The Norwich Radical - July 2026 Issue
Welcome to the July 2026 Issue of The Norwich Radical. It has been a torrid summer so far, both in terms of climate and, well, of everything else. We're writing this intro in the direct aftermath of the new UK Labour cabinet being announced, which so far sees no reprieve nor real change - and especially no "hope" being "brought back" - compared to the previous one.
At the time of writing, the Norwich Radical team finds itself at the tail-end (hopefully) of one of the longest and hottest heat waves in Europe and in the middle of a horrifying wildfire season. The extreme weather is spurring demands for change, but our leaders are responding mostly in petty tantrums and doubling down on, say, building additional data centres or oil fields. All this, of course, while one of the biggest sport events of the year took place: the FIFA men's World Cup 2026, across the three major countries in North America. Howard Green looks at some of the political issues surrounding the tournament and what it tells us about concepts of national identity.
We remain in North America with Eve Hilton too, who returns with a reading and contextualisation of Irene Vilar's memoir, Impossible Motherhood: Testimony of An Abortion Addict. She highlights the generational issues and impact that colonial rule and policy have on women, using Vilar's testimony. On entirely the other side of the spectrum, co-editor Alex Valente returns to review the third and final (for now) animated series by ZeroCalcare, and its mixed successes despite clear maturing of the creative team. Lastly, closer to home here in Norfolk, guest writer Andrew Boswell examines recent revelations about how the County Council's pension fund may be supporting the extraction of one of the world's dirtiest fuels.
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July 2026 Issue - Contents
WHAT THE WORLD CUP TELLS US ABOUT NATIONAL IDENTITY
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IRENE VILAR’S IMPOSSIBLE MOTHERHOOD: A POSTCOLONIAL LOOK AT ABORTION ADDICTION
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MY 2 CENTS, BY ZEROCALCARE – A REVIEW
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NORFOLK PENSION MEMBERS DESERVE BETTER THAN FOSSIL FUEL INVESTMENTS
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WHAT THE WORLD CUP TELLS US ABOUT NATIONAL IDENTITY
By Howard Green
FIFA’s 23rd edition of their definitive global footballing competition has now come and gone, and once again it has had a phenomenal impact around the world. Nothing else short of revolution or war brings people onto the streets, raising their voices, to the extent that the World Cup does.
Read more
IRENE VILAR'S IMPOSSIBLE MOTHERHOOD: A POSTCOLONIAL LOOK AT ABORTION ADDICTION
By Eve Hilton
CW: Mentions of abortion, self-harm, suicide, forced sterilisation, and child grooming
“My life could be summed up by the extreme human experience of abortion” states Puerto Rican writer Irene Vilar in the prologue to her memoir, Impossible Motherhood: Testimony of An Abortion Addict. She had fifteen abortions over the course of seventeen years, beginning at age sixteen and ending at the age of thirty-three. All of them occurred within the confines of her first marriage.
Naturally, the central question is: why? This is what Vilar spends the memoir exploring. Repeat abortions themselves are not unheard of; in 1986 American journalist William J. Eaton claimed that some Soviet women had “as many as twenty” abortions in state-run clinics. Yet this was attributed to lack of access to safe and effective contraceptives, along with a need to limit family size in urban areas. Vilar, on the other hand, did have access to birth control. For her, abortion was an addiction in the literal sense: a deeply intimate form of self-injury.
Read more
MY 2 CENTS, BY ZEROCALCARE – A REVIEW
By Alex Valente
It’s been three years since the last big animation project from ZeroCalcare, Questo Mondo Non Mi Renderà Cattivo (This World Can’t Tear Me Down), became available to stream. In May 2026, the third series – again not a sequel, but still not not a sequel – was released, all eight episodes at once: Due Spicci (My 2 Cents).
The short version of this review is as follows: I think it’s an incredibly successful series, if troubled from a production standpoint and pacing issues, which also falls into a number of pitfalls related to auto-biographical narratives and soapbox moments that – while incisive and timely – feel a little less genuine than in the previous two series.
Read more
NORFOLK PENSION MEMBERS DESERVE BETTER THAN FOSSIL FUEL INVESTMENTS
By Andrew Boswell
Thousands of Norfolk teachers, council workers and other public servants may unknowingly be investing their retirement savings in some of the world's most climate-damaging fossil-fuel infrastructure through the Norfolk Pension Fund.
Recent reporting by The Bureau of Investigative Journalism has revealed that Norfolk pension money appears to be exposed, through complex pooled investment structures, to fossil-fuel infrastructure linked to US liquefied natural gas (LNG) expansion, gas storage and oil and gas assets. These include investments associated with JP Morgan's Infrastructure Investments Fund through the ACCESS pool and infrastructure funds held through LGPS Central, including exposure to Rio Grande LNG in Texas.
Read moreThere is, as always, solace in knowing that our communities - the ones we build, the ones we find, the ones we nurture - are where we can find comfort, refreshing company, and relief. Keep cool, hydrate, and look out for those around you.
Solidarity,
The Norwich Radical Team
