Table of contents for Issue 74: Winter 2020 in Huck

‘Action’ has always been at the heart of Huck. In the early days, the mid-noughties, that relationship was perhaps more literal. The magazine was born out of surf and skate culture: our first eight cover stars, for instance, all came directly from those worlds. While, back then, Huck involved itself with all manner of topics, the rebellious heritage of action sports remained the constant thread. As time went on, the publication evolved in conjunction. Huck’s tradition was never in question (again: surf, skate), but its connection to those core scenes – those core ideas – became more tangential. As attitudes, they became vehicles through which to navigate new corners of culture. So physical action became political action, social action, and so forth. You get the point. What I’m trying to…

Recently, Kathy Karlo was trying to describe the Red River Gorge to a friend who’d never visited before. Despite her best intentions, the climber and podcast host could only offer one valid comparison when it came to painting an accurate picture of the famed Kentucky canyon system: Jurassic Park. “It sounds kind of crazy,” she says, laughing. “But I’ve found leaves there that were as big as my torso – like, the size of dinosaur footprints. If you go there during the spring it’s so green, because the east coast – the south east especially – gets so much rain. But in the fall, you get these gorgeous oranges, reds, and everything looks like it’s on fire.” The Gorge, known simply as ‘The Red’ by the climbing community, just so…

As the free-spoken pioneer behind Public Enemy, Chuck D has carried the torch for the best part of four decades. He has seen leaders come and go, revolutions rise and fall. To mark a political moment unlike any other, the hip hop legend shares what he’s picked up during his time on the frontlines, explaining why, at 60 years old, he believes it’s time for a new generation to set the pace. Learn to listen “An attribute that a lot of people don’t know about me is that I listen more than I talk. And I like to listen more than I talk. If I’m asked to talk, then I’m gonna talk. But I like to be quiet. People might say, ‘Well, I didn’t get that from Chuck’ – because…

What first drew you to comics? When I was very young, like seven, I was in a library and found Robert Crumb’s Complete Crumb anthology. When I saw that, I just fell in love with comics. I had never seen anything like that before… all this adult material, the weird animal creatures, the wild artwork – it blew my young mind. The funny thing is, my birth mum though the cartoons were regular [children’s] cartoons, and got me all of them. It was the best mistake a parent could ever make. She thought it was like Who Framed Roger Rabbit. How did you end up where you are today? I’m from Cleveland, Ohio. I’m from the ghetto, but I ended up making my way to an art school. When I…

During the summer, London’s basketball courts were some of the first free public spaces to reopen post-lockdown. Scattered across the capital, each one is a unique, self-contained island – home to an impressive cast of regulars, for whom community is everything. London’s basketball courts are worlds unto themselves. They are islands, an archipelago of concrete rectangles, spread out across the capital. Each one has its own energy and diverse cast, which usually reflects the economic, racial and social dynamics of the area it resides in. At the beginning of summer, as the city’s lockdown restrictions began to lift, the courts were some of the first free spaces to reopen. Following a period of prolonged isolation, they allowed young people to come together; to move and breathe again. Each court, while…

Vic Mensa is busy adjusting his camera, trying to get it right. He changes it from mobile to laptop view, the neon blue lights from across the room transforming his hue, before he disappears entirely. After a few seconds, he returns again. “Well, that didn’t change anything,” he says sarcastically, signalling his unhappiness. This kind of perfectionism shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone who follows him closely. For the last couple of months, the 27-year-old rapper’s social media output has detailed a rigorous work ethic: his Instagram feed currently serves as a complete visual archive of the creation of V TAPE, his most recent release, alongside strategic teasers of upcoming collaborations yet to see the light of the day. For Mensa, the studio – working, creating – has served…

This isn’t the kind of crowd that goes to the odd roller disco as a novelty outing. There are some tentative beginners learning the ropes, but for the most part the skaters here are dedicated to pushing what’s possible on eight wheels, whether it’s getting lost in speed and motion or dancing with intricate footwork. Their moves keep pace with the shifting sounds of soca, hip hop, R&B, funk, grime and bashment, coming from a mini-fridge-sized Bluetooth speaker and bouncing off the bare concrete walls. I’m a confident roller skater on the streets and in skate parks, but here, all I want to do is sit on the floor and watch. Amir Bacchus-Marquis, the 24-year-old skater who runs the night, is thoughtful about the role he plays here. He messages…

Is it too late to learn how to dance? – Maisie No! You don’t even have to learn, all you have to do is move. My boyfriend thinks he’s the best dancer – when he gets going, he thinks he’s John Travolta. And as long as no one tells him, that’s what he is. You can learn if you want, polish it off and what not, but I know I certainly can’t learn dance moves. I’m an absolute calamity, I don’t know my left from my right. But I make it up as I go along, and it’s worked so far for me. So why not for you? Help me settle a debate. Who wins in a fight: an unassuming lion, or a modest gorilla? – Liam 100 per cent…