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I started re-reading The Salmon of Doubt, a posthumous collection of Douglas Adams’ bits and bobs, a few days ago; I didn’t realise it was so close to the anniversary of his death (May 11, today). I can’t overstate how much of an influence he was on me. Chances are if I make a joke,… [more]
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I wrote about Channel 4’s Genderquake debate a few days ago, and it’s safe to say the programme has caused a lot of controversy. The people who refused to take part were proved right: Channel 4 was trying to start a fight. Here’s a piece by Pink News on how the audience were told to… [more]
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Pretty much every well known trans/NB person I can think of has signed an open letter to Channel 4 over the Genderquake “debate”, which airs tonight. The inclusion of Caitlyn Jenner and Germaine Greer suggests it’s a stunt rather than a sensible discussion. On a related note, pretty much every well known trans/NB person I… [more]
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I’m doing a comedy writing class at the moment, and one of the pieces we’ve studied is this bit of standup about austerity by Frankie Boyle. “It was the fucking banks! They showed you them doing it on the fucking news!” It’s a great bit, and I’m reminded of it every time there’s an article… [more]
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Every writer thinks they’re brilliant, and then Ta-Nehisi Coates comes along and shows how the grown-ups do it. This is about Kanye West and many other things, and it’s just astonishing. And he is a god, though one born of a different time and a different need. Jackson rose in the last days of enigma… [more]
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For several years, I did a monthly technology surgery on BBC Radio Scotland. It was fun to do, but I was always scared that one day everyone would find out I was trans and the gig would be up. This morning, I did a technology surgery on BBC Radio Scotland. I wore a nice dress. [more]
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A lovely, poignant post by Raymond Weir about releasing his dad’s debut album. His dad is 77. My dad was born in 1940. In his early twenties, he was part of the Bob Dylan generation and his devotion to that cause is overwhelmingly reflected in his record collection, but he was also influenced by Scottish… [more]
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According to former General Motors VP Bob Lutz, as far as personal transport is concerned the car is about to go the way of the horse. A minority of individuals may elect to have personalized modules sitting at home so they can leave their vacation stuff and the kids’ soccer gear in them. They’ll still… [more]
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I don’t swim any more. I used to, because I preferred it to going to the gym. And of course when you’re a parent it’s a cheap way to keep the kids amused. But since becoming me, the thought of going to a swimming pool scares the shit out of me. Owl Stefania puts it… [more]
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Trans Media Watch’s submission to Parliament on the subject of hate crime and biased media reporting is pretty frightening. In 8 weeks from March 2018, TMW identified 445 pieces about trans/intersex/non-binary people in UK newspapers (the study excluded LGBT titles such as Gay Times, Diva etc and religious titles such as The Catholic Herald). The… [more]
Read me in books
My debut memoir, Carrie Kills A Man, was a Scotsman book of the year and Damian Barr’s Literary Salon book of the week, and it was shortlisted for the 2023 British Book Awards book of the year in the Discover category.
My latest book, Small Town Joy, is a celebration of queer influences on and queer artists in Scots music and is out now.
I’m also a contributor to the excellent anthology Fierce Salvage, which is also out now.
