It's the Nerve's first weekend edition...

Hello, it’s Carole Cadwalladr, Nerve co-founder and editor at large.

What a week! I’m not sure now whose idea it was for us to launch a new media platform, a newsletter and our inaugural investigation on the same day that we hosted a panel and threw our soft-launch party. 

Probably mine. But the brilliant thing about working with the editors and creative director who were a team on the Observer New Review is that they are a well-oiled machine used to a nail-biting deadline.

We’d decided to host an event – about how culture can fight back in a turbulent world – at the Labour party conference in Liverpool on Tuesday with our brilliant panel – contributing editor Carol Vorderman, film critic Ellen E Jones and comedian Stewart Lee. But then Trump announced his new “Peace Board” for Gaza, with Tony Blair playing a central role, on Monday night. So, given that our first investigation reported on Blair’s financial links to individuals in Israeli defence and tech, we threw ourselves into a rewrite and re-edit, all while solving the endless technical issues a new site involves (big thanks to Ryan at beehiiv!). 

Amazingly, we did it! And the response has been incredible. We’ve blown past our target number of paying members – 1,000 for the first month – in a week, and we’re close to 9,000 newsletter subscribers as we hit send. We’ve loved the feedback and messages we’ve received. Please do keep them coming and encourage your friends and family to sign up. 

I’m going to hand over the rest of this newsletter to Sarah, but here’s my personal heartfelt note first. I feel so privileged and proud to be part of the Nerve. To be able to work with such a rock-solid team of women – Sarah, Jane, Lynsey and Imogen – who have the guts and tenacity to take on the kind of investigations I want to do. 

Thanks Carole! This is Sarah, exhausted but delighted to be introducing the first weekend edition of the Nerve newsletter. We are pleased to count the indomitable John Sweeney as a founder member of our reporting team. When accepting the gig as the Nerve’s Reform UK correspondent, John replied: “Ничто не доставит мне большего удовольствия.” That, of course, is Russian for: “Nothing would give me greater pleasure.” John is going to report on each of the five Reform-controlled county councils in the UK, starting with Warwickshire. Nigel Farage said last month on a trip to Washington DC that he welcomed scrutiny. Well, here we come. John tees up the series here.

Also debuting: the Nerve’s Review of the Week. Each week we will choose one of the most interesting new cultural releases to review. Today it’s Ellen E Jones’s turn and – as a huge wrestling movie fan – she takes a look at Benny Safdie’s The Smashing Machine, starring 300 lb, 6’4” former WWE wrestler Dwayne Johnson. Johnson plays MMA and ultimate fighting champ Mark Kerr as he battles addiction and a fiery relationship with his first wife, Dawn (Emily Blunt). Find out how Johnson fares in his bid to be taken more seriously, and what the film says about masculinity today.

As we hit that autumn glut when film festival favourites start hitting cinemas, Ellen found herself spoilt for choice with new releases. Another gem is the directorial debut from British actor Harris Dickinson, star of 2022's Palme d'Or-winning Triangle of Sadness. Dickinson scooped his own directing prize in Cannes for Urchin, a portrait of a homeless man trying to get by. Harris has shared his favourite recent discoveries with us for our regular stardust slot, The Recommender. Read about his penchant for Marmite bread, the new film he's in awe of and the song he nostalgically listens to on his way home from work.

Thanks to our social media feeds, we all know that the UKs bucolic Cotswolds are positively swimming with wealthy Americans. US vice-president JD Vance brought a 20-vehicle motorcade on holiday (sorry, vacation). Beyoncé and Jay-Z are building a multi-property complex in the village of Wigginton. And Ellen DeGeneres snapped up 43 acres last year. Less glitzily, applications from ordinary Americans for British citizenship rocketed 40% in the final quarter of 2024 compared with the same period in ’23. It got us thinking about the challenges of navigating the subtle differences between the two countries’ cultures. It’s a great topic for our newly signed "cultural agony aunt”, psychotherapist Philippa Perry, to get her teeth into. 

Finally, we ease you out of the working week with our first Weekend Dish. Every Friday we will share a recipe from a chef or food writer we love, the key being that the dish is simple to make. We don’t know about you, but here on the team we do love a recipe with a short ingredient list! This week, Imad Alarnab, a Syrian restaurateur who fled his country in 2015, serves up his shakshuka with an aubergine twist. (Shout out to Jane for testing the recipe and having her first stab at food photography!)

Lastly, I want to second Carole’s thanks. If you’re getting this email, you are one of our first 9,000 members and it has meant the world to us to have your support. We’ve been working on this project for half a year and, while we always had confidence in our idea for the Nerve, you never know how something is going to land. We are only going to continue to thrive and fulfil our vision if our membership funding grows, so please do spread the word.

Until Tuesday – have nerve! (We are going to have some sleep.)

Sarah, Carole, Jane, Imogen and Lynsey