What We Did in the Shadows

Nightlife gave us jazz, disco, techno, and entire cultural revolutions. From the courtesan districts of 17th-century Japan to the ruins of postwar Berlin, historian Imogen Willetts takes us through the history of nightlife, uncovering how outsiders transformed forgotten spaces into engines of art and rebellion. She explains why the best scenes thrive in moments of upheaval, why popularity often destroys them, and how smartphones have shattered the anonymity that once made the night feel free. Where will the next great youth movement take shape—or have modern culture and technology made one impossible?