London
The vigilante group tackling LGBTQ+ hate crime in London
Bender Defenders — With hate crimes on the rise and trust in the institutions tasked with dealing with them swiftly declining, a new street defence movement is coming out to protect queer Londoners from violence.
Written by: Rosie Hewitson
An alternative guide to London’s rich queer legacy
Story of survival — Alim Kheraj discusses his new book celebrating the capital’s vibrant LGBTQ+ scene and the patchwork of bars, clubs, shops, Pride events, saunas and sex shops that have catered to the queer community – both past and present.
Written by: Jack King
The police will never keep women safe
Abuses of power — Last week, women who’d come together to grieve the murder of a woman were brutalised by the Met. It served as yet another horrifying confirmation of just how deep institutional misogyny runs, writes Micha Frazer-Carroll.
Written by: Micha Frazer-Carroll
A photographer’s elegy to the evolution of Drum and Bass
Who say reload — Eddie Otchere remembers photographing the UK’s rave scene from the inside, and how a generation of young people built their own clubbing paradise in defiance of authority.
Written by: HUCK HQ
Photos capturing the soul of Notting Hill in the ‘70s
Community spirit — A new book revisits Philip Wolmuth‘s photographs of West London during a turbulent decade for the area, relating a vision of community photography with social justice at its core.
Written by: Miss Rosen
Inside an NHS hospital at breaking point
‘It‘s relentless‘ — While Covid infection rates may be dropping, the crisis continues unabated inside hospitals. Politics Editor Ben Smoke reports from Homerton Hospital, London, speaking to frontline medical staff about the profound emotional and physical toll they face every single day.
Written by: Ben Smoke
Photos capturing the banal eccentricity of English life
Being British — Barry Lewis discusses his new book, which brings together some of the photographer’s more quietly powerful images from 1975 to 2005 to celebrate the richness of a shared culture.
Written by: Miss Rosen
Black Country, New Road make music for a warped world
New sounds — BC,NR aren’t just anxious young people making music for other anxious young people: they’re a raw reflection of the society that surrounds them. Here, they explain why it’s important to find laughter in the darkness.
Written by: Charlie McQuaid
Roller skating’s revival signals a fresh fight for public space
Spin city — In the past year, roller skating has exploded. But with its new wave of popularity comes a fresh set of challenges for custodians of the scene – particularly those flying the flag for underrepresented groups.
Written by: Jessica Holland
Siân Berry: ‘The war on drugs is a war of racial prejudice‘
Reform now — With drug-related deaths at a high in London and Black people still being unfairly targeted by drug policing, co-leader of the Green Party and Mayor of London candidate Siân Berry makes the case for urgent decriminalisation.
Written by: Siân Berry
