Innholdsfortegnelse for 10/17/2022 i The Big Issue

Almost 20 years ago I met some Americans who wanted to start a bottled water company where the profits went to water projects in Africa and Asia. The one thing that struck me was that they talked too much. They did not necessarily let the clarity of the idea swim to the surface, drowning it in explanation. In fact, when they were presenting to me outside a cafe in Marylebone, they wanted to give a two-hour presentation. I told them I truly wanted 10 minutes. And after 10 minutes they had convinced me. Big Issue Invest got on with putting the money together to launch Belu water, which after an early rocky beginning has now blossomed. And it inspired a whole slew of other water companies, who also put their…

Japan 1 It’s a dark and scary subject that cover star Stephen King might approve of – in the latest Big Issue Japan they’re taking a deep dive into sewage. Zoogeographer Ryuichi Masuda features, talking about the role poo plays in the ecosystem that connects all living things, while palaeontologist Kentaro Izumi explains what we can learn from coprolites – also known as fossilised faeces. China 2 As one of the largest emitters of greenhouse gases, the shipping industry needs to become more environmentally ship-shape. To find solutions to ease problems in the future, it can often help to look to the past – and so the latest container vessels are drawing inspiration from clippers of old. The 333-metre long New Aden, launched last month by the China…

1978 THE YEAR HEATON TURNS 16 Synthetic insulin is produced for the first time Sweden becomes the first nation to ban aerosol sprays Sid Vicious is charged with the murder of girlfriend Nancy Spungen I was living at home sharing a room with one of my brothers when I was 16. I was already really into music. I was lapping up absolutely everything – blues, soul, punk, new wave. My mum took me to quite a few different gigs, so by 16 I had already seen The Stylistics and Brook Benton, and by 18 I had seen Stevie Wonder, The Clash, The Jam. So I was very lucky in that respect. Going to those gigs together was something my mum and I did at a certain time in our…

REVIEW A sleuth, a suspect and a curious courtship During lockdown’s disconcerting drought of new film releases it felt like a lot of us began to spool backwards through our own cinematic lives. That might have involved rewatching personal comfort-blanket movies or making a conscious and structured effort to expand our film knowledge. Basically, popcorn-fuelled nights on the couch disguised as self-improvement. Finding myself in a suddenly oppressive world of shrinking choices and increasing desperation, I dived headlong into noir, one of cinema’s most elemental genres. I revisited foundational 1950s classics like The Night of the Hunter, Touch of Evil and In a Lonely Place. I belatedly ticked off some key 1970s texts I’d never got round to seeing, including the notorious Chinatown and Robert Altman’s gloriously shabby The Long…

RENTING Confusion reigns as wait goes on for Liz Truss to set out plan to protect renters from being evicted without a reason Liz Truss confirmed that she will honour a Tory manifesto pledge to scrap no-fault evictions last week after reports of a U-turn sparked fury among housing campaigners. Labour accused the Prime Minister of “betraying renters” on Tuesday following reports from The Times that suggested she would shelve plans to ban a mechanism that allows landlords to evict tenants without giving a reason. No-fault evictions, also known as Section 21 evictions, are considered a leading driver of homelessness and recent months have brought a marked increase as the halt on evictions during the pandemic came to an end. Official figures released last month showed a 120 per cent…

Get in touch The Big Issue, 2nd floor, 43 Bath Street, Glasgow G2 1HW letters@bigissue.com @bigissue /bigissueUK @bigissueuk @thebigissue Winter staples Your Winter Survival Guide [Issue 1533, October 3] has some very useful tips for all of us trying to get through tough times. Reading the section on foodbanks, I’m not sure if you brought up the subject of pantries, as I don’t know how far the system has spread. Some time ago a friend who was helping extricate me from financial hardship persuaded me to visit a foodbank (which I had either been too foolish or stubborn to use) which was very helpful. The one near to me, in Southsea, then converted into a pantry where, for a £4.50 payment, one could get groceries which would usually cost between…

