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CULTURE


‘At the heart of change is always protest’: Misan Harriman on Gaza, George Floyd and the spirit of activism

Jul 10, 2026

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11 min read

‘At the heart of change is always protest’: Misan Harriman on Gaza, George Floyd and the spirit of activism

At a special Nerve screening of a new documentary about his work, the acclaimed photographer and campaigner sat down with Carole Cadwalladr and director Andy Mundy-Castle for an in-depth discussion of race, culture, cancellation and more

Carole Cadwalladr
Carole Cadwalladr
The Recommender: Greentea Peng

Jul 10, 2026

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3 min read

The Recommender: Greentea Peng

The London-born psychedelic R&B singer shares her current cultural favourites

The Nerve Hotlist

Jul 7, 2026

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4 min read

The Nerve Hotlist

This week's top cultural picks, from Olivia Wilde's sexy couples comedy to a celebration of ice cream, as enjoyed by our team of editors and writers

The Festival of Britain’s boldest dream has been forgotten

Jul 3, 2026

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5 min read

The Festival of Britain’s boldest dream has been forgotten

Down the road from London’s South Bank landmarks, the exhibition committee built a model social housing estate – for everyone, for the future. Seventy-five years on, where is that spirit now? By Phineas Harper

Phin Harper
Phin Harper
The Nerve Hotlist

Jun 30, 2026

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4 min read

The Nerve Hotlist

This week's don't-miss cultural picks, from sculptor Anish Kapoor's gigantic forms to an intimate, war-torn love story, as enjoyed by our team of editors and writers

The Nerve's summer books 2026

Jun 26, 2026

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9 min read

The Nerve's summer books 2026

From a sweeping Korean family saga to a love letter to George Michael, our team of writers and editors each recommend a perfect read for your summer getaway – and one they’ll be taking on holiday. Plus three Bookstagrammers share their top picks

'Billionaires aren’t going to save you’: Amazon union trailblazer Chris Smalls on fighting back against the gig economy

Jun 19, 2026

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9 min read

'Billionaires aren’t going to save you’: Amazon union trailblazer Chris Smalls on fighting back against the gig economy

The labour activist who took on Jeff Bezos in 2022 – and challenged him again at the Met Gala this year – talks to Lucia Osborne-Crowley about courage, community, class and why he's telling his remarkable story in a new memoir

Lucia Osborne-Crowley
Lucia Osborne-Crowley
‘Literature is about digging, not putting on a show’: author Édouard Louis on writing as an act of working-class defiance

Jun 12, 2026

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6 min read

‘Literature is about digging, not putting on a show’: author Édouard Louis on writing as an act of working-class defiance

The French novelist’s unsparing autofiction about his poor and violent childhood is designed to challenge a leftwing establishment that is losing touch with those it represents, he tells Lucia Osborne-Crowley

Lucia Osborne-Crowley
Lucia Osborne-Crowley
‘Her silence was more powerful than words’: how I interviewed a Facebook whistleblower who wasn’t allowed to speak

Jun 5, 2026

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6 min read

‘Her silence was more powerful than words’: how I interviewed a Facebook whistleblower who wasn’t allowed to speak

The Nerve’s Carole Cadwalladr was all set to talk to Sarah Wynn-Williams, author of the explosive memoir Careless People, at the Hay festival when Meta’s lawyers intervened ... and turned the event into ‘absurdist theatre’

Carole Cadwalladr
Carole Cadwalladr
James McAvoy: 'I'm always going to try and find the laughs'

Jun 5, 2026

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5 min read

James McAvoy: 'I'm always going to try and find the laughs'

The Scottish Hollywood actor – and now first-time director – answers the Nerve Q&A on fame, indie film-making and snogging an unexpected co-star. Interview by Hanna Flint

Hanna Flint
Hanna Flint
‘All the books you write change you’: Maggie O’Farrell on Hamnet, Hollywood and family secrets

Jun 2, 2026

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5 min read

‘All the books you write change you’: Maggie O’Farrell on Hamnet, Hollywood and family secrets

After the Oscars whirl around her Shakespeare film, the novelist answers the Nerve Q&A and talks about her new book, which explores the hidden lives of her relatives, pioneering mapmakers in 19th-century Ireland. Interview by Lisa O'Kelly

‘We’re shocked’: female screenwriters write to BBC over plan for male writer to create Sarah Everard drama

May 29, 2026

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8 min read

‘We’re shocked’: female screenwriters write to BBC over plan for male writer to create Sarah Everard drama

A letter signed by 400 female writers in 24 hours has criticised the corporation for what it calls the ‘silencing of women’s voices’ in women’s stories. Here it is in full

What Marilyn would have done next...

