Innholdsfortegnelse for 30-11-20 i The Big Issue

In the run-up to Christmas, we’re turning the Big List into the FEELGOOD List – a repository of simple, everyday reasons to be cheerful, selected by our readers (and a few by us). We want to share the simple and effective things that help put a smile on all of our faces. Got a Feelgood List of your own to share? Then tweet us @BigIssue or email editorial@bigissue.com Revisit Bing Crosby and Frank Sinatra singing Well, Did You Evah? Samantha Fiander suggests a quick YouTube search for this joyful clip of two of the all-time greats sharing the screen together – drunk as lords. Story goes that this Cole Porter number was added to 1956 movie High Society at the last minute, purely to give Frank’n’Bing an excuse to duet…

Most of the famous words uttered by Franklin D Roosevelt during America’s Great Depression in the 1930s apply equally to Britain in 2020. The president believed that government could ignite the economy by creating millions of jobs. People were employed for the greater good of society, tutoring the illiterate, building parks, and repairing schools. “No country, however rich, can afford the waste of its human resources,” Roosevelt argued. Today we face a similar moment of reckoning. It’s time for us to create our own New Deal: guaranteeing jobs and investing much more in education and training. Chancellor Rishi Sunak has outlined some high-spend but mostly short-term fixes for the coming year in the government’s latest Spending Review. The Kickstart and Restart schemes are prominent policies in the labour market. But…

Dolly Parton has been a music icon for 50 years – the most revered country singer-songwriter of all time, she’s sold over 100 million records and won 10 Grammy Awards. But in recent years it’s become clear she’s more than just a superstar – she’s a saviour. Parton hit the headlines in early November when it was revealed she was one of the major donors behind the Moderna Covid-19 vaccine, plouging $1m into the research that led to the breakthrough because she wanted to “help heal the world”. She is also a champion of literacy. Parton founded the Imagination Library 25 years ago to help youngsters who otherwise wouldn’t have the chance to read, donating a book to registered children every month from birth to age five – completely free.…

The Big Issue is part of the DNA of London and of cities across the UK. I can’t imagine a world where The Big Issue doesn’t exist because of all the good that it does. Since becoming an ambassador, I have learned more about how The Big Issue operates, the work it does and the inner workings of the organisation, the more I feel that – particularly at this time – this is the most worthwhile cause I could possibly get involved in. Because the fact that so many vendors can’t go out and sell the magazine on their pitches is devastating for them. It has been a real eye-opener for me. That notion of them buying and selling the magazine, keeping the difference, means it isn’t a handout, it’s…

01 The Two-in-One: Walking with Smokie, Walking with Blindness by Rod Michalko A stunning account of a man and his guide dog negotiating blindness and society. This pulls no punches about the challenges of circumnavigating a ‘sighted world’ but is also often hilarious. 02 Justice for Laughing Boy: Connor Sparrowhawk – A Death by Indifference by Sara Ryan Following the entirely preventable death of her son Connor – known as Laughing Boy – Ryan beautifully documents her response to the failings of care by galvanising a global community of allies to seek justice and accountability. 03 Skallagrigg by William Horwood A heartbreaking account of the abuse of disabled people in the name of institutional care. Sadly, this narrative still resonates with how badly disabled people are treated by health and…

I love a good algorithm I do. Some creative people are cynical about the increasing role these soulless patterns of data play in shaping our culture. But in a world of ever more bewildering choice, I’m happier for an algorithm to guide me than a human critic. Human critics are driven by their own powerful subjectivity which has been shaped and nurtured by a completely different set of life experiences to your own. Plus, half of them are just trying to write what they think might come across as cool or surprising enough to get them noticed. They have their own agenda. And by “they”, I obviously mean “we”. Trust me, I’ve been bashing out these sorts of columns all over the place for years and have never really had…

USUAL PITCHES: Birchington/Westgate-on-Sea, Kent This lockdown has been a double blow because I had to self-isolate prior to it. So I’d already taken the mandatory 10 days, which I found very, very difficult. If like me you have mental health issues – depression and anxiety – being cooped up indoors with nobody about isn’t very good. And I’d been finding it quiet on my pitch leading up to lockdown, since we came back in July I noticed that I’ve lost quite a few of my regular customers. A lot of people only carry cards now, but The Big Issue is sorting me out with a card reader for when we return, hopefully. I’m going to be back out there as soon as I’m allowed to be. It’s been devastating for…

