Home
ABOUT US
ABOUT US

Our mission

The team

Pitch us

Members’ EVENTS
TOPICS
TOPICS

Culture

Politics

Tech

Investigations

Palantir

The Harborne Receipts

columnists
columnists

Cory Doctorow

Stewart Lee

Sangita Myska

Philippa Perry

Natasha Walter

Deborah Frances-White

REGULARS
REGULARS

The Nerve Q&A

Hotlist

The Recommender

Review of the Week

Weekend Dish

the zine
SUBSCRIBE
LOGIN
Search
Logo
Search

FEARLESS, INDEPENDENT JOURNALISM ON CULTURE, POLITICS AND TECH

LATEST EDITION

Trump, Putin and now Xi – Europeans are at the mercy of an authoritarian axis

Oct 20, 2026

•

4 min read

Trump, Putin and now Xi – Europeans are at the mercy of an authoritarian axis

Stoking unrest in Europe has become part of Maga’s masterplan – and they are just pushing at an open door, thanks to the continent’s feeble and indecisive leaders, writes analyst and former diplomat Arthur Snell

Arthur Snell
Arthur Snell
‘The BBC manual doesn't talk about morality’: Stephen Sackur on HardTalk, despots and the impartiality problem in Gaza

Oct 20, 2026

•

8 min read

‘The BBC manual doesn't talk about morality’: Stephen Sackur on HardTalk, despots and the impartiality problem in Gaza

The former interviewer and foreign correspondent has written a book about courageous reporters – and is increasingly sceptical about the hands-off, ‘both-sides’ journalism the national broadcaster is required to produce, he tells Carole Cadwalladr

Carole Cadwalladr
Carole Cadwalladr
The next Post Office scandal? Meet the fishermen fighting an ecocide

Oct 16, 2026

•

7 min read

The next Post Office scandal? Meet the fishermen fighting an ecocide

On Teesside, maritime livelihoods are in crisis – and, as a powerful new documentary reveals, crews are sure the local freeport is to blame. Hannah Jane Parkinson reports. Plus, Ellen E Jones on five more documentaries to look out for

Hannah Jane Parkinson
Hannah Jane Parkinson
The Nerve Hotlist

Oct 20, 2026

•

5 min read

The Nerve Hotlist

The best culture to enjoy this week – from a riotous gen Z sitcom to an elegant cinematic study of Thomas Mann – as chosen by our editors and writers

It wasn’t all Britpop and Cool Britannia – the 90s had a dark (and very weird) side too

Oct 16, 2026

•

6 min read

It wasn’t all Britpop and Cool Britannia – the 90s had a dark (and very weird) side too

As a fledgling singer and i-D cover star in the pre-#MeToo era, Kerry Shaw was courted by the decade’s ‘cocaine and Concorde’ impresarios – until she had to flee an unforgettably strange encounter in a hotel room

Review of the Week: Fontaines DC – Dopamine Chamber

Oct 16, 2026

•

3 min read

Review of the Week: Fontaines DC – Dopamine Chamber

The outspoken Irish rockers’ new album is a gothic and muscular reckoning with our looming digital apocalypse, writes Nerve music critic Kate Hutchinson

Stewart Lee: Putin uses social media to undermine us. And you know who else does? Donald Trump

Oct 16, 2026

•

4 min read

Stewart Lee: Putin uses social media to undermine us. And you know who else does? Donald Trump

Brexit, Russia, Twitter bots – it’s been a good week for finally acknowledging a decade’s worth of malign influences on Britain. But let’s not overlook perhaps the biggest and most hostile troll of all

Teargas, memes and bin barricades: France’s angry students have revived the ghosts of ’68

Oct 9, 2026

•

5 min read

Teargas, memes and bin barricades: France’s angry students have revived the ghosts of ’68

The youth uprising against pest-ridden and overcrowded schools has split political and social opinion in the country even as it drifts towards the far right, writes Phineas Rueckert from Paris

SIGN UP TO STAY UP TO DATE AND SUPPORT THE NERVE

FREE

£0

ANNUAL member

£68

MONTHLY member

£6.95

FOUNDER member

£250

CLICK HERE

THE HARBORNE receipts


Follow the money: the Farage funding timeline

Aug 7, 2026

•

14 min read

Follow the money: the Farage funding timeline

As the revelations around donations to Reform and its leader multiply, we’re keeping the receipts. Carole Cadwalladr introduces a master timeline of our investigation into Farage’s biggest funder, cryptobillionaire Christopher Harborne, and argues that Farage is a symptom, not a cause, of forces reshaping politics across the world

Carole Cadwalladr
Carole Cadwalladr
Crypto, peerages, or political self-sacrifice – why did Farage gift Boris the 2019 election?

Jun 12, 2026

•

15 min read

Crypto, peerages, or political self-sacrifice – why did Farage gift Boris the 2019 election?

