Why make an album now? Craig Angus celebrates the longform and the Scottish Album of the Year for upholding it.
Culture
The Road to Tobha Mòr
Why Gaelic matters: ‘Standing on the ‘Atlantic edge of Europe’, facing the ocean from a South Uist beach, Professor Hugh Cheape felt his world rearrange itself: “Conceptual clichés of periphery and centre flipped over and slipped away.”
Finding a better way: a frontline view
The reality of life in lockdown hits home in a powerful report by Philippa Kemp, communications manager of the Edinburgh-based charity Multicultural Family Base. But it also raises hope. It doesn’t have to be this way.
What’s the future for Scotland’s live music?
Socially distanced shows won’t work for everyone – but would work for many. Let’s get the ball rolling, says Craig Angus
It hurts us all: who can heal Scotland’s health inequality?
“I knew about inequality. Of course I did. As journalist and editor I read and write about people whose daily lives are very different to mine. I did not feel the difference in my guts before.”
Tourism is a river that flipped its course
People want to get out of the cities. Instead of denouncing them and locking the toilets, Scotland should grasp the opportunity to extend environmental education and affordable camping facilities to all who need them.
We must pay to view the action online and onstage
Theatre and all performing arts are in crisis. We can, and must, get into the habit of paying for online culture, just as we would if we were attending the event in real life.
Willie Hunter 1940-2020
‘He suffered from depression, remarking once that ‘I’ve written books and poems to self-medicate my depression’. Poetry as medicine for dementia and depression is why the passing of Willie Hunter footballer, poet and ambassador is a loss to poetry as well as those that knew him.’
Monumental follies 2
In Part 2 of his historical analysis of Scotland’s relationship with slavery, David Black highlights a typical ambivalence: progressive views sitting alongside naked exploitation.
Schools ahead of their time – and ours too
What might we learn from the progressive thinking which gave power to local public health officers who understood local lives and deaths.