01 House WATCH Rules The – Cider a celebration of life and what home means. 02 LISTEN to some swing Christmas/seasonal tunes (eg I’ve Got My Love to Keep Me Warm by Ella Fitzgerald). 03 CHECK OUT the Special Books for Special Kids website (sbsk.org) – some truly brave, inspiring and loving people on there. 04 VISIT postcrossing.com to send and receive postcards from around the world (if you’re fed up of bills and canvassing leaflets flopping through the door). 05 SIT by a river when the sun is low and let the light bounce o›f the water into your face. 06 WATCH an episode of Top of the Pops 2 from the early ’80s and watch people bop as they sing. 07 BUY a wobble board.…

VENDORS Lockdown measures in England are easing this week and vendors are on their pitches. In some cases – and in some parts of Scotland still locked down – vendors may not have returned yet. Our staff is working closely with each vendor to make sure it’s safe to be selling and that there is extra support to make up for reduced earnings. As ever, we are providing masks and hand gel, and encouraging vendors to follow guidelines. If you can, please support your local vendor by buying The Big Issue from them. PITCHES Towns and cities across the country are quieter than normal so our teams are moving vendors to pitches where they have the best chance of selling magazines, depending on local safety measures and circumstances. An ever-increasing…

Covid-19 has left record numbers of families at risk of going hungry. But this Christmas a Reverse Advent Calendar will help your local foodbank – and give you some festive cheer. It’s easy to do – instead of a regular advent calendar, the idea is to put aside a gift for others each day. Starting on December 1, add one item per day to a Christmas hamper (or cardboard box). Closer to Christmas, take your collection of supplies to your local foodbank and feel the glow of knowing you’ve spread some comfort and joy. The Trussell Trust operates the largest number of foodbanks in the UK, and chief executive Emma Revie said: “Reverse advent calendars are a lovely way to support people who are struggling to a›ford the basics at…

With a bit of luck and science, 2020 will go down in history as the worst of all years. We don’t want another like that again, and with science coming to our aid we may be free of the worst. But if 2020 goes down in history as the year of tragic and avoidable deaths, unemployment, loneliness and separation then it may also go down as a year of social kindness. No year was so crammed full of a sense that we have to help those in desperate need. That we are at our best when we make associations with the weakest, and our humanity grows in magnitude because of that. Social Kindness needs celebrating, and encouraging, and becoming the bedrock hopefully of a revival of our communities and our…

Chart-topping singer Sam Fender has joined forces with The Big Issue to focus minds on homelessness and help support vendors. “This Christmas is going to be tough for everyone,” Sam said. “But most of all, it’s going to be tough for the people who don’t have a home. So hopefully we will get some attention.” At just 26, Sam has already had a number one album, Hypersonic Missiles, been named one of the BBC’s Sound of 2018 picks and won the Critics’ Choice Award at the 2019 Brit Awards. He has decided to use his rapidly growing platform on behalf of those without a home this Christmas. To raise awareness, Sam is releasing Winter Song, a powerful cover of the classic track by folk rock band Lindisfarne. Fender is a…

My first instinct when setting about reviewing David Keenan’s extraordinary Xstabeth was to write in the style of the novel itself. There was, I felt, no better way. To get to the essence, the essential. The je ne sais quoi. The jokes. There are loads of them. Though it’s not obviously. I thought. Sincerely. But then I decided, no, it would only read like a poor parody of a voice which is defined by its singularity and personal truth. So I dropped that idea. It is a challenge though, to review a book whose character and search for meaning is so tightly bound in the stream of consciousness it’s written in. Readers who enjoyed Scottish writer Keenan’s previous freewheeling novels, This is Memorial Device and the Gordon Burn Prize-winning For…

