, raped, filmed ... we can’t stop it on our own

Apr 28, 2026

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5 min read

Deborah Frances-White: Women are being sedated, raped, filmed ... we can’t stop it on our own

Despite the Pelicot case, the uncovering of an extensive ‘sleep content’ abuse network has been under reported in the mainstream media. We desperately need influential and decent men to confront those who participate in this vile exploitation

Deborah Frances-White
Deborah Frances-White

THE NERVE WEEKEND DISH


Georgina Hayden’s spring meatballs, pasta and peas

Apr 24, 2026

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2 min read

Georgina Hayden’s spring meatballs, pasta and peas

The bestselling cookbook author shares a light and fresh pasta dish that's packed with flavour

Jad Youssef’s Lebanese chicken with garlic and lemon

Apr 17, 2026

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4 min read

Jad Youssef’s Lebanese chicken with garlic and lemon

The restaurateur shares a tray-bake recipe for djej b’sayniyeh – a longtime family favourite – from his debut cookbook

The Borough Chef's asparagus and ricotta tagliatelle

Apr 10, 2026

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3 min read

The Borough Chef's asparagus and ricotta tagliatelle

A fresh, seasonal spring pasta dish from social media star and recipe developer Beth Adamson (aka @boroughchef)

Kate Young’s roasted spring onion tart

Apr 2, 2026

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4 min read

Kate Young’s roasted spring onion tart

The novelist, cook and food writer shares a vibrant dish from her inventive new book

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