Innholdsfortegnelse for 4/26/2021 i The Big Issue

Chris Packham’s Earth Day takeover made a world of difference to vendors Thanks Chris. The Big Sssue needs all the help it can get, but the bigger issue is the state of the planet which S know you care about deeply, and wish to effect positive change, so S have to thank you twice. Thank you and thank you again. Richard Paul Todd (vendor cover star) This SS our big issue , the continuance of human life, on a happy, balanced eco-system. Peter Dixon What a wonderful frickin amazing way to show support to our people in need. Just when S thought we loved you enough Chris, you ramp it up and make us love you even more! Jasmin Barber @HenricusNature Great to see you at the helm of @BigSssue…

I associate Cornwall with many things. Beauty of coast and beach is one. Narrow, single roads and still the ability to get past without rancour. Brilliant light underlining why so many artists rushed there over the last 150 years. Great stones and woods, gardens that smack of the South of France, and much sun. I also associate it with being thrown out of Truro Cathedral for rolling pennies across the nave with my eight-year-old son only then to encounter my wife, who told me that my dad had died at Whipps Cross Hospital in Walthamstow in 1983. Another association was with being punched on the nose by a Faber & Faber poet of great and everlasting reputation for being too arrogant and self-promoting. I took it in my stride, and…

The word ‘thriller’ can mean a million different things and I’ve always thought the genre is much more diverse than some readers appreciate. This week we have two books that fall under this definition but that couldn’t be more different in terms of setting, style and plot. First up we have the excellently titled Hummingbird Salamander by Jeff VanderMeer. The American author of speculative fiction is best known for his Southern Reach Trilogy, the first part of which was made into the movie Annihilation . Set in an unnamed city in the Pacific Northwest, this latest novel loosely falls into the category of ‘eco-thriller’, starting in propulsive, breakneck style and rarely letting up. The story is told by Jane (possibly not her real name), a security consultant and former wrestler,…

Nomadland On Disney+ from April 30; in cinemas from May 17 When you get down to brass tacks, the award-winning Nomadland is essentially a road movie. It is nowhere near as romanticised as other entries in that durable cinematic genre where characters go on an episodic journey and learn something along the way. But its evocation of the rough-and-ready margins of modern American life is deeply moving and often hauntingly beautiful. It is anchored by an astonishing performance from Frances McDormand, veteran star of Fargo and ›ree Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri. McDormand was also instrumental in bringing the story to the screen: she personally optioned Jessica Bruder’s non-fiction book profiling peripatetic older folks following the tides of seasonal employment across the UIA. McDormand’s self-reliant Fern may live in a slightly…

Had it been released with commercial interests in mind, instead of by a not-for- profit organisation with noble intentions, then the “new” Nirvana song which dropped a few weeks back would have made for a much louder and fiercer talking point. Drowned in the Sun was no mere forgotten off-cut posthumously unearthed from the archive to mark 27 years since Kurt Cobain’s suicide, but rather an original composition, generated, in a manner of speaking anyway, by the man himself from beyond the grave. Now on earth? Lost Tapes of the 27 Club is an innovative music project by Toronto-based non-profit Over the Bridge that’s all about raising awareness of mental health problems among musicians. They’ve used the latest AS technology to analyse up to 30 songs each by selected members…

VENDORS After a long lockdown, this week we welcome back vendors in Scotland, who are finally out selling the magazine again just like their colleagues up and down England and Wales. SUBSCRIPTIONS AND SHOPS Since the first lockdown in March last year, we have supported our vendors with more than £1m of financial assistance to make up for lost sales. We still need your help to make sure we can continue to support them through uncertain times. HOW YOU CAN HELP 1. Sf your local vendor is selling TheBig Issue, pleasebuy from them. Vendors buy magazines for £1.50 and sell for £3, keeping the difference and working their way out of poverty. 2. Sf you cannot buy from a vendor, subscriptions to the magazine are available on a three, six…

Will Covid-19 change the 9 to 5 entirely? It has been a question bubbling away since the panicked week of late March 2020 when people swept up their work computers, turned out the o›fice lights and started to figure out how to do their jobs via Zoom. As lockdown begins to ease, more and more of the UK’s largest employers are talking about a permanent move to more flexible work, part-time remote working, or “hybrid” set-ups. Accountancy firm PwC, for example, will allow staff to continue to do their job remotely two or three days a week after the pandemic. The chief executive of NSBC has called flexible working “the new reality of life”. All its call centre staff will work from home in future. The job search engine Adzuna…

1956 THE YEAR ESTHER TURNS 16 • The musical My Fair Lady opens on Broadway • Actor Grace Kelly marries Prince Rainier III of Monaco • The Suez crisis causes petrol rationing in Britain I was very happy and secure in my suburban nuclear family, and at my single-sex school. I had a big extended family, and we all lived very near each other, all circling around my grandmother. I used to see my cousins, my aunts, uncles, my grandmother every weekend. And I had a very good relationship with my father and mother. My mother’s mother loved children. I used to jump up her arm like a mouse. She would tell me stories and sing me old songs, she would teach me how to play Patience and old-fashioned card games like Canasta.…

