originally published here It’s been 30 years since Trainspotting and Irvine Welsh is back in Edinburgh. The city has changed – Leith-sur-Mer is the gentrified seaside haven it was threatening to become inContinue reading “Irvine Welsh interview”

Walking 100 odd miles up the West Coast of Scotland. Autumn, 2022. My favourite part of Trainspotting takes place beside Rannoch Moor, in the Scottish West Highlands. It features a tirade fromContinue reading “It’s not the hope that kills you”

Written and published 9 September 2022, the day after Queen Elizabeth II’s death. The news came through at 6:30 and I was standing on the District Line between Sloane SquareContinue reading “It’s funny the things that make you proud”

Uncensored and dogmatic, the masses now shout over experts – such as well-trained journalists like myself – meaning a select few are no longer able to dictate a sensible narrative. The result is we, as a people, are driven to extremism. To stand on the fence in 2023 is to stand in no man’s land.

Last week, United States senator Bernie Sanders spoke at the Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall ahead of his new book, It’s Ok To Be Angry About Capitalism.  on whynow It turnsContinue reading “Bernie Sanders in London”

written for, published by, whynow. It was somewhere around South Kensington, sitting on the edge of a ball pit, when the dopamine began to take hold. I remember emptying myContinue reading “Fear and Loathing in Dopamine Land”

People go in search of a monstrosity. I did too. Rather, I found an outdated café, an internet smear campaign, and a well-meaning, thoughtful man with a fascinating story toContinue reading “The True Story Behind London’s Worst Restaurant”

For all the unforeseen turmoil to have defined the last 12 months, one meltdown was rather predictable. There are 78 days between November 3rd and January 20th – the datesContinue reading “10 Weeks Too Many & MF DOOM”

Two days ago I was denied entry to the United States. This is my account of what happened:  I have lived predominantly in America for over six and a halfContinue reading “Two Days Ago…”