Evening all,

It’s Carole here. Normally, this time of year would be “silly season”. Parliament has knocked off, the MPs are on holiday and the papers would have some stories about lost dogs and the usual “washout” British summer.

Instead, France and Spain are literally on fire and Nigel Farage – and Reform’s finances – are being roasted daily across multiple news outlets in a way that we haven’t seen for a decade. It’s rich pickings for a must-read from our columnist Stewart Lee, who masterfully dissects the “row” about Zack Polanski’s refusal to apologise to Farage. And I’ve written a news story about Britain’s newest favourite convicted money launderer: Reform donor and close friend to Nigel Farage, George Cottrell. 

That relationship is now – finally – under the spotlight. And my piece is a straight news story because I wanted to reveal some new pieces of evidence that have come to light. You may have read or at least heard about this summer’s bestseller London Falling by Patrick Radden Keefe. That tells the true story of a British schoolboy who ends up dead after impersonating a Russian oligarch’s son. 

There’s some strange echoes here with George Cottrell, and in my piece I delve into allegations of his friendship with another Russian oligarch’s son: Arkadiy Abramovich, son of Roman Abramovich. And I include more allegations about what he was up to in the Brexit years (spoiler alert: it involves “suitcases of cash”). 

This week, I also interviewed the wonderful Amy Goodman, co-founder and main host of Democracy Now!, an independent US news show that recently celebrated its 30th anniversary. She’s also the star of a brilliant new documentary, Steal This Story, Please!, that we’ll be screening with her and the film’s directors on 12 August. 

Do read the interview to hear her thoughts on why independent journalism matters now more than ever. She was an inspiration to us in setting up the Nerve and it’s a far-fetched dream that we’ll be around in 30 years … but you have to start somewhere. 

Now here’s the team to provide the links to today’s stories: 

In recent weeks, reports have been growing that George Cottrell – Reform funder, convicted money launderer and close ally of Nigel Farage – had been a friend of Roman Abramovich’s son Arkadiy. Now a new source who knew Cottrell as a teenager alleges that not only were Arkadiy and Cottrell close, but that Cottrell used to work for Arkadiy’s father – the now-sanctioned, pro-Putin, oligarch Roman Abramovich. Read Carole’s report here.

“Like a man accidentally photocopying his testicles and then somehow pressing a magic button that sends the image to the entire workforce,” writes Stewart in his column, “Zack Polanski can’t seem to help himself from posting exactly the wrong thing.” When the Green party leader inadvertently shared an image of a protester’s supposedly threatening T-shirt, it allowed a beleaguered Farage to create days of distraction about his security. It’s a good thing there isn’t anything else to worry about, says Stewart, such as the worsening climate crisis and, you know, “our descent into the inevitable inferno of white-hot death”. Read his column here.

Amy Goodman, co-founder and host of Democracy Now!, the New York-based independent online news show has spent three decades reporting from the frontlines. Now she’s the subject of a new documentary, Steal This Story, Please! “I consider an exclusive a failure if we're the only ones telling the story,” she tells Carole Cadwalladr. Read the interview here.

Courttia Newland is an award-winning novelist who co-wrote two of the films, including Lovers Rock, in Steve McQueen’s Small Axe series. To mark the publication of his book of essays, The Art of Opposition, he picks his cultural highlights, including an African movie – “the most beautiful film I think I’ve ever seen in my life” – a timely book about the climate crisis from a Black perspective and a classic novel he says is “a masterclass in storytelling”. Read his tips here.

“Tao of Glass is partly the autobiography of a fan who happens to be an exceptional storyteller…” writes Nerve theatre critic Dorian Lynskey of the latest one-of-a-kind production from writer, director and performer Phelim McDermott, created in tribute to the composer Philip Glass. Inspired by a dream, this West End premiere features performance, puppetry and compositions by Glass, fused together by the man who most recently won an Olivier for bringing Studio Ghibli’s classic My Neighbour Totoro to the stage. Does Tao of Glass match up? Read Dorian’s review to find out.

Ella has been described as “the most talented food writer of her generation and her recently published Kitchen Book has been hailed as a “modern classic” and “utter magic”. She shares a recipe that is perfect for these hot summer days: “zero cooking, one hundred refreshing”. Get the details here. 

Thanks for reading! That’s it for today: we’ll be back on Tuesday. Before then, we would really appreciate if you could click on the Proton ad below to help us earn some money. Also, if you are enjoying our newsletters, it would be great if you could forward this newsletter to anyone you think might like to sign up, as that really helps us grow.

Have a great weekend.

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