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In the club: Club Jok are bringing global cultures to big screens in Notts

Club Jok is a Nottingham-based film curation team that is bringing cultures from around the world to the big screen through films both new and old. We speak to film enthusiast and Club Jok’s lead programmer Samuel Leary, to hear more…

Out of Time: How Divine came to Notts

Over the years, Divine has become one of the most instantly recognisable drag performers thanks to her iconic performances in John Waters’s camp classics, Pink Flamingos and Hairspray. She also had a pop career that took her on UK tours, including two performances in Nottingham.

From the kitchen: With Dylan Dowling, head chef and co-owner at Pici

We head to cosy pasta and small plates joint Pici for a chat with Dylan... 

The Thompsons on cycling, comedians, and 200 issues of LeftLion

Our latest conversation with Nottingham's most opinionated grocers. 

Closing chapter: Jane Streeter looks back at thirty years of Lowdham shop The Bookcase

After thirty years at the heart of Lowdham village, The Bookcase — an independent bookshop founded and owned by Jane Streeter – has now closed its doors. Selling an abundance of local and global books, the shop supported local schools in the community, and also welcomed a few famous authors over the years, along with founding the Lowdham Book Festival which happened for over twenty-six years. Jane told us about the journey of the bookshop, along with the highs and core memories, over three decades…

Life Behind Bars: With Bradley Rice, owner at Jamcafe

A short chat with Bradley, who owns Heathcoat Street's Mecca for drinks and DJs: Jamcafé. 

LeftLion's Latest Listens #54: Notts music we're currently spinning

In this 54th edition of LeftLion's Latest Listens, our music team reviews new releases from ROB GREEN, Revenge of Calculon, Pillow Fort, Lucas Walters and A-Tota-So

The next stage: 25 years of the Nottingham Arts Theatre

For the past 25 years Nottingham Arts Theatre has been serving the city with a programme of local and touring indie stage shows in their iconic 200 year old Hockley building. We spoke to poet, and theatre Chair director Campbell Kay about the theatre’s journey, its role as an educational charity nurturing theatrical talent in Nottingham and their diverse range of shows…

Hockley Hustle 2026: what's happening this year at Young Hustlers?

Truth or Legend: The Case of the Ten O’Clock Horses

Our resident investigator of Nottingham weird history looks at how the 'ten o' clock 'hosses' came to be... 

Theatre review: Underneath the Lintel at Nottingham Arts Theatre

Marilyn Ann Bird gives a spectacular solo performance in Underneath the Lintel this week at Nottingham Arts Theatre...

Nottingham Comedy Festival 2026: chatting to the performers

Starting Friday 30 October, the Nottingham Comedy Festival is back, bringing ten days of national talent and hilarity to bars, pubs and clubs of Nottingham. We spoke to a few comedians involved to find out what’s so funny…

Bringing Nottingham Together Through Film: Inside Nottingham Film Festival

Director of Programming Ciaran Shea discusses Nottingham Film Festival’s expansion, its commitment to local filmmakers and sustainable cinema, and its ambition to make film accessible to everyone across the city.

Gig review: Skating Polly at The Bodega

US ugly pop trio Skating Polly are fast building a strong following this side of the Atlantic, built on their wildly energetic and vibrant live shows. Their last tour in 2025 garnered critical acclaim, so naturally we headed down to The Bodega to see what all the fuss was about…

Theatre Review: Thick & Tight: Natural Behaviour at Lakeside Arts

Two moths, a pantomime horse, a lesbian seagull and the dust in Quentin Crisp's bedroom walk into a theatre. It sounds like the start of a joke, and to be fair, sometimes it is. But Thick & Tight's Natural Behaviour is also one of the more quietly radical things to land at Lakeside this year...

Theatre Review: Tell Me Where It Hurts at Nottingham Playhouse

A fiercely honest, darkly funny exploration of women's health, confronting the devastating consequences of living with a condition that, for too long, has gone unheard...

Nottsword answers #201 November 2026

This month's crossword was themed around some of the people we have intervie4wed in LeftLion over 200 issues. Did you get the answers right?

Gig Review: Brandon Flowers at Rock City

It’s not too often we get a bona fide superstar and one of the greatest songwriters of this generation come to town. As part of his THRASHER world tour, the charming frontman of 00s indie icons The Killers, Brandon Flowers, stopped by Rock City for a special and incredibly intimate show, playing a bunch of his new country songs and a couple of career classics too. A night to remember for those in attendance, here’s what went down when this arena-sized artist played in such a humble setting, right in the heart of Nottingham…

Gig Review: Lime Garden at Rescue Rooms

Arriving to Nottingham off the back of their brilliant sophomore album Maybe Not Tonight, all-female indie quartet from Brighton, Lime Garden, are quickly becoming everyone’s favourite new UK band. Riding a wave momentum and promising a Saturday night party, we headed along to their sold-out Rescue Rooms show to catch them in action…

Gig review: Courtney Barnett at Rock City

Australian singer-songwriter Courtney Barnett was back at Rock City last week, treating her fans to another captivating performance with songs from her back catalogue and new album, Creature of Habit, with support from Body Type...

Beyond the senses: author Kerry Ward discusses her new publication This Book Will Make You Psychic

The concept of having psychic powers beyond our physical senses is one we often associate with movies – a rare talent reserved for a special few – but can these abilities be learned? This Book Will Make You Psychic is a new guide by local author and professional tarot reader Kerry Ward, created for anyone interested in tapping into their psychic abilities. We sat down with Kerry to have a chat about mindfulness, intuition, coincidence, and what lies beyond our physical senses…

Pick Six: JT Soar's Phil Booth

Ahead of JT Soar Fest #3 at The Old Cold Store on Saturday 31 October - Sunday 1 November, for this month’s Pick Six we turned to Phil Booth of DIY music venue and recording studio JT Soar.

Pedal to the Metal: envisioning how Notts could be transformed via sustainable transport

What could Nottingham look like if people, not cars, came first? This is a question posed by cycling groups throughout the city, including Critical Mass, Pedals and Ridewise, who demonstrate that cycling isn’t just a healthy, green and economical way to get about, but activism on wheels. Speaking to riders, campaigners and charity workers along the way, Finnuala Brett uncovers a city-wide movement bigger than any single ride.

Gig review: Fat Dog at Rough Trade Nottingham

Fat Dog are no strangers to Nottingham's bigger venues. But how would their trade mark chaotic energy translate to the more intimate setting of Rough Trade's upstairs room? While the moshing was more restricted, we discovered endless dancing, plenty of energy and a room full of people who had come for the same reason: to feel alive through the power of music...

How Pipeline Organics are turning Castle Rock's brewery waste into electricity

There's a brewery in Nottingham quietly turning its dirty water into electricity. Not with some Frankenstein-style contraption bolted to the side of the building, but with a 3D-printed box about the size of a shipping container, sat in the yard, doing the job normal water treatment can't: cleaning up the gunky, high-strength wastewater that beer and cider production leaves behind and generating usable power from it while it's at it. That's the pitch behind Pipeline Organics, a Nottingham-founded startup whose bio-electrochemical fuel cells are already being trialled by Castle Rock Brewery. We sat down with founder Andrew Raslan to find out more…