Scotland’s biggest mental health art exhibition celebrates its 10th anniversary through artworks made by more than 200 people, available to view over three floors at Edinburgh venue Summerhall. Organised by and showcasing the therapeutic creativity of people who have lived experience of mental health issues, Out of Sight Out of Mind includes paintings, films, sculptures, photography, installations and more. In its 10 years to date, the annual exhibition has platformed the work of more than 1,000 people and welcomed nearly 10,000 visitors to Summerhall. Featured in this year’s exhibition, the artwork pictured is titled You Belong Here, and was made by young people, staff and volunteers from LGBT Youth Scotland. It was photographed by Ian Dodds. Until October 30, Summerhall, Edinburgh; outofsightoutofmind.scot The work on this page is created by…

INTERVIEW Matthew Collins When Matthew Collins agreed to have a drama made about his work – new five-part ITV series The Walk-In – he was delighted to discover that Stephen Graham had been cast to play him. The show reveals how Collins foiled a far-right plot to assassinate a Labour MP, using his inside knowledge of the group and their movements. Collins, a former senior member of the National Front, now has a second life trying to push his former allies out of existence. “I’m employed to destroy things, and you tend to keep that quiet and to yourself,” he says. His work gained national attention when the campaign group Hope Not Hate foiled a plot by neo-Nazi group National Action to kidnap and murder Rosie Cooper, the West Lancashire…

Time to turn the heat up on the government What was abnormal is now normal. But the alternative is worse. When we step back and consider the existence of warm banks [see page 24], history will ask difficult questions of how we got here. Warm banks will be warm public spaces open this winter for people who are cold and fearful of not being able to meet energy bills. Jump back four years and explain to yourself that this would be needed. Explain that foodbanks have also become so normalised that the King visits them to lend support, that the former prime minister has identified them as the new essential societal social safety net. Explain that even though these warm banks will exist, they face problems themselves. A popular place…

REVIEWS The unhinged versus the undead October is spooky season, of course, and a great time to warm your cockles with a terrifying horror story. The underrated genre ranges from schlocky slashers to psychological hauntings and all points in between, and this week we have two literary examples that demonstrate the diversity at play in modern horror. First up is Motherthing by Canadian author Ainslie Hogarth, which comes with the excellent tagline: ‘She’s dead in the basement… and she’s refusing to leave’. Welcome to the marriage of Abby and Ralph Lamb, who live with Ralph’s mother Laura until she slits her wrists downstairs. The news of her death is a secret relief to Abby, who never got on with her mother-in-law, but when Ralph claims to see his mother’s ghost…

My life is filled with plenty of high-powered decisions such as ‘shall I get the green washing-up sponges or the non-stick yellow and white ones?’ and ‘custard cream or Jammie Dodger?’ Then there’s the top-level negotiation I have to do every day. Trying to get a teenager to wear a jacket with a hood during a torrential rainstorm. Attempting to reach some kind of agreement with the bags under my eyes, which are starting to make me look like Fred Elliott from Coronation Street after a particularly rough night down the Rovers. And playing hardball with the self-service machine in Sainsbury’s, which keeps telling me to take the last item out of the bagging area EVEN THOUGH I ALREADY DID. The other day, though, the stakes were raised. I was…

JOSH CLARKE, 30 I’m a positive guy. Things might be hard, but you’ve always got to know they’ll work out. I grew up in Bristol and have been selling The Big Issue on and off around the city since I was 18. I’ve had pitches all over the place – Clifton, in the town centre. I’ve had my current pitch for about five years, outside the Co-op in Henleaze, and I feel like a part of the community. After going from hostels to B&Bs, I was put in a shared house, but my room got trespassed and things were stolen. I was uncomfortable being there, and I ended up having to make myself homeless because there weren’t any other good options. That was a year ago now. Interacting with people…