Innholdsfortegnelse for 20-6-2016 i The Big Issue

WE BELIEVE in a hand up, not a handout... Which is why our sellers BUY every copy of the magazine from us for £1.25 and sell it on to you for £2.50. In this way we have helped hundreds of thousands of people to take control of their lives since 1991, and in the process created a global blueprint for social change. WE BELIEVE in trade, not aid... Which is why we ask that you ALWAYS take your copy of the magazine – it’s a bloody good read and our sellers are working and need your custom. WE BELIEVE poverty is indiscriminate... Which is why we provide ANYONE whose life is blighted by poverty with the opportunity to earn a LEGITIMATE income. WE BELIEVE in the right to citizenship... Which…

Over in Athens they’re queuing up. They’re queuing up to sell a street paper called Shedia. It means raft, in Greek. Which is apt. It’s a paper like The Big Issue. People who want to earn approach Shedia, buy their magazines, go out and sell. They work their way out of poverty. There are so many people keen to get involved in financially-stricken Greece that there is a waiting list in Athens. And in Thessaloniki. Last week the International Network of Street Papers held its annual conference in Athens. We report on it this week. Shedia were the hosts. It’s the 20th anniversary of the International Network of Street Papers this year, a member organisation formed by The Big Issue for similarly styled publications across the globe. Street papers shift…

Why wouldn’t you want to do a few simple things to help save a life? As a mum of two primary school-aged kids, I would do anything I could to protect and help them forge a safe path through to adulthood. It is a sad fact that around 400 people lose their lives each year from accidental drowning, with many more incurring life-changing injuries as a result of near-drowning. More people in the UK die from drowning than in road cycling accidents and domestic fires. At the Royal Life Saving Society we work closely with the families of drowning victims and the consistent message we hear is ‘if only we had known the dangers’. People need to learn basic water safety education as a life skill to help them to…

When Barack Obama won his first election he stuffed his administration with graduates of the business schools of Yale, Harvard and Cornell. He chose from among his own, those that had nurtured him and been clever with him and whose sagacity he did not doubt. His second administration will end soon and there is the distinct possibility that the woman he removed from the scene in 2008 may win; or a man who seems to pride himself on his dumbness. His ordinariness; his uncomplicated form of thinking and debate is the kind you might actually find happening in a bar. Putting a wall between Mexico and the US might well be the kind of chat that happens in bars, among people who are a million miles away from power, and…

“I wore a panic button at 14. The Symbionese Liberation Army threatened to kidnap me” At 16 I was still figuring out what I wanted to be when I grew up. I never thought showbiz would last for me. I’d already had some hit records – my first when I was five. Long haired Lover from Liverpool came out when I was eight. By the time I was 16 I had my own advertising agency, which sounds bizarre, but my family had a TV studio and I wanted to do my own thing. So I was running that, working with a lot of crazy clients like Yamaha and Coca-Cola. And I was in the TV show Fame. But I was still figuring out what I wanted to do. I loved…

From across the globe they came – from Argentina to Australia – to Athens last week, as street papers of the world united for their annual summit. In a year when the world feels turbulent and unpredictable, it was fitting that the 20th conference of the International Network of Street Papers took place in Greece: cradle of civilisation, mother of democracy, and a nation struggling from recession and political vicissitude – and now carrying the additional weight of thousands of refugees fleeing war in the Middle East. As the conferences keynote speaker, Yanis Varoufakis, noted, there are many lessons to be learned at a gathering such as this. Hosted by Greek street paper Shedia, among the debates on homelessness, poverty and the sharing of ideas, guests enjoyed a unique tour…

Star of Frasier, Cheers and The Simpsons, Kelsey Grammer has been one of the biggest names in TV comedy of the last four decades. Now he stars as Charles Bunbury, chairman of the 200-year-old Tuftons bank, in Breaking the Bank. Bunbury discovers a rogue trader (Matthew Horne, Gavin & Stacey) has left the bank in serious trouble with American and Japanese banks circling like sharks, and he must save the day. The only problem is, he knows nothing about banking. A gamble loses the family fortune of his wife Penelope (Tamsin Greig of Green Wing and Black Books). Can the homeless, self-trained financial wizard Oscar (Pearce Quigley, Detectorists) save the day? Breaking the Bank is out now on DVD and digital download, and we have five DVDs to…

