Five of the best only-in-Huck stories of 2023

  • Text by Huck
Revisit some of our favourite deep dives of the last year, that you couldn’t have read anywhere else.

With the wild, unforgiving year that 2023 was coming to a close, we’re looking back at some of the best stories of community, counterculture and action that we’ve published in the past 12 months. Here’s five original stories that you could have only read here.

1. CONKERS: THE UNLIKELY CONTACT SPORT TAKING LONDON BY STORM

Grazed knuckles, bleeding gums and smashed teeth – the Peckham Conker Championships is a no holds barred race to the golden nut. Read here.

2. INSIDE ICELAND’S HORSE BLOOD FARMS

Meet the activists fighting to shut down controversial bloodletting operations. Read here.

3. WE ARE ALL MIA KHALIFA

From Huck Issue 79 — How humour, therapy and community help Huck’s latest cover star control her narrative. Read here.

4. INSIDE JAPAN’S MOST NOTORIOUS LOVE HOTEL

Tokyo’s Alpha Inn has provided a vital home for underground erotic expression and the country’s BDSM community – but can this iconic space survive? Read here.

5. IN CONVERSATION: NADIA WHITTOME MP AND BIMINI

From Huck Issue 80 — A drag queen, an MP and a journalist walk into a bar... Read here.

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Latest on Huck

Red shop frontage with "Open Out" branding and appointment-only signage.
Activism

Meet the trans-led hairdressers providing London with gender-affirming trims

Open Out — Since being founded in 2011, the Hoxton salon has become a crucial space the city’s LGBTQ+ community. Hannah Bentley caught up with co-founder Greygory Vass to hear about its growth, breaking down barbering binaries, and the recent Supreme Court ruling.

Written by: Hannah Bentley

Cyclists racing past Palestinian flag, yellow barriers, and spectators.
Sport

Gazan amputees secure Para-Cycling World Championships qualification

Gaza Sunbirds — Alaa al-Dali and Mohamed Asfour earned Palestine’s first-ever top-20 finish at the Para-Cycling World Cup in Belgium over the weekend.

Written by: Isaac Muk

Crowded festival site with tents, stalls and an illuminated red double-decker bus. Groups of people, including children, milling about on the muddy ground.
© Alan Tash Lodge
Music

New documentary revisits the radical history of UK free rave culture

Free Party: A Folk History — Directed by Aaron Trinder, it features first-hand stories from key crews including DiY, Spiral Tribe, Bedlam and Circus Warp, with public streaming available from May 30.

Written by: Isaac Muk

Weathered wooden building with a tall spire, person on horseback in foreground.
Culture

Rahim Fortune’s dreamlike vision of the Black American South

Reflections — In the Texas native’s debut solo show, he weaves familial history and documentary photography to challenge the region’s visual tropes.

Written by: Miss Rosen

A collage depicting a giant flup for mankind, with an image of the Earth surrounded by planets and people in sci-fi costumes.
Culture

Why Katy Perry’s space flight was one giant flop for mankind

Galactic girlbossing — In a widely-panned, 11-minute trip to the edge of the earth’s atmosphere, the ‘Women’s World’ singer joined an all-female space crew in an expensive vanity advert for Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin. Newsletter columnist Emma Garland explains its apocalypse indicating signs.

Written by: Emma Garland

Three orange book covers with the title "Foreign Fruit" against a dark background.
Culture

Katie Goh: “I want people to engage with the politics of oranges”

Foreign Fruit — In her new book, the Edinburgh-based writer traces her personal history through the citrus fruit’s global spread, from a village in China to Californian groves. Angela Hui caught up with her to find out more.

Written by: Katie Goh

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