Evening all, 

It’s Carole here with our Tuesday edition, including our weekly culture picks and a great advice column from our cultural agony aunt Philippa Perry on Trump and his deranged middle-of-the-night social media posts. I’ve lost my voice after five days of running around Perugia, the Italian hilltop town that’s the unlikely (but beautiful) home of the International Journalism Festival, and having taken part in four events – interviewing, being interviewed, moderating, and hosting the Nerve’s very own event: Having Nerve: How to Set Up Your Own News Organisation* (*with no money). 

There’s not much light in these dark times, but there was an energy in Perugia. All across the world, there are journalists doing the hard yards of trying to hold power to account. And increasingly, this is being done by small, insurgent new outlets that are sprouting up because there is a gap that needs to be filled.

There was no clearer exposition of that than an incredibly moving panel featuring Wael al-Dahdouh. He’s the Al Jazeera bureau chief who – incredibly – continued to report from Gaza even as, one by one, his family were picked off and killed. In October 2023, he discovered that an Israeli missile strike had killed his wife, seven-year-old daughter and 15-year-old son. Six weeks later, his cameraman was killed and he was badly injured. Less than a month later, he was devastated to find that another son, who’d followed him into journalism and also worked for Al Jazeera, had been killed. 

Listening to Wael in a huge and beautiful 13th-century deconsecrated Franciscan church, in front of the world’s media, I felt a wash of shame as he talked about the response of the international press. “The truth is, we sometimes felt the world had left us on our own – watching as we were targeted and killed, us and our families. This hurt us deeply. We were expecting colleagues to take steps: to pressure unions, press guilds, parliaments, governments, and the United Nations, to stop this genocide.”

He is right. The lack of solidarity from western news organisations is baffling and shaming. And, it’s why we’re featuring Wael’s words today and publishing a transcript of what he said at the event. Because the whole point of being a new outlet is that we can do things differently. Please read his words here.

Two weeks ago, we carried a piece by veteran BBC journalist John Simpson on the “journacide” –  Israel’s murder of journalists, now extended to Lebanon. And outside the church, we went to talk to Wael. You’re not alone, I said. So many journalists and ordinary people are with you. 

Every small gesture helps, said Wael. It makes us feel less alone. For that reason too, we’re sharing this brilliant video from a German-based rapper, Siba, that went viral over the weekend, who has channelled her anger into a fierce, compelling song.

Here are the rest of today’s pieces - and some more info about our Guilty Feminist live event on April 30. And we’d be grateful if you could click on our ad for secure email provider Proton at the end of this newsletter to fund our work.

This week the Nerve’s popular cultural agony aunt, psychotherapist Philippa Perry, turns her attention to Donald Trump’s deranged nocturnal postings on Truth Social. Does this man ever switch off? As Philippa says: “A good night’s sleep is a form of self-governance. It makes the world a safer place. When we are tired, we are terrible drivers, we become more certain and less wise, and the filter that says ‘maybe don’t’ goes quiet, while the part that says ‘this is a very good idea’ starts to shout.” Read her advice here.

It's beginning to look a lot like springtime in the UK and as our Scotland-based writer Fergus Morgan recommends in this week's hotlist, "it is a wonderful time of year to wander around the sculpture garden of Jupiter Artland, a few miles west of Edinburgh". Alongside the wild flowers and permanent outdoor sculptures from the likes of Andy Goldsworthy, Tracey Emin and more, there's a striking new energy-themed indoor exhibition, Extraction. Elsewhere, our art critic Emily LaBarge applauds Deborah Levy's "dazzling" new book; co-founder Imogen salutes the ambition of the BBC's bold new drama Mint (with rapper Loyle Carner in his acting debut); and Jane enjoys a remastered anime classic. For these recommendations and more check out this week's hotlist.

The lineup has been announced for the LIVE Nerve/Guilty Feminist podcast recording next Thursday, 30 April, at the Leicester Square Theatre in London. The evening will be co-hosted by Deborah Frances-White (aka the Guilty Feminist) and comedian Ria Lina. As with all GF recordings, there will be a mix of comedy, music and conversation. Deborah will be joined on stage by the writer Lucia Osborne-Crowley, author of acclaimed book The Lasting Harm: Witnessing the Trial of Ghislaine Maxwell, and Nerve co-founder Carole Cadwalladr to discuss the fall out from the Epstein files. Why no justice for the survivors? What next? 

Come and join us for this moment of joyful resistance. (Please note: there will be no graphic content.) Tickets are available here; members have been sent a 20% discount code.

Thanks for reading. We’ll be back again on Friday. In the meantime, do please forward this email to anyone you think might like to subscribe – it’s one of the best ways to help us grow. 

Carole

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