I’ve always been a bit of a magazine fanatic.

During my school days, countless afternoons were spent hand-drawing and writing my own publications, then painstakingly fashioning sheets of A3 paper together to produce multiple copies of each edition, courtesy of afterhours print sessions in my father’s office on the clanking Xerox copier.

I can still smell the powdered toner and feel the expectant heat of the flash.

The tech has moved on a fair a bit since those formative years, but I still indulge in an undiminished passion for publishing, including writing Camdenist every week.

With the giddily-paced disruption and democratisation of media which the internet has supercharged, it’s never been easier for anyone to publish, or broadcast, too.

This is exciting.

But with everyone now in the game (from shouty, vacuous influencers to the remaining venerable newspapers), and digital platforms evolving in what we might charitably call ‘challenging’ directions, shamelessly bent to the will of their billionaire owners, the whole unregulated bonanza is also currently an almighty mess.

It’s not just the failure of once great titles and the loss of countless jobs as ad money gets siphoned off to tax havens, or the societal harms of having our attention mercilessly plundered during every waking hour with a torrent of mostly mindless ‘content’ - it’s the dawning realisation that today’s media tools have become strategically sharpened weapons that are being deployed to whip up hate and stoke confrontation and confusion, with the gravest of real world consequences.

It’s felt like an inexorable slump from the professional media I was imitating and idolising as a boy, to this mudslide of AI slop and clickbait, subsuming anything of quality in it’s oh-so distracting, increasingly deranging path.

Yet there’s good news out there, and it’s great to see it bobbing up to the top just when you thought things in the content swamp couldn’t look much more grim.

Last week, the all-female-founded newsletter (and aspiring website and print title) The Nerve launched, and rapidly smashed through its first 1k paying subscribers milestone.

Run by ex-Observer journalists who felt/were sidelined by that paper’s recent sale, the team includes the brilliant investigative journalist and longtime Camdenist reader, Carole Cadwalladr, who knows better than most about the nefarious workings behind today’s problematic digital media landscape.

I wholeheartedly recommend that you subscribe, as they will be covering in depth many of the same topics I skip through in fairly light, but increasingly opinionated fashion here every week:

The Nerve joins a thriving new ecosystem of newsletter-based publications, which offer a sliver or two of optimism for the future of indie and local titles through their reader-funded model and enthusiastic uptake.

I’m going to start recommending different ones each week, as the network effect feels like the best way to keep decent content cutting through all the cat videos, and in securing a degree of trust in what we’re reading and seeing as the slop slick swallows everything.

That feels all the more important when so much of what we hear coming out of the mouths of friends, politicians and wayward loved ones hints towards a view of the world that can best be described as ‘far too online’.

Publishing will continue to change and survival will continue to be tough (as I well know from my own precarious position here on the newsletter frontline). The Ponzi scheme of asking people to rack up endless Substack subscriptions will eventually topple, but what I like about The Nerve is that its taking an old school approach (fact checking, great columnists, magazine sensibilities) that is clearly still in great demand in today’s very new school media landscape.

At this juncture I should also say that the support of paying readers really is vital to all who pluckily try to cling on to doing this as their passion and vocation these days, and while I’m clearly a hopeless publishing addict, there’s nothing morally wrong about feeding this habit.

Here’s the button where you can mainline me a dose of affirmation if you feel this stuff is necessary and important. Thanks, (and thanks again to those who already do). 😘

FOOD & DRINK

🤫 Plenty of local hospitality gossip

📺 TV chef, food columnist and one of the founders of Mare Street Market, Gizzi Erskine, is returning to the business as Chef Creative Director. Having stormed out after only six months back in the Market’s early days of 2018, she’s back to revamp the food offering at the original and the huge King’s Cross outpost, too. She promises French-Americana brasseries, deli dishes and pop-up residencies from guests, too.

🥩 The currently dark Midland Grand Dining Room has just been announced as the latest, and very possibly greatest, outpost of steak aficionados Hawksmoor. Hawksmoor St Pancras will open next month, and bring a dedicated Martin Bar to the adjoining - and equally magnificent - bar in the former grand railway hotel lobby next door.

🍺 South End Green’s perennially popular pub The Garden Gate (which rams its al fresco space to capacity each summer on account of dominating the Google search for ‘pub gardens’) reopens on Thurs 16th Oct after what looks to be a comprehensive spruce up.

