Caitlin Chatterton

I am a Gold Standard NCTJ-qualified journalist with experience across digital, print and broadcast. I have previously worked on CNN's international digital programming team, and have bylines in CNN Style, Clash Magazine and The Line of Best Fit. I also volunteer as an in-house writer for Vocal Girls.

 

Clash Magazine •

Charli xcx – brat and it’s completely different but also still brat

Charli xcx’s sixth studio album hit 2024 like a runaway train. It was supposed to remain a cult classic: 2022’s ‘Crash’ was Charli’s extravagant bid for the mainstream; ‘brat’ was a return to the club. The now-iconic chartreuse cover was even a budget-conscious decision, made on the assumption that few people would care about her new record anyway. It was never intended to galvanise the US Vice President’s election campaign; inspire think pieces in national newspapers; spawn endless viral memes,...
CNN •

Remember when Lady Gaga ‘bled’ onstage at the 2009 VMAs?

Editor’s Note: Delving into the archives of pop culture history, “Remember When?” is a CNN Style series offering a nostalgic look at the celebrity outfits that defined their eras.


Singing about the perils of fame, being dragged out from beneath a fallen chandelier then bleeding to death in front of a roomful of celebrities: Lady Gaga was not shy about making her debut at the MTV Video Music Awards.



The year was 2009 — many will remember it as the year rapp...
CNN •

Remember when Taylor Swift wore drag in ‘The Man’ music video

Editor’s Note: Delving into the archives of pop culture history, “Remember When?” is a CNN Style series offering a nostalgic look at the celebrity outfits that defined their eras.



A man dances on the top-deck of his private yacht, swigging champagne from the bottle, surrounded by bikini-clad women. He’s heavily fake-tanned, his dark hair is coiffed. But this isn’t a man — it’s Taylor Swift.



Back in February 2020, Swift...
CNN •

Why Willem Dafoe chose a pair of bright orange Speedos for his latest character in ‘Kinds of Kindness’

Yorgos Lanthimos — the movie director behind award season darlings “The Favourite” and “Poor Things” — is hailed as a genius by fans of his often strange and unsettling oeuvre. He’s made his name by courting the absurd and keeping audiences on their toes, embellishing his fables of love, power and free will with discordant musical motifs and disarming cuts to a wide lens.



His latest project, “Kinds of Kindness,” traces recognizable power dynamics — those with your boss, wi...
CNN •

‘Becoming Karl Lagerfeld:’ A flattering sketch of the controversial designer

“I like anonymity,” designer Karl Lagerfeld (played by Daniel Brühl) tells Jacques de Bascher (actor Théodore Pellerin) in the first episode of “Becoming Karl Lagerfeld,” a new six-part series based on Raphaëlle Bacqué’s novel “Kaiser Karl.” De Bascher — a fledgling writer and Lagerfeld’s eventual love interest — has accompanied him to the fashion show of his friend and rival Yves Saint Laurent (played by Arnaud Valois).



“Of course,” de Bacher deadpans. “You dress like the...
CNN •

Five things you probably didn’t know about the biggest art heist in history

Most art galleries and museums are famous for the art they contain. London’s National Gallery has Van Gogh’s “Sunflowers”; “The Starry Night” meanwhile, is held at The Museum of Modern Art in New York, in good company alongside Salvador Dalì’s melting clocks, Andy Warhol’s soup cans and Frida Kahlo’s self-portrait.

The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston, however, is now more famous for the artwork that is not there, or at least, that is no longer there.

On March 18 1990 the museum fell
CNN •

Why the drag looks in ‘The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert’ are still iconic, 30 years on

Sydney, 1994. A dimly-lit bar, wrapped in tinsel curtains and the fragmented, twirling light from a disco ball. Tick Belrose (played by Hugo Weaving) is on stage lip syncing as his drag persona Mitzi Del Bra; clad in a silver sequin dress with matching gloves and a bouffant blonde wig.

This is the opening scene from “The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert”, which first screened at Cannes Film Festival 30 years ago this month.