Gospel truth Having read the Brendan O’Neill piece on the lack of passion that atheists show [May 30–June 5], I felt rather passionate to reply. I live with the label ‘atheist’, as it is like lots of labels – Whigs, Tories, which start out as name-slinging but end up just as an identifier. I do feel very strongly in the power of rational thought and the scientific method to set people free from the chains of religion. We can be moral and positive about the beautiful and awe-inspiring world and universe we live in with a purely natural explanation of how we are here. Mick Goodfellow, email Pretty vacant [Re: The Big Issue’s Fill ’Em Up campaign] I have had your articles for some time but I don’t know where…

GARDEN MEMORIAL FOR TRAGIC RALPH Bournemouth Big Issue vendor Ralph Millward, who was brutally killed in 2009 by three teenagers who beat him to death outside Marks and Spencer, is being honoured in the town with a memorial garden. Situated at the site where Ralph, 41, died, it is a sensory and tactile garden with specially chosen plants for blind people to touch, and scented flowers. Part of Bournemouth in Bloom, it was developed by Rev Chris Colledge, who is chairman of the floral festival. He said that Ralph was a popular figure among the community in Bournemouth. “There has been a memorial there since he died but we have decided to take it a step further and create a sensory and tactile garden which can be enjoyed by everyone,”…

“You don’t make homophobia go away by pretending it doesn’t exist” I wondered when they would come for us again. I’m surprised they took so long. I’ve been waiting for Omar Mateen and his hate for a while now: looking over my shoulder walking home, wondering if it’s safe to hold my husband’s hand, getting ready to run. Mateen is a new face but he’s part of a bigger, older story – one every LGBT person knows all too well. Yes, we are all affected by Orlando as we all were by Paris. But, being affected is not the same as being targeted. Mateen did not shoot people randomly, he chose to shoot LGBT people, people like me, perhaps also like himself. So it is personal. This is the biggest…

As a child, every morning on her way to and from school, Zoe Grace saw the words: You are loved. They were written outside a church she passed twice a day. “I’d sit in the back of the car and look at that,” she recalls. “It made me feel safe, like I was connected to someone.” This sentiment kept her going when she hit rock bottom. Once a player in the hedonistic Primrose Hill set – best friends with Sadie Frost, she’s godmother to Frost’s son Fin, and also godmother to Daisy Lowe, daughter of Pearl Lowe and Gavin Rossdale, and Pete Doherty’s son Astile Louis – Zoe became homeless following depression and drug addiction in the 1990s. Her lowest point came when she was evicted along with her young…

From Sideshow Bob, Bart’s malevolent nemesis in The Simpsons, to the titular snobbish radio shrink in Frasier, followed by his Golden Globe-winning role as a crazed Chicago city chief in Boss, Kelsey Grammer has been a key force in some of the most successful American TV series of the past 40 years. He’s in London to promote Breaking the Bank, in which he stars as Charles Bunbury, bumbling head of family-run Tuftons Bank. It’s a film about the banking crisis, intentionally carved like the Ealing comedies of the 1940s and 1950s. But as The Big Issue sits down for tea with the 61-year-old in the refined luxury of Claridge’s Hotel – his choice perhaps reflecting the influence of his fourth wife, English flight attendant Kayte Walsh – he immediately blindsides…

1. SPEAK, MEMORY Vladimir Nabokov Nabokov describes his synaesthesia – the condition in which stimulation of one sense causes sensations in another; e.g. tasting shapes or hearing colours. For him, the letters on a page seemed coloured – and knowing that can enrich your experience of his prose. 2. WILLEM DE KOONING: LATE PAINTINGS Julie Sylvester The paintings de Kooning made in the last five years of his career, after his Alzheimer’s diagnosis, are not only good but show real development. No one knows what this means, partly because there are no comparable cases – you don’t get that many art geniuses. 3. VISION AND BRAIN: HOW WE PERCEIVE THE WORLD James V Stone This is a neuropsychology text book so not for everyone, obviously, but if you want to…

