Innholdsfortegnelse for 6/11/2018 i The Big Issue

It’s first anniversary of the Grenfell tragedy, and you can read a survivor’s story on page 20. I think it’s shocking that something like that could happen, and how people have been treated. I’ve had family members affected by fire, so I know how that feels. It’s important to have empathy with these people, something you can read more about on page 15. You have to imagine yourself in that position – much in the same way you would when looking at the way a person dresses, their religion, their skin colour, beliefs or job. You can also read my story on page 46.…

Love Island is the answer. Don’t pretend you don’t know Love Island . Everybody, like, knows it. It’s, like, everything. In the show, the buff and the gleaming-toothed youth of Britain sit by a pool and talk in circular conversations, with rising inflection about who will couple with whom. And how. I watched it this week for the first time expecting a descent into a Bacchanalian free-for-all. But it was much more tame, more millennial than that. Less touchy-feely, more, like, chatty-chatty. The key thing to remember is there is a cash prize for the last couple standing. It’s in their interest to find, in Brexit-speak, an accommodation. And so almost immediately the poolside collective topping up their tans are more focused on their goals than just about everybody attempting…

Joachim Löw kicked off his World Cup preparations with an exclusive chat with Stuttgart-based street paper Trott-war . The Germany coach was quizzed on everything from his on-pitch tactics to his headline-grabbing appearance. With co-ordinated outfits across his backroom staff, his panache on the sidelines inspired volunteer Inge Klose to ask how important Löw’s appearance is to him and how he keeps his signature hairdo in check. “In the job as national coach, appearance is not the most important thing, but it’s also not completely unimportant,” he said. “We represent the country. We emit an image – and that, to some extent, should be right. The coach is also dressed accordingly. The hairdo? It’s naturally a part of the look.” Vendor Heinz Gau asked about salaries, prompting him to defend…

In 2016, the House of Commons Public Accounts Committee soberly cautioned: “The criminal justice system is close to breaking point.” Two years later, the warning having been ignored by successive governments, it is broken. The causes and symptoms are many and varied, but one common theme towers over the landscape: since 2010, the Ministry of Justice has had its budget cut by a third, more than nearly any other government department. The tell-tale signs are evident to anybody setting foot inside our criminal courts. Leaking pipes, collapsing ceilings, mould, damp and ubiquitous broken elevators greet those unfortunate enough to be forced to spend their working days in the Crown and magistrates’ courts. One recent disaster saw barristers forced to wade through raw sewage in order to reach the advocates’ room…

Seventy-two people died after a blaze engulfed Grenfell Tower in the early hours of June 14 last year. On the eve of the first anniversary, the public inquiry is starting to reveal more details about the catalogue of failures that led to tragedy. Tiago Alves, 21, was watching television on the 13th floor when the fire broke out. As part of Grenfell United, a group of survivors and bereaved, Tiago is playing a key role in the inquiry, using his scientific expertise (he’s currently studying and starts a Masters in physics at King’s College in London in September) to assess every technical paper submitted, looking for anything the legal teams have missed. Tiago keeps coming back to one phrase: “The inquiry will get to the truth.” Despite everything he has…

I write about Southeast Asian crime syndicates for a living. That wasn’t the plan when I moved from the United States to Bangkok during a monsoon-drenched summer in 2008. Back then, I only dreamt of making enough cash as a freelance journalist to sustain a glitchy internet connection and a diet of cheap noodles. In the ensuing years, I covered it all: coups, elections, pop culture fads and more protests than I can remember. But I’ve always gravitated back to one subject: organised crime. I’m fascinated by people who operate in a clandestine underworld outside the law. What nudges someone to become a heroin trafficker? Or a rebel bomb-maker? I’ve written a book titled Hello, Shadowlands — an investigative plunge into one of the world’s fastest-growing black markets. Southeast Asia’s…