“I made that dress for myself,” Tim Chappel, one of the mo
CNN •

This photographer sits presidents and protesters on the same wooden box

Vladimir Putin, Muammar Gaddafi, Mark Zuckerberg. Presidents and Hollywood stars; political dissidents, abuse survivors and immigrants. One thing unites them all: a slightly scuffed, white wooden box.

“More world leaders have sat on that box than any chair in history,” the photographer Platon, owner of that very box, told CNN in an interview conducted over Zoom. For some world leaders, the scarcity of his set — sitting on the box in front of a plain black or white sheet of paper — can be intimi
CNN •

Version of Churchill’s hated portrait immortalized in ‘The Crown’ goes up for auction

“That is not a painting, it’s a humiliation!” Winston Churchill (played by John Lithgow) angrily tells the renowned painter Graham Sutherland (actor Stephen Dillane) in the first season of “The Crown,” Netflix’s six-series dramatization about the English monarchy. Churchill is talking about his own portrait, commissioned to celebrate his 80th birthday, as it is unveiled in London’s Westminster Hall in November 1954.

Churchill goes on to describe his appearance in the painting as “a broken, sagg
Clash Magazine •

Moving Home: Alice Phoebe Lou Interviewed

When Saturn completes its first orbit of the earth in your lifetime, returning to the place in the sky where it witnessed your birth approximately three decades earlier, astrologists and horoscope enthusiasts will warn you that seismic change is afoot. For Alice Phoebe Lou, that rings true. “Moments like turning 30 are naturally a time where you reflect a lot,” the South African-born singer muses, recalling her birthday last July. “That reflection can be dark, difficult and self-destructive, but
Clash Magazine •

Looking Forward, Looking Back: Miya Folick Interviewed

“All the things that I’m going through and writing about right now will feel like ancient history in two years,” Miya Folick, reclining in her seat, says thoughtfully. “It’s like going through your old journal.”

The LA-based artist is at home, working on her next record ahead of a string of upcoming live dates. Among them is a headline show at Lafayette and a run of opening slots for Mitski in May, coinciding with the first birthday of her latest album ‘ROACH’. “With Mitski I’m truly a fan,” Mi
VOCAL GIRLS •

LAMBRINI GIRLS: “YOU CAN TALK THE TALK, BUT YOU ALSO HAVE TO WALK THE WALK”

One issue Lambrini Girls have always shouted loud about is the treatment of women and non-binary people, from their avid support of trans rights and ‘FUCK TERFS’ merch to songs like ‘Boys in the Band’, which calls out the toxic culture enabling assault (“Problematic and well connected / But it's still being deflected / Because we separate the art from the artist”). The government’s Misogyny in Music report, published at the end of January, therefore came as little shock to either of them. “Peopl
The Line of Best Fit •

Cherym: Take It Or Leave It Review - no holds barred | Punk

The Derry band epitomise the new age, bringing the political as well as the personal and echoing something of Meet Me @ The Altar across the pond. Their earworm 2019 single "Abigail" arrived steeped in vintage pop-punk influences, and was backed up two years later by the Hey Tori EP. Theirs is a sound embedded with nostalgia and fresh air in equal measure, making their eventual full-length debut all the more interesting.

Take It Or Leave It is an apt title for a first album that is, everywhere,
Clash Magazine •

Live Report: Gia Ford - The Lower Third, London

Suited, booted, and painted in shades of vintage androgyny, Sheffield’s Gia Ford has spent the last few years building her world of darkly cinematic lullabies. In March she’s joining confessional chameleon Marika Hackman on tour, before heading to Brighton’s melting pot music festival The Great Escape in May.

Tonight though, she’s headlining The Lower Third: tucked within the labyrinth of venues beneath Tottenham Court Road’s immersive lights exhibition and, somewhat confusingly, behind a bar o
MyLondon •

Beautiful city named the best to visit in Europe this winter where pints cost £2

Returning to work in the first weeks of January is never easy, especially when it seems to coincide with airlines announcing their cheap fares for European jaunts. Why not take them up on it? Boasting gorgeous art nouveau and Baroque architecture, and only a two and a half hour flight from London, Budapest has topped The Times’ list of European cities to visit this winter .