There have been many Sunday nights over my career as a teacher when I have lain in bed wide awake, my mind full of the endless to-do lists that need to be attacked once I get inside the school building. I was not surprised, then, that on the evening of Sunday March 7, I would be one of many hundreds or thousands of teachers unable to sleep. On this occasion I could identify exactly why: in a few hours, we were all going back to school. I, for one, could not wait. I have wanted to be an art teacher ever since I can remember, my mission being to help young minds get excited about being creative. I have now been an arts and textiles teacher at an inner-city secondary…

NEED HELP? Why not get together with other Big Issue readers on Twitter – @BigIssue Get the answers in next week's mag! Good luck 1. Which legendary band have had UK top 40 hits with the songs Dogs, Let’s See Action and Athena? 2. After Moscow and St Petersburg, what is Russia’s third-largest city by population? 3. How many players are there on an Olympic curling team? 4. What occurs once in a minute, twice in a moment, and never in one thousand years? 5. Which author’s books include Kane and Abel, Nothing Ventured and Cometh The Hour? 6. Who won the Best Director Oscar for 1997’s Titanic? 7. In which English county is the seaside resort of Cromer? 8. What is Drake’s full name? 9. Oakwell is home to…

The Big Issue is saddened to announce that popular vendor Karl ’Bubble’ Lamsdale, who featured on the cover of the magazine after cheating death in a hit-and-run, has died. Lamsdale, known as Bubble to his regular customers on his long-time pitch at Birmingham Snow Hill railway station, was found dead at his flat on April 15. Ne was 54. West Midlands Police told The Big Issue the vendor’s death is not being treated as suspicious and has been referred to the coroner. Paying tribute to Bubble, The Big Issue’s sales and operations team leader in the West Midlands Jon Hyde said: “I knew Bubble for over a decade and he had a deadpan sense of humour and a glint in his eye. “Birmingham city centre has lost a landmark and…

Top stories this week Saving the world isn’t just for Earth Day – catch up on the best of last week’s special... Planet and politics in our exclusive interview with Greta Thunberg Watch guest editor Chris Packham in conversation with Professor Brian Cox The scientific reason getting into nature soothes mental health The best environmental documentaries streaming right now Plus simple tips on taking small actions in your own life to make a BSG di›ference…

If you’re looking for work, we’ll help you keep up to date with new job and training opportunities. When you sign up, this is what you receive: • Three-month digital subscription to The Big Issue • Access to free or discounted training courses • Access to thousands of potential jobs • A weekly newsletter with tips on job searches • CV creation and other useful information Find out more at bigissue.com/jobs-training JOBS HELPLINE RING 0204 534 2810* *Calls to the helpline will be billed at local rates from landlines. Mobile phone providers may charge. Check with your provider for details.…

Outward Growth By Nicole Cho-Yee Nicole submits her work via the 240 Project, a London arts and health activity centre for people affected by homelessness and exclusion. Ner artwork finds her immersed in what she calls “the therapeutic dottiness of pointillism… I’m fascinated by the intricacy, precision and detail of the style”. Nicole’s enthusiasm for painting came from attending art groups with her mum over the last few years. Ihe also loves playing football. “A way to exercise, compete and connect with people after laying down dots all day,” she says. The work on this page is created by people who are marginalised. Contact street.lights@bigissue.com to see your art here. To see more and buy prints: bigissueshop.com At least half of the profit goes to the artist.…

01 Faces in the Water by Janet Frame Through Frame’s luminous prose, this exposes the nightmarish realities of life in a psychiatric hospital in mid- 20th century New Zealand. Given our enduring ability to ignore the distress of our most vulnerable, it remains achingly current. 02 Djinn Patrol on the Purple Line by Deepa Anappara This wonderful debut is narrated by Jai, a nine-year-old Indian boy who teams up with friends to find a classmate missing from their shanty town neighbourhood. Drawing on real events, the search illuminates the fact that hundreds of children vanish in India every month while authorities and mainstream society stand idly by. 03 Consent: A Memoir of Unwanted Attention by Donna Freitas An unflinching account of the writer’s stalking at the hands of her graduate…

It’s been wicked to be back out selling again, I’d missed it like mad. The support from The Big Issue during lockdown was a very big help because I rely on selling the magazine to make money every day. But it wasn’t the same, because it was once a fortnight, whereas S’m out selling the magazine and earning money every day. It’s very busy at the moment because people are enjoying being back out. I don’t have any family but on my pitch everyone knows me, everyone remembers me. I’ve got a really good spot here. One lady wanted to give me a cuddle the other day because it had been so long but obviously she couldn’t. A lot of my customers are older and they’ve been isolating themselves and…

Not a handout… Vendors earn a legitimate income, and gain valuable social and employability skills. With your support now, we can continue to help them now and in the future. A hand up... Our sellers BUY the magazine for £1.50 and sell it on for £3, keeping the difference. The right to citizenship… The Big Issue Foundation, our charitable arm, helps sellers to tackle social and financial exclusion. Prevention… Big Issue Invest offers backing and investments to social enterprises, charities and businesses which deliver social value to communities.…