May 29, 2026

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5 min read

What Marilyn would have done next...

A lifelong Monroe fan, the Nerve’s film critic Ellen E Jones has made a BBC radio series to mark the centenary of the actor’s birth. Here, she imagines the future that might have opened up for a media-savvy artist ‘vastly ahead of her time’

Ellen E Jones
Ellen E Jones
Banger racing, big hats and the beach: photographer Sophie Green celebrates British subcultures and social rituals

May 22, 2026

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3 min read

Banger racing, big hats and the beach: photographer Sophie Green celebrates British subcultures and social rituals

Ahead of a new exhibition, the acclaimed documentary photographer shares the stories behind her vibrant images of gatherings, traditions and “the eccentric lengths to which the British will go” when having fun

Richard Gadd’s new show Half Man is hard to watch. But does it have anything to say?

Apr 24, 2026

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4 min read

Richard Gadd’s new show Half Man is hard to watch. But does it have anything to say?

The acclaimed new drama from the creator of Baby Reindeer doesn’t ‘expose’ toxic masculinity so much as simply make a spectacle of it, writes Julia Raeside

Julia Raeside
Julia Raeside
Crop tops and thongs: how Epstein's friend Les Wexner sexualised children's fashion

Apr 17, 2026

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6 min read

Crop tops and thongs: how Epstein's friend Les Wexner sexualised children's fashion

The paedophile’s close professional relationship with clothing billionaire Les Wexner coincided with a dark, Lolita-like period in fashion when girls were invited to age up and women to age down, writes Deborah Frances-White

Stonehenge, carnival, folk and fascists: how Zakia Sewell went in pursuit of the real story of Britain

Apr 17, 2026

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5 min read

Stonehenge, carnival, folk and fascists: how Zakia Sewell went in pursuit of the real story of Britain

The 6 Music DJ and writer, whose new book explores her mixed-race heritage and the ancient myth of ‘Albion’, tells Michaela Makusha everyone has a stake in a complex, nuanced country

Michaela Makusha
Michaela Makusha
The Recommender: Adeel Akhtar

Apr 17, 2026

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3 min read

The Recommender: Adeel Akhtar

The double-Bafta-winning actor, known for Sherwood, Down Cemetery Road and Four Lions, picks his current cultural favourites

I was a teenage Pet Shop Boys fan. Decades later, they’re always on my mind

Apr 8, 2026

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8 min read

I was a teenage Pet Shop Boys fan. Decades later, they’re always on my mind

As a 13-year-old in Saudi, Arwa Haider wore the band’s T-shirts under her abaya. Now a new book and gigs by the duo, and a major exhibition on youth culture, are shining a light on the overlooked power of fandom

The Recommender: Romola Garai

Apr 2, 2026

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6 min read

The Recommender: Romola Garai

The award-winning TV, film and theatre actor shares her latest cultural discoveries

Director François Ozon: 'In France, we consider cinema as an art. I'm not sure in England it's the same'

Apr 2, 2026

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10 min read

Director François Ozon: 'In France, we consider cinema as an art. I'm not sure in England it's the same'

The French film-maker, whose new movie, The Stranger, is out next week, talks to Ellen E Jones about stars, politics, Camus and the Cure

Ellen E Jones
Ellen E Jones
Orwell, Trump and the persistence of fascism: ‘He was giving us a warning’

Mar 27, 2026

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15 min read

Orwell, Trump and the persistence of fascism: ‘He was giving us a warning’

Raoul Peck, director of a new film about the author, tells Dorian Lynskey that the dystopia of Nineteen Eighty-Four was drawn from lived experience, not prophecy

Dorian Lynskey
Dorian Lynskey
SNL UK proved everyone wrong: it’s a big, British, Saturday riot

Mar 24, 2026

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8 min read

SNL UK proved everyone wrong: it’s a big, British, Saturday riot

The US sketch-show behemoth didn’t seem like a natural export, but it has pulled together the biggest collection of homegrown talent in years, writes comedian Max Olesker

‘It’s everyone’s history’: the artist Hurvin Anderson on his Tate Britain retrospective

Mar 24, 2026

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9 min read

‘It’s everyone’s history’: the artist Hurvin Anderson on his Tate Britain retrospective

The Turner prize-nominated painter, whose luminous canvases span portraiture, barbershop interiors and the lush landscapes of his Jamaican heritage, talks to Nerve art critic Emily LaBarge

Emily LaBarge
Emily LaBarge

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