Hello from Nerve towers (that will be my desk in my bedroom),
It’s Sarah here, bringing you a newsletter that marks many things. It’s our last Tuesday newsletter of the month. It’s our four-week (though it feels a lot longer!) anniversary edition. And it’s the first newsletter after launching our inaugural Nerve film - John Sweeney’s on-the-ground report from Caerphilly during its crucial byelection last week. It’s also the day we bring you a dissection of the tech bro obsession with outsize architecture, agony aunt Philippa Perry’s second column and our round-up of the culture we most love this week.
First, some background on John’s film for those who missed the story. Caerphilly was a bellwether byelection, called after the sudden death in August of Labour MS (Member of the Senedd) Hefin David. The polls veered between calling it for Reform UK or Welsh independence party Plaid Cymru. Reform UK candidate Llŷr Powell was obediently drumming home the party’s anti-immigrant message and John wanted to track him down, not least because he’s a former colleague of Kremlin puppet Nathan Gill (who of course recently pleaded guilty to taking bribes from a pro-Russian operator Oleh Voloshyn).
Could Sweeney get an interview with Powell? You’ll be unsurprised to hear he couldn’t. Did Plaid Cymru’s local candidate Lindsay Whittle come up with the goods. Yes! In a brilliant interview he showed just how you can win against the negative strategy of Reform UK (as indeed Whittle did with an unexpected 47% of the vote). The film really is worth a watch - let us know what you think.
This is a good moment for me to say that it’s not cheap making video journalism, or indeed any journalism, and to remind you that our launch-month discount for annual membership ends this Friday. We rely entirely on members for our funding and you can currently sign up for annual membership for £54 - a whopping 35% discount on the monthly payment plan. Please do consider sparing us (just over) a quid a week if you haven’t already… and please send this newsletter onto anyone you think might like the cut of our jib.
Now, on to this week…
The seemingly endless new Google headquarters next to King's Cross railway station. Getty
What is it with tech bros and their obsession with big buildings? We at the Nerve worked for years at the Guardian’s Kings Cross office building and over the last few we watched with increasing consternation as a huge structure took shape over the road. More than three times longer than Big Ben's clocktower is tall, Google's new London headquarters is scheduled to open later this year. Most architecture-watchers know about the involvement of “designer-architect” Thomas Heatherwick. But Danish architect Bjarke Ingels is also a key player. He runs a practice with the acronym BIG and a website called big.dk (ho ho ho, see what he did there?) Critic Phineas Harper rounds up the worst tech bro building offenders (the list is long and sigh-inducing) and concludes, "like a cursed version of Peter Pan’s Lost Boys, they seem unable to grow up, stuck commissioning architecture that reflects their perpetually adolescent tastes.”
Philippa and Grayson Perry at the inaugural BM Ball. Photograph: Mike Marsland/WireImage
Ten days ago, our cultural advice columnist – and brilliant psychotherapist – Philippa Perry attended the British Museum's inaugural fundraising "pink ball". Outside, climate activists were protesting the institution's relationship with BP. It got her thinking - what is the point of protesting without offering a solution? She realised the skills she learnt for counselling couples could provide some important lessons, and as with all the best advice, it’s an argument that some might find tricky to hear…
West End Girl by Lily Allen album artwork
The nights are getting darker, the days are getting shorter and this week's Hotlist has some top culture to enjoy at home. Our current cultural picks include the discourse-leading and deeply personal new album from Lily Allen and Riot Girls, the big-hearted Sally Wainwright drama with the enviable female cast - I will watch anything that brings together Joanna Scanlan, Tamsin Greig and Lorraine Ashbourne.
Finally - did anyone except eagle-eyed reader David Smethurst spot the (not at all) deliberate mistake in Friday’s newsletter? I misnamed LLyr Powell as Llyr Williams, who is very much not a failed anti-immigrant election candidate, but in fact one of Wales’s finest classical pianists. Evidence that when the deadline pressure is on, culture references can spontaneously erupt! Massive apologies to Mr Williams, and what better excuse to offer you this link to him playing Beethoven’s Piano Sonata in C minor? For further delightful listening, here’s another Hotlist pick - David Byrne’s wedding playlist, as chosen by Nerve contributing editor Michael Morris.
Enjoy! See you on Friday.
Sarah, co-founder
The Nerve is a fearless, female-founded, truly independent media title launched by five former Guardian and Observer journalists. We are editors Sarah Donaldson, Jane Ferguson and Imogen Carter; creative director Lynsey Irvine; and investigative journalist Carole Cadwalladr. We cover culture, politics and tech - brought to you in twice weekly editions via newsletter on Tuesdays and Fridays (and also live events, social media and more). In our increasingly turbulent world, we believe that we all need nerve more than ever, so thank you for signing up. Journalism is expensive and we rely on funding from our community, so if you are not yet a paying member of the Nerve, please consider joining us. We need your support.
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From left: Lynsey, Sarah, Carole, Jane & Imogen.