Remember how the first Shrek was bursting with ideas? How the second film was packed with comedy? How the third drained away that goodwill, and how the fourth improved things slightly but had the feel of a corporate creation? Well, there are plans for a fifth, now that DreamWorks Animation, the studio behind the films, has a new owner. And then for a sixth one. And a seventh one. And… The Warcraft film has shown the decreasing relevance of American box office takings. The $160m film will struggle to get past $50m at the US box office but it has proven to be something of a monster in China, where it has taken more than $150m in less than a week. Enough…

In 2000 I sustained a brain injury falling between 25 to 30 feet from a climbing wall. In rehab I had to relearn everything with my hidden disability (a person can appear fine but their disability is in their mental abilities). Back in London I helped myself as much as I could. Getting from A to B was a big deal as motor skills, like walking, were affected. The most approachable people were Big Issue vendors because I needed to practise talking, as a lot of people didn’t understand or have the patience to listen to my slow talk. The vendors naturally were in my field of vision – checking the ground for unseen obstacles, I often had my head down. As they didn’t have a massive ego, I felt…

PHILIP GLENISTER LIFE ON MARS AND OUTCAST STAR TELEVANGELISM I started watching evangelical channels in the US, and the way these preachers work their audience, when I landed the role as a preacher in Outcast. I wanted to see how they have a hold over their flock. I was fascinated not with the shouty, preachy older guys but the young ones who are very cool, laidback, wearing ripped jeans, sitting on the edge of the stage, conversing with their congregation. They have an extraordinary power, and this faith and belief in their arguments to win people over. It occurred to me they have a rock star status. They are held in that sort of esteem. Filming in North and South Carolina, every…

“I SAY THIS AS SOMEONE WHO DOESN’T WANT TO SEE THE EUROPEAN UNION DISINTEGRATED BUT IT IS INCREASINGLY DIFFICULT TO CONVINCE PEOPLE WE SHOULD NOT ALLOW IT TO PERISH” In the white heat of Greek recession, the rise of anti-austerity party Syriza and threat of Grexit from the EU marked the emergence on to the international stage of a new principal player. Rock star economist Yanis Varoufakis cut a suave figure with his leather jacket, chiselled looks and intelligent, eloquent dissection of EU fiscal policy and the crippling austerity its bailouts visited upon Greece. Last September, after seven months as finance minister under Syriza, he quit amid a chaotic rebellion against the latest bailout deal, which sparked a general election. Since then he has focused on academic writing, lecturing and…

For 50 years Spitalfields Crypt Trust (SCT) has been transforming the lives of homeless people and those recovering from addiction. To mark its golden anniversary, the charity is holding an exhibition called In Darkness, Light, featuring portraits by celebrated music photographer Lawrence Watson. Among the images are famous faces like Noel Gallagher who have had their lives touched by addiction through a friend or family member or have even battled it themselves, overcoming addiction with help from SCT.…

Just when you think Kevin Smith films couldn’t get any weirder, along comes Yoga Hosers. The plot involves a swarm of Nazi bratwurst sausages attempting to take over a convenience store. It features a cameo from Johnny Depp, and both Smith and Depp’s daughters star as the plucky heroines. Smith is presenting his latest opus at the Edinburgh Film Festival and hosting a talk where fans are invited to ask questions or just yell stuff at him. The Big Issue: Is it a better atmosphere watching a film like Yoga Hosers with fans? Kevin Smith: Oh yeah. You got some hardcore fans in there, that always makes these screenings fun. These movies I’m making right now nobody but me really likes, so the…

From the Oscar-winning success of the film Searching for Sugar Man to Cape Town rap-rave crew Die Antwoord’s international breakout, it’s a wonder that South Africa still seems to be widely thought of as a distant outpost of the music world, to be tokenistically included on stadium artists’ touring schedules. With their collaborative mini-album Johannesburg – essentially a happy by-product of one of their Gentlemen of the Road travelling mini-festivals, which saw the banjo-bothering British band play six outdoor shows around the country to 85,000 South Africans in early 2016 – Mumford & Sons attempt a more thoughtful and immersive interest in African sounds and the South African music scene. Variously featuring veteran Senegalese singer-guitarist Baaba Maal, Swedish-Malawian electronic duo The Very Best and Cape Town Afropop trio Beatenberg, this…