The Norwich Radical - August 2025 Issue
Welcome to the August 2025 Issue of The Norwich Radical! The world continues to heat up in an all-too literal sense, and another scorching Northern hemisphere summer has brought the heat of oppression - and the fire of outrage and protest - to many parts of the world. Many of us feel we are living in dangerous times; many of us are living in dangerous times.
As genocide and destruction continues in Palestine, the UK government decided it would be an appropriate time to declare a prominent solidarity group (which we must now note, for legal reasons, that we are not promoting) an illegal organisation. The response, predictably, has been one of outrage among the many people across the country who are rightfully concerned, upset and angry about the ongoing violence being inflicted on the Palestinian people. Several solidarity protests took place this month and many protesters were arrested, often just for writing certain messages on their placards - including in Norwich. We hope to be able to publish some direct reporting from those involved in these actions and others in our next issue.
Staying in the now, we bring you a selection of pieces on the efforts toward finding some joy and community even in the mire of our current situation: specifically, from Howard Green and Kasper Hassett, respectively focusing on football and the alternative music scene. Green looks at the delicate balance of enjoying the beautiful game while its trappings set it to be less communitarian and more exclusive; Hassett brings us a wonderful overview of three-day music festival Subkultfestivalen, with highlights from each day. Our opening piece, by Bernard Rorke, is another in-depth review and critical reading, this time of Irish author Pádraig Óg Ó Ruairc's latest book, focusing the fascist and extreme right wing history within Ireland. And finally, co-editor Rowan Gavin details the current policy trends across a number of countries of using children safety online as an excuse to target the queer community, in a piece first published in the QueerAF newsletter.
You can support our work financially by visiting our Steady page to set up a recurring donation. If you'd like to volunteer with us as a writer, editor or artist, or to pitch a one-off piece, you can reach us at thenorwichradical@gmail.com.
August 2025 Issue - Contents
BURN THEM OUT! - A READING OF PÁDRAIG ÓG Ó RUAIRC’S HISTORY OF FASCISM AND THE FAR RIGHT IN IRELAND
—
THE FRUSTRATIONS AND FASCINATIONS OF FOOTBALL FANDOM
—
RESTRICTIONS ON PORN AREN’T DESIGNED TO PROTECT CHILDREN
—
—
BURN THEM OUT! - A READING OF PÁDRAIG ÓG Ó RUAIRC’S HISTORY OF FASCISM AND THE FAR RIGHT IN IRELAND
by Bernard Rorke
These latest attacks once again punctured the smug fallacy that racism couldn’t take root among the Irish in the land of a hundred thousand welcomes (céad míle failte), with its own history of exile and mass emigration. Until recently, Ireland had prided itself in setting itself apart from the far-right nativist tide that has swept through Europe. The outbreaks of anti-immigrant rioting and destruction of public property, the blockading of proposed sites for refugee accommodation, and numerous arson attacks on temporary shelters, have all come as a genuine shock for many – a discomfiting rupture in the self-image of the Irish as somehow intrinsically progressive, and great craic with it.
THE FRUSTRATIONS AND FASCINATIONS OF FOOTBALL FANDOM
by Howard Green
On the first weekend of August, Norwich played host to a massive number of Dutch football fans. The football club had organised a pre-season friendly against Eredivisie side NAC Breda, and a staggering number of around 2000 NAC fans had made the trip to Norwich for a largely uneventful match. However, the Breda fans must’ve had fun - they made a true racket at the ground, and put a dent in beer supplies across the city.
RESTRICTIONS ON PORN AREN'T DESIGNED TO PROTECT CHILDREN
by Rowan Gavin
This piece was originally published by QueerAF on 9th August 2025, under the title 'Adult content restrictions are paving the way for more anti-LGBTQIA+ content censorship'. It has been edited slightly for republication.
Between the increasing dominance of major platforms, the rise of so-called ‘AI’ services, and the spread of platform decay maximising profits over user experience, we’ve all seen the internet change a lot in recent years. But there’s one area where big changes are happening fast right now: in the world of pornography.
SUBKULTFESTIVALEN 2025 REVIEW
by Kasper Hassett
Sweden’s alternative music scene has a reputation for being needlessly strong, and – for dark music fans – Subkultfestivalen is one of the main events of the year. It is known as a reliable festival hosting a range of alternative music which is guaranteed to put on an agreeable lineup, and many book their tickets and accommodation a whole year in advance. I first heard of Subkult in 2021, silently resenting every year I couldn’t make it. My main draw is the bands in the goth and synth realm, but there are also plenty of offerings for rock and punk fans – the rivalry between the hårdrockare and synthare groups, as they are known in Sweden, won’t get in the way of bringing an eclectic group together to experience it.
After meticulous planning, 2025 was the year I could finally make it, waking at 2am and donning goth attire for the morning flight. Here was what I made of the three-day event.
We wish we had a more reassuring opening to this issue. We also hope that the sparks of joy and solace in the articles this time can at least offer some reprieve from the heat. Remember: we keep us safe.
In Solidarity,
The Norwich Radical Team