The video call is unforgiving – the background to the scene appears in high definition. “Er, are you in the caravan?” I ask my parents tentatively, preparing to give these boomers a lecture on the importance of observing current lockdown restrictions. “Yes, we’re on holiday,” smiles my mother. Then, sensing the impending speech, quickly adds. “On the driveway.” The Guardian recently ran a piece on how we are all becoming more eccentric in 2020, finding mental and physical stimulation previously attained from our usual environments in offbeat behaviour – unusual mannerisms, unconventional interests – and camping trips in the garden. Anecdotal evidence supports this: a friend recently sent a photo of a sumptuous meal he had cooked for himself, served with candelabra and dickie bow, to enjoy while he watched…

A hand up... Our sellers BUY the magazine for £1.50 and at Christmas time can sell it for up to £4. Not a handout… Vendors earn a legitimate income, and gain valuable social and employability skills. With your support now, we can continue to do so now and in the future. The right to citizenship… The Big Issue Foundation, our charitable arm, helps sellers to tackle social and financial exclusion. Prevention… Big Issue Invest o›fers backing and investments to social enterprises, charities and businesses which deliver social value to communities.…

There’s a hospital in Moscow that has a curious way of helping people recover from Covid. The hospital is an equivalent to Britain’s Nightingale Hospitals – a requisitioned site serving only coronavirus patients. This particular one in Moscow had been an ice hockey arena. There is a big scoreboard above the main area. So, to entertain those in bed, the authorities decided to broadcast two types of things on the scoreboard. They are showing classic Russian movies. And Mr Bean episodes. The global reach of Mr Bean never fails to surprise. And while it’s not something that I’ve heard being prescribed by the NHS, perhaps it shouldn’t be ruled out. The screenings show that elsewhere there’s always somebody trying to come up with a solution to a shared problem. Obviously…

Home Office plans to deport migrants forced to sleep rough will face a legal challenge after lawyers launched a successful crowdfunding campaign. The Public Interest Law Centre (PILC) met its original £5,000 goal within 24 hours of unveiling plans to take the Home Office to court over its new immigration rules. Non-UK nationals could face deportation from December 1, with rough sleeping considered a reason for refusal or cancellation of permission to stay in the UK. The PILC successfully challenged the policy to deport rough sleepers in the High Court in 2017, when it was ruled unlawful, but the Home Office announced plans to reintroduce the law in October. Benjamin Morgan, who runs the homeless rights project for European citizens at PILC, said: “Migrant destitution is in large part the…

I first set foot in Europe’s last forbidden city on a snowy morning in the early spring of 1990, when the world was changing fast and about to change forever. I had been watching from the barricades in the streets of Vilnius, capital of the mini Soviet state of Lithuania, in open revolt against the Red Army that had marched in after the Hitler-Stalin pact’s implementation following the 1939 Nazi invasion of Poland. Just a few months earlier I had been in my one-time home of East Berlin as popular protest did the unthinkable and brought down the Berlin Wall. On that fateful evening of November 9, I had been with the crowds, including longtime friends, as we pushed our way through Checkpoint Charlie or over the Wall itself. The…

The Big Issue: So you finished lots of work in the nick of time?  Tuppence Middleton: I was so lucky. I finished Mank two weeks before lockdown, flew back from Los Angeles, got to see family and friends, then the country locked down. It was being edited during lockdown – as was Shadowplay, which we shot in Prague, and Possessor, which was filmed in Canada. Situations change, funding is sparse, and Covid affects everything. So I was very lucky these projects were done and dusted. Mank feels like a love letter to classic Hollywood. If you work in this industry, it makes you think two polarised thoughts. Oh wow, the glamour, didn’t everything look so beautiful and wasn’t it great when our private lives were more mysterious? But…

1. During what war did Florence Nightingale help found modern nursing? 2. Brilliant, Bubbles, Boofuls, Baby Bonny, Bigheart and Bumper are types of what? 3. Freelove, Suffer Well and Wrong are UK hit singles by which band? 4. In which year did David Beckham make his England debut? 5. Which country governs Fraser Island? 6. What is the name of Germany’s national airline? 7. Who wrote the 1967 novel One Hundred Years of Solitude? 8. On what island would you find the city of Palermo? 9. Who is the lead singer of Paramore? 10. Who was the first Norman King of England? 11. The 1994 movie The Shawshank Redemption is based on a novella by which author? 12. Which city hosted the summer Olympics in 1976? 13. What is ancraophobia…