Latest
The newest stories from The Fence — features, facts, fiction and more.
Splendide Mendax
A short story concerning Fed, born Frederick, a young man who considers Julian Assange to be the messiah.
17 February 2025
Off the Box
One of the last TV newsmen speaks of the halcyon days of long lunches and fat ratings, living life high on the hog.
5 February 2025
Day 1,509 in the Big Brother House
Our writer, a lonely tweenager in rural Ireland, took to his computer and found new galaxies of possibilities – on a Big Brother forum.
29 January 2025
Speaking in Small Tongues
An oil trader and an Old Etonian with a genius for PR, was Justin Welby the worst Archbishop of Canterbury since Thomas Arundel?
23 January 2025
In the Shadow of the Mountain
One British family produced two legendary climbers who summitted mountains in the Alps and the Himalayas. This is their story.
22 January 2025
Brick by Brick
A celebration of an establishment in deepest south London with a tricksy landlord and a never-changing clientele. An ode, then, to the beauty of the mediocre pub.
16 January 2025
The Grantham Anthem
Kieran Morris and Fergus Butler-Gallie are both obsessed with the Iron Lady, so they took the train to Lincolnshire for a Thatcher-fuelled day out.
13 January 2025
The Kids Are Coming up from Behind
The life of an international DJ consists of ceaseless transit and wild-eyed revelry. So how do you keep the beats pumping when parenthood comes calling?
6 January 2025
Nobel Endeavours II
We return to ask some stupid questions of the smartest people on Earth and, once more, our Nobelists oblige.
19 December 2024
Down at Daymer Bay
Siloed away at the far corner of England, Cornwall is one of the few locales that makes this small country feel rather vast, a county of sinister lore and berserk history.
17 December 2024
An Ugly Business
A top model describes the scrutiny you face from booking agents, designers and your peers when you try and land a fashion campaign. Sorry, babe, it happens to the best of us.
14 December 2024
Loving the Nineties
Who were the gatekeepers who made the country swing again? Travel back to 1992, and meet the DJs, producers and journalists who made Britpop a global juggernaut.
13 December 2024