Culture
‘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
Culture
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The Recommender: Greentea Peng
The London-born psychedelic R&B singer shares her current cultural favourites
Culture
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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
Culture
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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
Culture
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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
Culture
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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
Culture
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'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
Culture
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‘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
Q&A
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‘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’
News
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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
Q&A
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‘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
Q&A
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‘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
TV
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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’
Culture
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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
TV
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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
Culture
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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
Q&A
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The Recommender: Adeel Akhtar
The double-Bafta-winning actor, known for Sherwood, Down Cemetery Road and Four Lions, picks his current cultural favourites
Culture
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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
Culture
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The Recommender: Romola Garai
The award-winning TV, film and theatre actor shares her latest cultural discoveries
Culture
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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
Culture
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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
Culture
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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
TV
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