Part two of the Harborne Receipts, the Nerve’s investigation into the billionaire's influence on UK politics brings us to the 2019 election – which took the UK out of Europe while dumping 300 Brexit party candidates, leaving a wound on the far right still raw today. By Carole Cadwalladr and Lucia Osborne-Crowley

Chequers gatherings, Johnson's diary and a new jet fighter... how billionaire Christopher Harborne became a big player in defence

Jul 5, 2026

•

11 min read

Chequers gatherings, Johnson's diary and a new jet fighter... how billionaire Christopher Harborne became a big player in defence

Soon after the Ukraine war broke out, the investor emerged as a highly favoured backer of the Tory government – and then a major shareholder in privatised defence lab QinetiQ at a transformative moment for its fortunes. By Carole Cadwalladr and Charlie Young

CULTURE


John Cooper Clarke: ‘I could go to six funerals a week. But no man can live on vol au vents alone’

Oct 9, 2026

•

8 min read

John Cooper Clarke: ‘I could go to six funerals a week. But no man can live on vol au vents alone’

The Bard of Salford, who is publishing his latest poetry collection at 77, talks to Ursula Kenny about getting older, wrestling with technology and the joys of cycling on very flat roads

Ursula Kenny
Ursula Kenny
Review: The 90s: Art and Fashion

Oct 9, 2026

•

6 min read

Review: The 90s: Art and Fashion

We were due a rigorous cultural appraisal of an increasingly mythologised decade. Sadly, Tate Britain's jarring clash of modern masterpieces and glossy-mag photoshoots is not it, writes Nerve art critic Ben Luke. Plus, he picks five shows to see during Frieze month in London

Ben Luke
Ben Luke
‘When you feel something, that’s what fuels you’: how a new generation of performers is reviving the theatre of protest

Oct 9, 2026

•

5 min read

‘When you feel something, that’s what fuels you’: how a new generation of performers is reviving the theatre of protest

On stages across the UK this autumn, theatre companies are fighting social issues head-on, using clowns, choreography and even food donations from the audience. Maddy Costa reports

Maddy Costa
Maddy Costa

POLITICS & INVESTIGATIONS


Sleepless in Slough: the residents who fear for their failing health in Europe’s data centre capital

Sep 29, 2026

•

7 min read

Sleepless in Slough: the residents who fear for their failing health in Europe’s data centre capital

With an estimated 40 facilities packed tightly together in the town, local people say their quality of life is being ruined by strange and unsettling noise pollution. Brenna Spain reports

Brenna Spain
Brenna Spain
‘He was doing something amazing’: Jason Arday, by the friend who’s known him since childhood

Aug 25, 2026

•

11 min read

‘He was doing something amazing’: Jason Arday, by the friend who’s known him since childhood

In the relentless culture war surrounding the professor, the voices of those closest to him were absent. Here, his longstanding friend Sam Clark talks to the Nerve about the kind, warm and remarkable man he remembers

From celebrity intellectual to anti-woke outlaw: how Steven Pinker lost his way

Sep 18, 2026

•

7 min read

From celebrity intellectual to anti-woke outlaw: how Steven Pinker lost his way

The pop psychologist’s new book seems to betray a lurking fear of others’ criticism – about his Epstein links, his manosphere admirers and his discredited former field of study, writes Virginia Heffernan

Virginia Heffernan
Virginia Heffernan
Charisma, cruelty, greed: John Sweeney on the ‘dark genius’ of Nigel Farage

Sep 1, 2026

•

16 min read

Charisma, cruelty, greed: John Sweeney on the ‘dark genius’ of Nigel Farage

In an exclusive extract from his new book, the Nerve’s Reform correspondent explores the career of ‘a leader who never seems to suffer the consequences of his actions’ – and asks if he should ever be allowed near power

John Sweeney
John Sweeney

SPOTLIGHT ON PALANTIR


Revealed: Britain's contracts with Palantir hit £1bn

Oct 2, 2026

•

9 min read

Revealed: Britain's contracts with Palantir hit £1bn

Newly surfaced disclosures reveal the government has spent or agreed to spend at least £992m with Peter Thiel’s controversial AI company – as pressure mounts on Andy Burnham to block them. Max Colbert reports

Max Colbert
Max Colbert
'We’re watching you’: MP Clive Lewis reveals Tom Watson has warned him over criticising Palantir

Sep 29, 2026

•

4 min read

'We’re watching you’: MP Clive Lewis reveals Tom Watson has warned him over criticising Palantir

In a letter to his former Labour colleague, the peer, who joined Peter Thiel’s AI company this month, writes: ‘You have made the case against the company more or less continuously’. By Carole Cadwalladr

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

Apr 24, 2026

•

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

THE NERVE WEEKEND DISH


Jacob Kenedy’s ’nduja and orecchiette

Oct 16, 2026

•

2 min read

Jacob Kenedy’s ’nduja and orecchiette

The chef-patron of London trattoria Bocca di Lupo shares a recipe from his brand new cookbook

Ali Stoner’s Cullen skink bake

Oct 9, 2026

•

3 min read

Ali Stoner’s Cullen skink bake

The home cook and former Masterchef Australia contestant shares a new twist on an old Scottish favourite from her debut recipe book

Tim Anderson’s curry ramen

Oct 2, 2026

•

3 min read

Tim Anderson’s curry ramen

The chef, author and Japanese food enthusiast shares a classic comfort food recipe from his new cookbook

Jeremy Lee’s celery and lemon risotto

Sep 25, 2026

•

2 min read

Jeremy Lee’s celery and lemon risotto

The acclaimed Soho restaurateur shares a fresh seasonal recipe celebrating a perennially overlooked vegetable

Home | About Us | The Team | RSS

© 2026 The Nerve.
beehiivPowered by beehiiv