-
If you can afford it, this would be a very good time to subscribe to your favourite magazines. If you don’t, they might not be around when this crisis is over. One of the publishers I work for has already closed three titles. They won’t be coming back, and the industry as a whole is… [more]
-
The mainstream media has been quick to point the finger at social media for the conspiracy theory that 5G mobile phone signals spread Coronavirus. But the mainstream media played its part too. Here’s the Daily Star, just before people started arson attacks on mobile phone masts. Coronavirus: Fears 5G wifi networks could be acting as… [more]
-
The chorus of anger at people supposedly risking everybody’s lives by going to the park is growing louder, especially in the right-wing press; the government is now floating the idea that going outside at all may be banned “if people continue to flout the rules”. Don’t fall for it: it’s a deliberate attempt to bury… [more]
-
America’s The Daily Show has put together a video it’s dubbed “Heroes of the pandumbic”. It’s a compilation of US broadcasters (and the President who loves them) pooh-poohing the dangers of coronavirus; no prizes for guessing which media mogul’s network they’re all from. I’m sure you can think of some UK examples too. [more]
-
Frankie Boyle is the comedian we need in these dark times. 2020 began with Australia on fire and a billion animals dead. It’s sobering to think that will be the feel-good story of the year. He’s writing for The Overtake, a small, independent and excellent publication made by – in their own words – (relatively)… [more]
-
The image is of a famous Mitchell & Webb sketch in which a Nazi, played by Mitchell, wonders whether they might be the bad guys. PinkNews: Neo-Nazis and homophobes are among those supporting the UK ‘anti-trans’ pressure group the LGB Alliance. …There is nothing to suggest the LGB Alliance has sought or welcomed such supporters,… [more]
-
What’s the connection between coronavirus and a burning phone mast in Birmingham? The answer, you’ll be amazed to discover, is idiots. The mast is a 5G phone mast; the idiots are the people on a local Facebook group who claimed that it was pumping out “massive radiation” and that “there is definitely a strong link… [more]
-
In my post about transgender day of visibility, I mentioned that some people criticise such awareness days, especially now. Haven’t we got more important things to worry about? And we have, but the problem is that politicians use those bigger things as cover to attack us. An admittedly extreme example of that has just happened… [more]
-
If you only read one article about Alex Salmond’s trial and the dark side of the Scottish independence movement, you should read this exceptional piece by Dani Garavelli. The trial effectively found that Alex Salmond was – in the words of his own lawyer, overheard on a train while the trial was ongoing – “inappropriate”,… [more]
-
It’s international Transgender Day of Visibility today. It’s a day meant to raise awareness of the discrimination trans people face, and to celebrate their contributions to society. Some people react to days like this with scorn, especially now: don’t we have more important things to worry about? And that’s exactly why days like this exist.… [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.
