Culture
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…
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…
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.
If you didn’t laugh
“I wanted to upset everybody, including myself. Half the problem with the world is that half the people take themselves too seriously. The other half don’t take themselves seriously enough.”
Monumental follies 1
‘…our statue problems in Scotland are surely puny; our current outrage a mite self-indulgent and synthetic, though the emblematic validity of our public monuments should indeed be critically scrutinised from time to time.’ Pt 1…
Scotland’s largest Pictish settlement
We discovered (Tao O’Noth) had once contained 800 dwelling platforms – housing as many as 4,000 people – and if they all date to the same period this would stand as almost urban-scale settlement, which…
Monkey Barrel Comedy Club
How to keep comedy live in lockdown and no Fringe in town? Craig Angus heads for Monkey Barrel Comedy Club. They have plans.
Independence or bust
John Lloyd book review: ‘What marks the book out is Lloyd’s personal transition to virtually self-hating Scot. This is not just the regular Unionist assertion that Scotland is too wee, too weak, to cut it…
Pop Matters – in and out of lockdown
Craig Angus explores the lines between pop, politics and using art to both escape from, and make sense of a fractured world. Meet the makers of Pop Matters workshops: Maria Sledmere and Conner Milleken
Easing out of our lockdown bubble
The psychology world has recognised the Covid pandemic as a form of trauma. Lockdown brought added stress but how will we deal with the anxiety of easing back into the outside world?