British feature writer. I specialise in profile interviews plus articles on culture, music, Russia, society, politics, language, health, technology, style, parenting, cocktails and, well, see below:
Straight Outta Russia
I spoke to Russian rapper FACE (aka Ivan Dryomin) on his opposition to Vladimir Putin's war in Ukraine, the popularity of hip hop in Russia, and the authorities attempts to silence it
Tessa Thompson's Inner Weirdo
I interviewed the American actor on identity and persona for her film Passing. "We're all put into boxes that we don't fit into", she said.
The Marvelous Mrs. Elizabeth Olsen
The star of WandaVision on social media, biodiversity, her pioneering sisters and this strange totalising desire we have to make everyone the same
Let’s spouge!
I wrote about spouge, the Barbadian answer to ska and calypso that burned brightly in the early 1970s - and then disappeared almost without trace
The Spirits by Richard Godwin
My cocktail book, first published 2014, reissured 2020
'A handbook of classic cocktails essential to every host's repertoire' - Vogue
'Simple to navigate and fun to read, it's the only book I reach for on a Friday evening. The weekend starts here.' - Felicity Cloake
'I truly love this book. No one writes about drinks like Richard Godwin - I enjoy his prose as much as anything in the glass.' - Marina Hyde
The Spirits on SUBSTACK
My weekly boozeletter! Expect a recipe (and more!) in your inbox every Friday at around 4pm GMT. Think of it like a book club but for cocktails
Welcome to the Underworld
From 2013: I went deep underground to ride on one of the 148-metre long boring machines that created London's Crossrail
What’s happening to British TV?
On the distinct and yet related woes of Channel 4, the BBC and Netflix.
Goldie: ‘Everything I’ve ever made has come from trauma’
An interview with drum'n'bass pioneer Goldie on his extraordinary life
Why Russians hated the Nineties
An essay inspired by Second-hand Time by Svetlana Alexievich, about the chaos that followed the collapse of the Soviet Union and how it shaped the modern Russian mindset
Grime & Punishment
I looked into the increasing popularity of hip-hop in Russia - and its uneasy relationship with the Kremlin