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"It's democracy, but not as we know it": John Sweeney on Reform, Russia & the result in Caerphilly

Oct 24, 2025

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11 min read

"It's democracy, but not as we know it": John Sweeney on Reform, Russia & the result in Caerphilly

The Nerve’s Reform correspondent went to Caerphilly on polling day to catch the mood of a bellwether by-election: would Reform UK defeat Labour as the stats were suggesting? And where on earth was their candidate Llŷr Powell, former colleague of Russian puppet Nathan Gill? Watch John's report to find out...

‘She put food on all our tables’: Yvonne Brewster, a giant of black theatre remembered

Oct 24, 2025

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8 min read

‘She put food on all our tables’: Yvonne Brewster, a giant of black theatre remembered

The trailblazing director’s death earlier this month was largely ignored by the British media. Here the Bridgerton star Adjoa Andoh and fellow actor Doña Croll, recall a mentor and “great encourager” who transformed the lives of African-Caribbean talent

Ursula Kenny

Oct 24, 2025

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6 min read

Stewart Lee: How do all these rightwing astroturfers get on the airwaves? Doesn’t anyone Google them first?

From Aston Villa to George Abaraonye, every time the culture wars flare up, there’s a ‘concerned citizen’ from a previously unheard-of pressure group popping up. A little scepticism is needed

Oct 24, 2025

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6 min read

Review of the Week: Big Kiss, Bye-Bye, a new novel by Claire-Louise Bennett

Author Claire-Louise Bennett’s free-floating love story is an intelligent, unclassifiable delight, writes Alex Clark

Oct 24, 2025

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5 min read

THE RECOMMENDER: JOE LOCKE

The Heartstopper actor on his current cultural favourites

Oct 24, 2025

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8 min read

THE NERVE WEEKEND DISH

Inspired by her husband’s love for pasta and her own passion for baking, chef and Ottolenghi collaborator Helen Goh created a savoury puttanesca galette

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Is the new Springsteen film final proof that Spotify killed the music biopic?

Oct 21, 2025

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5 min read

Is the new Springsteen film final proof that Spotify killed the music biopic?

In the age of streaming and social media, big Hollywood music bios like Scott Cooper’s hymn to the Boss feel increasingly old-fashioned, writes Ellen E Jones

Ellen E Jones

Oct 21, 2025

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7 min read

THE NERVE HOTLIST

The best culture to enjoy this week, chosen by our team of editors and writers

The glamorous TV host, the web of influence and a mysterious trip to Moscow – inside the downfall of Reform’s disgraced MEP

Oct 17, 2025

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16 min read

The glamorous TV host, the web of influence and a mysterious trip to Moscow – inside the downfall of Reform’s disgraced MEP

Ahead of a critical Welsh byelection for Reform on Thursday, part two of our investigation into Nathan Gill uncovers the web of Russian influence that encircled him – and asks why it took so long to charge him after he was originally detained

Carole Cadwalladr

Poet Hollie McNish: 'Rude jokes bring me joy'

Oct 17, 2025

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9 min read

Poet Hollie McNish: 'Rude jokes bring me joy'

The award winning poet answers the Nerve Q&A - on parenting, politics, and the enduring power of Dirty Dancing

Jude Rogers

Oct 17, 2025

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6 min read

THE RECOMMENDER: JACK HOLDEN

The writer and actor shares his cultural picks

Celebrity Traitors is era-defining telly - because it knows that fame is the ultimate deceit

Oct 14, 2025

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7 min read

Celebrity Traitors is era-defining telly - because it knows that fame is the ultimate deceit

Will anyone ever trust Jonathan Ross again? Will Tom Daley come out in the edit as the ultimate villain? The genius of the new A-list version of The Traitors, argues Julia Raeside, is that it turns the celebrity power dynamic on its head

Julia Raeside

Bernard Manning rides again: how TikTok and Instagram are promoting racist “jokes” to teens

Oct 7, 2025

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6 min read

Bernard Manning rides again: how TikTok and Instagram are promoting racist “jokes” to teens

Social media algorithms boosting slurs have been propelling racist comments into users’ feeds. One platform has deleted the videos after being approached by The Nerve

Chris Stokel-Walker

‘The platforms got worse because we let them’: Cory Doctorow on his fight to save the internet from enshittification

Oct 10, 2025

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15 min read

‘The platforms got worse because we let them’: Cory Doctorow on his fight to save the internet from enshittification

The author and cyber-activist argues that the tech giants have ruined life online. The only thing that can save the virtual world now, he tells Zoë Corbyn, is its users