Studio 54 was the legendary New York nightclub – “the ultimate nightclub”, as someone says in a film released this week – that opened in a scruffy, dangerous part of Manhattan between 1977 and early 1980. Very quickly the joint became a byword for the excesses of the disco era. It was a sex-filled, Quaalude-ingesting, celebrity-studded polymorphous bacchanalia set to a 120bpm track, a splurge of hedonism just before Reagan and Aids came along to spoil the fun. Inside the glitzy cavern of this former TV studio, Hollywood and New York royalty mingled with the bright young things of the city’s gay scene. Elizabeth Taylor! Andy Warhol! The Stones! Bianca Jagger – on a horse! And I haven’t even mentioned the financial shenanigans behind the scenes. Given the heady excitement…

Classical music is becoming a staple at summer festivals that several years ago might have had an all-rock-and-pop lineup. It’s not just classical either: comedy, cabaret, dance, visual art and poetry readings are increasingly likely to appear in the big top. Post-classical – that ethereal, electro-acoustic genre-bending soundworld – is on the rise too (see The Big Issue’s festival guide, April 31-May 6). Henley Festival (July 11-15) has perhaps booked the most diverse headliners – while Rita Ora opens the event, the English National Opera (ENO) will close it. Music director Martyn Brabbins will lead the ENO orchestra and guest soloists through the greatest hits from the opera world (expect all the biggies: Carmen, The Marriage of Figaro and La Traviata). The black-tie event set on the banks of the…

In the brouhaha over describing slavery as a “choice” and cosying up to Donald Trump there’s one Kanye West story you might have missed. The latest wheeze by the confused/ controversial hip-hop megastar is a plan to build social housing under his Yeezy fashion label in order “to make the world better”. Affordable housing is generally not the stuff of showbiz or style sections, but Kanye’s architect-designed Yeezy Home project could break the mould with a prefabricated concrete construction that would be quick to build, expanded polystyrene components in the interiors, exposed flooring, white walls and big windows allowing lots of light into the apartments, which are built around a communal courtyard.…

I wrote last year about ‘sociable’ housing as opposed to ‘social’ housing. My comments caused someone to write to tell me that it wouldn’t work in practice. That the idea of mixing people of various occupations, and pay levels, to break up a ghetto of only the poorest and the dispossessed was utopian. I did not get into an argument with this particular correspondent because she gave me some anecdotes that would have been easy to dispute or question with other anecdotes. For as I have often said, “you are only as good as the anecdotes you choose to believe.” But who wants to get involved in ‘anecdote swapping’? I certainly did not, but I can say that I have known quite a few socially mixed areas that have kept…

IN 1964 THE YEAR JIMMY CLIFF TURNS 16… Labour’s election win ends 13 years of Tory rule / Sidney Poitier becomes the first African-American to win a Best Actor Oscar for Lilies of the Field / BBC Two begins broadcasting I had been writing music for years by the time I was 16. The process started in school when I was maybe nine or 10. The inspiration was hearing a song by a local artist by the name of Derrick Morgan on the radio. I thought, if local artists are doing things and getting on the radio, maybe I can do it too. Before music, really and truly, my passion at the time was to go to the river and swim with my friends. But then they used to put…

I’ve loved a lot of what’s called outsider art for a long, long time. Part of it is because there’s an honesty and directness in a lot of the work. Sometimes you feel that trained artists, either they’ve had some of that beaten out of them, or they’ve been seduced by the market or the art world into worrying more about their career than what they’re actually doing. I think there’s a possibility that I might romanticise people who are outside of that world, that they are somehow more true to themselves. There’s no guarantee that they are somehow more authentic or valid or anything like that. But I’m attracted to it. I also find that there’s a sense of exposed psyche. A unique way of looking at the world,…

There is a harmonic balance to the title of writer and broadcaster Tristan Gooley’s new book which sets the tone for his alternative travel guide as delightfully as the silver-gleaming illustration on its cover. Wild Signs and Star Paths is a seductive heading for this guide to developing a navigational awareness, but Gooley’s promise to teach his readers to instantly “sense direction from stars and plants, forecast weather from woodland sounds, and predict the next action of an animal” is no over-sell. Gooley has an established history of teaching urban digital slaves how to tune in to nature the way our ancestors did instinctively. His previous books, including How to Read Water and The Natural Navigator, can attest to his years of expertise. The pleasure he takes in – to…

