Culture

Martin Parr was a joy to work with. He also helped me to understand the dangerous moment we’re living through

When Carole Cadwalladr met the photographer 17 years ago in Moscow, they were both curious about the same things: Russia, wealth, the oligarchs. Following his death last weekend, she remembers the man who taught her how to ‘look harder’

Culture

Philippa Perry: My 10 rules for a happier Christmas

Dreading the post-turkey singalong? Haunted by spirits of the past? It’s time to step back and think about how your rituals could become truly festive again, says the Nerve's cultural agony aunt

Culture

‘I’m interested in humour!’: How Isobel Waller-Bridge made her new album with Hoovers, shoes and balls

The film and classical composer talks to Kate Hutchinson about avant-garde music, ASMR and the whirlwind experience of working on Fleabag

Culture

The Nerve's Best Books of 2025

From a moving rumination on class to a gripping novel about desire, our team of writers and editors each recommend a title they’ve loved over the past 12 months – and one they’re hoping to get for Christmas

Culture

Review of the Week: It Was Just an Accident

The extraordinary new film by dissident Iranian auteur Jafar Panahi is a thriller, a fable about state repression and a road movie all at once, writes Nerve film critic Ellen E Jones

Reviews

The Recommender: Bel Powley

The actor on her latest art and culture discoveries

The Nerve Hotlist

Great culture to check out this week – from a BBC dramatisation of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s hostage ordeal to Kayvan Novak’s hilarious new podcast – all recommended by our team of editors and writers

Culture

Musician Richard Hawley: ‘I'd abolish the role of prime minister. I'm half serious!'

The Sheffield rocker, in rehearsal for his homecoming tour, answers the Nerve Q&A - on songs, socialism, swearing ... and the joy of dogs

Culture

The Recommender: Derek Owusu

The fast-rising British novelist on his latest art and culture discoveries

Culture

Review of the Week: All My Sons

Ten years after his first triumph with an Arthur Miller play, director Ivo Van Hove has returned to the American dramatist and produced another masterpiece that feels startlingly current, writes Dorian Lynskey

Culture

Is the current generation of leading men our best ever?

No longer dreaming of playing Bond, today’s group of young British and Irish actors are fun, reflective and helping to redefine masculinity. I'm all for it, says Nerve film critic Ellen E Jones

Culture

Rachel Reeves: please stand up for the arts!

This week the chancellor delivers her much-leaked budget. Will funding for the UK arts sector be upped or slashed once again? We asked figures from the world of culture, including Khalid Abdalla, Ali Smith, Rachael Stirling and Hak Baker, for a call to arms

Culture

The Nerve Hotlist

The best culture to enjoy this week – from a feisty Taipei-set family drama to a bumper celebration of UK rave culture – all seen and chosen for you by our team of editors and writers

Culture

Review of the week: Wes Anderson: The Archives at the Design Museum

Our art critic Emily LaBarge is charmed by a deep dive into the pastel-hued world of the American film director, through costumes, props, scripts and more

Culture

The Recommender: Oyinkan Braithwaite

The award-winning author of My Sister, the Serial Killer shares her latest cultural discoveries

Culture

The visual arts sector has a class problem and I'm trying to fix it. Join me!

Meg Molloy, the founder of Working Arts Club, was the first person in her family to go to university and had to fight for her career and to fit in. Now she wants to open the doors of the art world to people like her

Culture

Review of the week: Wet Leg at the Royal Albert Hall

They may have started off as self-deprecating jokers, but this pulsating live show is final proof that the Isle of Wight rockers are now something much bigger, writes Kate Hutchinson

Culture

'Everyday people can be heroes': ten things I’ve learned about humanity in a decade running Choose Love

Josie Fernandez-Marelli had no experience of the charity sector when she started fundraising for displaced people in Calais in 2015. Now her group operates in 50 countries – and here’s what she's learned along the way

Culture

The Recommender: Nicôle Lecky

The Bafta-winning writer, actor and musician shares the culture she's been loving lately

Culture

Actor Claes Bang: ‘I think I’m done with nudity. I’m fed up with it’

The Danish star of The Square and Dracula answers the Nerve Q&A - on his recent work, his favourite decade and the unexpected joy of gardening

Culture

The BBC is the biggest prize in the information war – and the right may be about to destroy it

The corporation is always under attack. But this time it has been sabotaged by conservative ideologues deep within its heart. Is it time for the culture secretary to step in? By Dorian Lynskey

Culture

'I wanted to write a Ripley kind of thriller’: Olivia Laing on their new book inspired by the mysterious murder of Pasolini

The bestselling author discusses their gay love story set in the sumptuous world of 70s Italian cinema, queer identity and artistic resistance. Interview by Claire Armitstead

Culture

Review of the week: Die My Love

Lynne Ramsay’s film, featuring a career-best performance from Jennifer Lawrence as an isolated young mother losing her mind, is about much more than hormones and ‘mom guilt’, writes Ellen E Jones

Culture

'Cinema is liberation': as more acclaimed films about Palestine emerge, why are many still fighting to reach an audience?

This year’s Oscars triumph for No Other Land should have been a watershed. But a crop of inspiring new titles, made against the odds – including award-winning The Voice of Hind Rajab – still face a struggle to be seen. Ellen E Jones reports

Culture

Review of the week: The Line of Beauty at the Almeida theatre

This adaptation of Alan Hollinghurst’s subtle Booker winner is broader than the novel, but still achieves an explosive payoff, writes Dorian Lynskey

Culture