I am Nick Cohen — journalist, author and professional troublemaker. For 30 years I've taken on the left, the right, the rich and the pious. No tribe. No masters. Just reporting and argument.
PORTRAIT No. 04 — INK & ANGER
Photograph? No. This is better — what three decades of deadlines do to a man.
I'm a British journalist and author, columnist for The Observer and The Spectator, contributor to countless papers you have argued with over breakfast. I grew up in Manchester, studied at Oxford, and learned my trade knocking on doors no one wanted opened.
My beat is power — how it lies, how it silences, how it seduces even its critics. I defended the left when it was unfashionable and attacked it when it betrayed its own principles. I did the same to the right. The result: four books, two death threats a year on average, and a loyal readership that disagrees with me at least 40% of the time — as it should.
Ministers, oligarchs, university censors, newspaper proprietors — if you have power without accountability, expect a phone call. Comfort is not news. Abuse of comfort is.
Whistleblowers, exiled writers, censored comedians, sacked workers. My inbox is open to anyone punished for telling the truth. I print what others spike.
Tribalism kills thought. I left the left's orthodoxy and the right's club for the same reason: freedom is indivisible or it is nothing.
From the betrayal of the left to the war on free speech — each book started as a column no editor wanted and ended as a debate no one could avoid.
How the liberal left abandoned liberalism. Why parts of the left allied with theocratic fascism. Orwell Prize shortlist. Translated into 9 languages.
Censorship in an age of offence. From libel bullies to religious blasphemy laws — the new enemies of free expression and how to beat them.
Dispatches on Britain's rigged state. Bankers, press barons, politicians — the closed circle that runs Britain and the outsiders fighting back.
Blasphemy laws by another name, SLAPPs, campus no-platforming, state secrecy. I defend the right to offend — especially when I hate what's said.
Oligarchs in London, press ownership, lobbying, the revolving door. Britain is more corrupt than it admits. I name names.
Why the left embraced authoritarianism and the right embraced victimhood. Tribal psychology meets shoe-leather reporting.
Reviews with teeth. From Orwell to Armando Iannucci — art matters because tyrants fear jokes more than armies.
Columns, investigations and notes from the week. Click any card to read the full story — each lives on its own page.
Check back in an hour. Or subscribe below and I'll come to you.
Yes. Every column and investigation here is free. The weekly newsletter is free too. Independence needs readers, not paywalls owned by billionaires.
Quote with credit and a link to this page. For full republication, write via the contact section below.
Weekly columns plus breaking commentary when power misbehaves — which is to say, often.
Got a story? Spotted a mistake? Want me to speak? Write in plain English, with evidence. I read everything.
Tips: tips [@] nickcohen.net
Speaking: talks [@] nickcohen.net
London, United Kingdom