It is a chilly time to visit Hungary’s capital, where daily temperatures average -1C, but it does mean a picturesque dusti
North West Londoner •

London graduates struggle to find jobs despite capital's record on graduate roles

London-based graduates are struggling to find jobs, despite research finding that graduate jobs are concentrated in the capital.

The proportion of graduates working in graduate jobs has declined in almost every other part of the country, according to a report published in November by the Institute of Fiscal Studies.

The report that found in inner London, 65% of working graduates are in jobs requiring a degree, compared to a national average of 57%.

However, London-based graduates are still st
Clash Magazine •

Next Wave #1153: Heartworms

For Jojo Orme – known both for her gothic post-punk stylings and love of military aircraft – succeeding in music has been a long-deserved, hard-earned passion project. Born in London but raised in the rural pastures of Gloucestershire, she moved back to the capital for uni, making the regular trek from her home in Tooting Broadway to her job in the cloakroom at Camden’s Roundhouse. “Every time I did something, like work at Roundhouse, I thought it was such a big thing,” she remembers fondly. “I
Clash Magazine •

Next Wave #1152: His Lordship

“It wasn’t a good idea to start a band during the pandemic,” James Walbourne says ruefully. “I wouldn’t advise it!” He’s talking about His Lordship, a duo project with Kristoffer Sonne born from the expanses of spare time brought on by lockdown. The pair met in 2014 working on Chrissie Hynde’s solo album; “We were just slung in together and we’ve been firm friends ever since,” James grins. “It was as simple as that.”

Their self-titled debut album is set for arrival in January, and is the culmin
North West Londoner •

Activists hold Christmas vigil to reopen historic LGBTQ+ venue

On Saturday 16th December activists held their annual Christmas vigil to campaign for the reopening of the Black Cap, an iconic LGBTQ+ venue on Camden High Street.

Earlier in the year it was reported that pubs across the UK were closing at a rate of two per day, suffering from soaring energy bills and the impact of the cost-of-living crisis on customers’ disposable income.

For London’s LGBTQ+ community in particular, December has seen the closure of G-A-Y Late due to surrounding building works
North West Londoner •

First ever Christmas card turns 180 years old

This Christmas marks the 180th anniversary of the first ever Christmas card, commissioned by Sir Henry Cole in 1843.

The card depicts a family gathered around a table for a meal, as well as charitable acts of feeding and clothing the poor.

It was designed by the painter John Callcott Horsley, and printed in a run of 1000 cards for Sir Henry Cole, who gave them out to his friends and family before selling the remaining stock for one shilling each.

Joanna Espin, a curator at The Postal Museum w
North West Londoner •

Activists hold Christmas vigil to reopen historic LGBTQ+ venue

On Saturday 16th December activists held their annual Christmas vigil to campaign for the reopening of the Black Cap, an iconic LGBTQ+ venue on Camden High Street.

Earlier in the year it was reported that pubs across the UK were closing at a rate of two per day, suffering from soaring energy bills and the impact of the cost-of-living crisis on customers’ disposable income.

For London’s LGBTQ+ community in particular, December has seen the closure of G-A-Y Late due to surrounding building works
MyLondon •

'I visited the most festive pub in London and it was absolutely rammed'

The Churchill Arms in Kensington is the most festive pub in London, self-professed in their Instagram bio and echoed in the countless TikToks that have been made by people visiting the Christmas landmark.

Not content with just this seasonal title, in summer the pub also makes a bid for the capital’s prettiest pub, hiding itself beneath a blanket of flowers that burst from every window box and balcony ledge.

In winter the flowers are replaced with a row of Christmas trees circling the outside o
Clash Magazine •

Next Wave #1151: VLURE

VLURE are gathered round the green room’s snack table, the twangs of a soundcheck punctuating our conversation. The Glaswegian five-piece – who’ve been up since six this morning to travel the length of the country – are hours away from headlining the 100 Club, Oxford Street’s iconic underground room.

“This is a bucket list venue, for sure,” says vocalist Hamish Hutcheson, who’s been buzzing ever since he found out he’d be getting a wireless mic this evening. “It’s steeped in history, and to be
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