Youth Culture
“Young people are carrying fear”: Emerald in conversation with Big Zuu and Kerry O’Brien
DSYF x YUAF x DRIP — A new collaborative initiative sets up a mobile youth club on a bus, which has been travelling around London to run workshops and activities for the city’s young people. DJ and broadcaster Emerald hosted a roundtable with rapper Big Zuu and YUAF founder Kerry O’Brien to hear about it.
Written by: Huck
In photos: California’s youth squaring up to an uncertain future
Desperate, Scared, But Social — Amid a tumultuous year in the Golden State, the 2025 California Biennial focuses on those coming of age into an intensifying climate crisis, and widening division and inequality.
Written by: Miss Rosen
Will internet age verification actually work?
VPN Summer — With the Online Safety Act coming into force over the weekend, the UK woke up to find pornography, but also any content deemed “harmful” hidden behind an ID wall. But young people are far too tech savvy to be deterred, explains newsletter columnist Emma Garland, who also warns of the dangers of mass data harvesting.
Written by: Emma Garland
Alex Kazemi’s Y2K period novel reminds us that the manosphere is nothing new
New Millennium Boyz — Replete with MTV and endless band t-shirt references, the book follows three teenage boys living in 1999 USA as they descend into a pit of darkness. We spoke to its author about masculinity, the accelerated aging of teenagers, and the rebirth of subcultures in the algorithm age.
Written by: Isaac Muk
Jeremy Corbyn confirms new party with Zarah Sultana: “Change is coming”
A real alternative? — Sultana revealed that she was quitting the Labour Party yesterday evening, saying that she was going to co-lead a new party with the former Labour leader.
Written by: Isaac Muk
Coming of age in New York’s ’70s punk heyday
I Feel Famous — Through photographs, club flyers and handwritten diary entries, Angela Jaeger’s new monograph revisits the birth of the city’s underground scene, while capturing its DIY, anti-establishment spirit.
Written by: Miss Rosen
On a night out with the cast of Skins, Ewen Spencer captured millennial hedonism in all its unabated, messy glory
One Night in Watford — Commissioned to take promotional pictures for the generation-defining teen drama before it hit screens, the legendary youth culture photographer revisits the fun-fuelled evening, which was equal parts work and play, in his new photobook.
Written by: Isaac Muk
The Ukrainian skatepark sanctuary on the frontlines of war
Krytka — In Okhtyrka, just 50km from the border with Russia, a crew of young skaters, musicians and friends gutted out an abandoned factory, filling it with ramps and music equipment to create a shelter of community and resilience.
Written by: Isaac Muk
Tender, carefree portraits of young Ukrainians before the war
Diary of a Stolen Youth — On the day that a temporary ceasefire is announced, a new series from photographer Nastya Platinova looks back at Kyiv’s bubbling youth culture before Russia’s February 2022 full-scale invasion. It presents a visual window for young people into a possible future, as well as the past.
Written by: Hannah Bentley
Amid tensions in Eastern Europe, young Latvians are reviving their country’s folk rhythms
Spaces Between the Beats — The Baltic nation’s ancient melodies have long been a symbol of resistance, but as Russia’s war with Ukraine rages on, new generations of singers and dancers are taking them to the mainstream.
Written by: Jack Styler
