Exclusive Andy Murray interview
Issue 1160
In this issue…From Monday, Andy Murray will be the most talked ABOUT man in Britain. To kick things off he talks TO The Big Issue. In a rare one to one, Andy details when he was most nervous – before his wedding or when serving championship point at Wimbledon. He talks about whether he’ll follow his mother onto Strictly, about the music he plays to get himself ready for matches, about the superpower he’d most like to have, the number of bananas he consumes and some of what he’s learned from Sir Alex. He also explains why The Big Issue means so much to him.
He’ll be delighted that our featured vendor this week is Jane Burns, who sells at the Centre Court shopping centre in Wimbledon. A former trainee accountant, Jane lost her arm in a motorcycle accident and struggled to recover. Then MRSA took her right leg. “I am enjoying life,” she says, “and I enjoy my work.” Not a woman to easily give up.
Jane Seymour delivers a brilliant Letter to My Younger Self. Her father was one of the first troops to liberate Bergen-Belsen, her mother was held in a Japanese prisoner of war camp for over three years and she has had an incredible life close to Richard Attenborough and Johnny Cash. Such richness to discuss!
John Bird, meanwhile, looks to the work of Victorian painter Richard Dadd and, as a new exhibition of his work opens at the Watts Gallery. John considers the work of this institutionalised artist (Dadd spent most of his adult life in Bedlam) and what it says know about our treatment of mental illness.
Damian Barr celebrates Pride. His memory of gay rights goes back 20 years to when, he says, “beige denim was a thing and Pulp weren’t retro.” In fantastically bullish fashion he looks at how far gay rights have come, but point to places beyond Britain where work must go on.
As Channel 4’s Humans gathers viewers around fears of an imagined robotic future, Adam Forrest investigates what would it mean for our well-being if jobs were made obsolete in huge volumes. What would we feel, what would we do – and how far away is that reality?
Can I also direct you to Joe Pasquale detailing the joys of fossilising (oh yes) and our Greece OR Grease quiz (all to do with the similarities in statements from Greek finance minister Yanis Varoufakis and dialogue in the movie). We also, of course, have Spot The Ball.