FEARLESS, INDEPENDENT JOURNALISM ON CULTURE, POLITICS AND TECH

WEEKEND EDITION

‘Women are being believed’: Virginia Giuffre’s ghostwriter Amy Wallace on the global impact of Nobody’s Girl

May 15, 2026

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7 min read

‘Women are being believed’: Virginia Giuffre’s ghostwriter Amy Wallace on the global impact of Nobody’s Girl

The bestselling memoir by the late Epstein survivor and campaigner has been crowned book of the year – and in her absence, her co-author has become the public face of its powerful legacy. Interview by Lucia Osborne-Crowley

Lucia Osborne-Crowley

‘They can shape the outcomes they claim to forecast’ – could Polymarket influence an election?

May 15, 2026

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9 min read

‘They can shape the outcomes they claim to forecast’ – could Polymarket influence an election?

A platform backed by Peter Thiel and advised by Donald Trump Jr. is taking anonymous crypto bets on UK elections, missile strikes and the death of world leaders. In Britain no regulator will touch it, writes Ian Tucker in this in-depth guide to so-called "prediction markets"

Ian Tucker

New fears over spread of Palantir’s influence after ‘Big Brother’ Met police project extended

May 15, 2026

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6 min read

New fears over spread of Palantir’s influence after ‘Big Brother’ Met police project extended

The programme, designed to expose officer misconduct, was due to expire last month. The Nerve has established that it was extended to today, May 15, with no indication what happens next. Officers fear they will be under long-term surveillance, while it’s also emerged the project could be rolled out to more staff. Report by Max Colbert and Lucia Osborne-Crowley

Max Colbert, +1

Stewart Lee: Memo to the next Labour leader: for God’s sake don’t accept any Coldplay tickets

May 15, 2026

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5 min read

Stewart Lee: Memo to the next Labour leader: for God’s sake don’t accept any Coldplay tickets

Nigel Farage has his £5m bung, and that’s apparently fine. But no leftwing politician can make the slightest mis-step with the press and GB News watching

May 15, 2026

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3 min read

Review of the Week: The Christophers

Ian McKellen and Michaela Coel make for a gorgeous, if unlikely, double act as a painter and his assistant in Steven Soderbergh’s generation-gap comedy, writes Nerve film critic Ellen E Jones. But is it art?

May 15, 2026

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4 min read

The Recommender: Douglas Stuart

The Booker-winning author of Shuggie Bain shares his current cultural favourites

‘WWE wrestling formed the blueprint!’ Munya Chawawa on Trump’s journey from Wrestlemania to the White House

May 12, 2026

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4 min read

‘WWE wrestling formed the blueprint!’ Munya Chawawa on Trump’s journey from Wrestlemania to the White House

The comedian answers the Nerve Q&A - on his new documentary tracing the links between Maga and the world of TV wrestling, the joy of Lime-bikes and the inspiration behind his Black Boys Theatre Club. Interview by Jude Rogers

May 15, 2026

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2 min read

The Nerve Weekend Dish: Marina Georgallides’s kleftiko

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SPOTLIGHT ON PALANTIR

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, +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

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

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

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

CULTURE

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

May 12, 2026

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4 min read

The Nerve Hotlist

The best culture to check out this week, from the return of 80s rompathon Rivals to a celebration of radical cinema – as enjoyed by our team of editors and writers

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

Lucia Osborne-Crowley

THE NERVE WEEKEND DISH

May 1, 2026

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3 min read

Nargisse Benkabbou’s baked chermoula potatoes with eggs

The chef and food writer shares her recipe for batata m’chermla – a classic Moroccan breakfast dish ideal for bank holiday brunch

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

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)

FEARLESS, INDEPENDENT JOURNALISM ON CULTURE, POLITICS AND TECH

WEEKEND EDITION

‘Women are being believed’: Virginia Giuffre’s ghostwriter Amy Wallace on the global impact of Nobody’s Girl

‘They can shape the outcomes they claim to forecast’ – could Polymarket influence an election?

New fears over spread of Palantir’s influence after ‘Big Brother’ Met police project extended

Stewart Lee: Memo to the next Labour leader: for God’s sake don’t accept any Coldplay tickets

Review of the Week: The Christophers

The Recommender: Douglas Stuart

‘WWE wrestling formed the blueprint!’ Munya Chawawa on Trump’s journey from Wrestlemania to the White House

The Nerve Weekend Dish: Marina Georgallides’s kleftiko

SIGN UP TO STAY UP TO DATE AND SUPPORT THE NERVE

FREE

£0

ANNUAL member

£68

MONTHLY member

£6.95

FOUNDER member

£250

SPOTLIGHT ON PALANTIR

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

Palantir's social media manifesto is a blueprint for technofascism

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

POLITICS & INVESTIGATIONS

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

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

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

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

CULTURE

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

The Nerve Hotlist

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

THE NERVE WEEKEND DISH

Nargisse Benkabbou’s baked chermoula potatoes with eggs

Georgina Hayden’s spring meatballs, pasta and peas

Jad Youssef’s Lebanese chicken with garlic and lemon

The Borough Chef's asparagus and ricotta tagliatelle