🥤 The beleaguered building site that surrounds Chalk Farm Underground is looking a touch nicer these days as Morgan’s Juice Bar has opened, right by the entrance to the tube. With a focus on grab-and-go sandwiches and smoothies, they’re offering anyone who quotes ‘Camdenist’ when ordering 10% off the bill for the next couple of weeks.

🍷 Check out the mini review of diminutive new wine bar Tiny Wine, that went live on the Hot Dinners website this week. Tucked behind Goodge Street, this corner spot’s menu is divides into bar snacks, gildas, bocadillos and tapas, with around 50 seasonal vinos on offer, with plenty available by the glass.

CAMDEN CURATED

📱 Camden People’s Theatre our latest IG Live

STAGE: 🎙️Having celebrated their 30th birthday back in February, which we covered with a lead story in Camdenist, I caught up again this week with Camden People’s Theatre’s Artistic Director, Rio Matchett, ahead of their really tasty-sounding autumn season.

Head over to our Instagram to see the special IG Live interview where we discuss the theatre’s uncompromising approach to new work, the bold shows coming to their stage in the next few weeks (including their first ever family show at half term), a new funding model that aims to support talent, their own vital fundraising efforts, and even reveal the British Sign Language for ‘punk’. It’s all quintessentially Camden, infectiously creative and proudly ultra-inclusive.

Check out what’s on at the CPT and book tickets here.

CULTURE: 📸 There’s masses of paid and free events at the moment under the Black History Season banner, but rather than me wang on once again about how much I love Carnival, just go to the official guide on the LoveCamden website to see where those Carnival photos can be enjoyed, what workshops you can join and the heritage tours to take.

PODCAST: 🎙️ Have you been listening to the Camden Unlocked podcast, hosted by retired South Hampstead Synagogue Rabbi, Shlomo Levin? Over the last eight weeks, he’s spoken to a broad selection of locals about the joys and complexities of their particular Camden communities, from the youth music makers of the Roundhouse to the small but proud Danish expat worshipers at St Katherine’s Church bordering Regent’s Park (the one with the two tall spires). It’s as novel take on the many stories that exist in the borough, so add the complete series to your playlist and dive in.

DRINKING: 🍻 It’s the third birthday of the truly excellent brewery and taproom 3 Locks in the arches of Hawley Wharf tonight and tomorrow, Fri 10th & Sat 11th Oct, and they’re throwing an Oktoberfest party (of course), with German beers joining their own top selection, Smoketeers grilling bratwurst and 50 free beers for the first (free) ticketholders each day.

ART: 🧑🏼‍🎨 Frieze London and Frieze Masters roar back into Regent’s Park from next Wednesday (15th-19th Oct) as the global art fairs annual park show dominates the area. Tickets are pricy if you’re not in the art word and attending with intent, but everyone can explore the fantastic public sculpture show all around the main event, which is well worth a wander (see video below).

FASHION: 👠 The newly revived civic architectural gem Town Hall in King’s Cross will host Prada Mode London, the iconic fashion brand’s contemporary cultural series where visitors journey across art, music, food, and entertainment with talks, screenings, performances, DJ sets and more, from 15th-19th Oct.

CLUB: 🪩 The three-night celebration for what would be the 30th birthday of a Camden venue incredibly close to my heart, The End nightclub, kicks off at KOKO later with techno titan Richie Hawtin headlining. Tomorrow (11th) sees the NYC and Miami legend Danny Tenaglia and then there’s a D&B all-dayer on Sunday (12th) with a surprise guest joining the stalwarts Fabio & Grooverider.

PARTNER

Now’s the time to publish something of your own

It was good to note that The Nerve in today’s main story above launched this week on Beehiiv, the platform that also powers Camdenist. If you’re considering publishing something too, why not take the plunge? If you use this link we both get rewarded: you’ll get a free 30-day trail and then 20% off any paid packages for the first 3 months.

_{The weekly Camdenist newsletter runs on Beehiiv, which we think is the best platform for this kind of email community. Find out more and try Beehiiv free with no credit card required. If you then sign up, we’ll get a referral fee, and we’ll support your own newsletter to our readers by way of thanks} 🙂