I was once asked to describe Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds to a friend who knew nothing of them but who I had lured to the festival field they were playing in. “Imagine a cruise ship that is sailing for eternity, but also sinking for eternity, and there is a house band playing on it, and they never stop playing and their beards are getting longer and longer and entwined in the instruments, yet the music that comes out becomes more and more beautiful, and the band are led by a chimpanzee that has recently become sentient and declared himself a preacher.” After the gig, my friend turned and said, “I see what you mean.” Last week, I prepared to watch Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds at All…

I would like to share feedback for the vendor who works outside Liverpool Street Station across the street. I see him there almost every day, wishing people who pass by good morning and a good day. I had quite a difficult year in my personal life, but no matter what was going on, when I was walking to university in the morning he would always be there and wish me good morning and a good day. I would just like to let him know he is an incredible inspiration and I will never forget about him although I am moving out of London. He helped me get through this year with the hope and positivity he is spreading, and I wish him all the best in life. I hope somehow…

Big Issue founder John Bird linked up with financial inclusion minister Guy Opperman last week to check out how a social enterprise is helping lift people out of poverty in one of the UK’s most deprived areas. Redcar and Cleveland is in the top 10 per cent of England’s most deprived local authorities, and The Link – a Big Issue-backed community interest company (CIC) which works with children and families experiencing mental health challenges – supports more than 900 people annually. Bird praised the organisation’s “fantastic” work, while its founder Tina Jackson said: “The support we had from Big Issue Invest, both financially and the mentoring and advice has been invaluable to us. The past year has been difficult for us, but the advice from Big Issue Invest made our…

Steve taught himself to draw at a young age from reading DC comic books. He submits his artworks via London homeless charity the 240 Project. His work possesses an ethereal quality and often combines architecture designs with eerie natural elements and a sense of otherworldliness. “My drawing feels more technical than artistic,” he says. “Puzzles, crosswords and historical facts influence my thoughts and occupy my time, though my work comes from my imagination. I don’t feel in any rush when working, just take my time. Each line is considered, not instinctive.” Street Art is created by people who are marginalised by issues like homelessness, disability and mental health conditions. Contact streetlights@bigissue.com  to see your art here.…

I wanted to share my experience with counselling. I am a female teenager and my depression started roughly three years ago, however I was lucky and I am much better now. I had to wait six months for counselling which is both ridiculous and dangerous, however it turned out to be a good thing. When I reached out for help, the only thing that kept me going was the hope that counselling would make everything better. My counselling was so bad that if I had received it when I was at my worst I think it would have had a really negative effect on me. The counselling service were trying to meet targets and tried to ‘deal’ with my problem as quickly as possible which meant ignoring half of what…

NO MATTER WHAT by Debi Gliori It might look like a simple picture book story about a naughty fox, but it lays some big worries about love to rest. When my dad died I read it to my children over and over again, and it helped heal my heart too. GOODBYE MOG by Judith Kerr Wry and amusing, but kind and helps children to come to terms with loss. MIND YOUR HEAD by Juno Dawson A frank, funny and accessible look at children and young people’s mental health challenges, with real life stories. SAD BOOK by Michael Rosen Easy to pick up even for reluctant readers, and opens a door to conversations about how we learn to travel with grief and sadness, and accept these feelings rather than fighting against…

At the BBC Music Magazine Awards ceremony held earlier this spring, oboist Nicholas Daniel made a powerful plea for the industry to come together to stop what many perceive as a dismantling of music education in the state system. The former winner of BBC Young Musician of the Year, who was presenting an award that night, used his platform as a call to arms. Harriet Harman QC, MP for Camberwell and Peckham, who was also presenting an award, echoed Daniel’s sentiment and suggested that she would lend her support. That expression of interest has now been formalised in the Every Child a Musician campaign. Daniel – supported by a swathe of high-profile classical artists, including violinist Nicola Benedetti and royal wedding cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason – uses the Every Child a…