You are powerless to resist! Pixar and the art of manipulation

In this issue…Pixar movies have been playing with our emotions for years – gloriously. As Inside Out, the new and some are saying best ever Pixar film appears, we look at the evolution of emotion and how the cinema powerhouse gets inside our heads –the psychologically manipulative imps.

This is a great story. Our vendor Mick Dillon, who works in Birmingham’s Jewellery Quarter, was separated from his mother decades ago. A host of difficult circumstances prevented them meeting since. Things have not been easy. Enter The Big Issue Foundation. They tracked down his mother and brought them together again. It really is a terrific thing to have happened.

Staying with our vendors, Colin Davey, who sells in Dover, is featured in My Pitch. He lost everything when a relationship broke down and, as he says, “It’s a long old road coming out of homelessness.” It’s an uplifting story. He’s reestablishing links with his daughter and he’s back on an even keel.

Our Letter To My Younger Self is with veteran radio host Annie Nightingale. Celebrating 50 years in business, she’s open about the picaresque life that brought her here – and her mother’s part in her rise.

John Bird, meanwhile, celebrates Walter Sickert, a great observer of the ordinary and one of our greatest artists.

Our guest columnist this week is rock star Frank Turner. In a simple and moving piece he pays tribute to the friend he lost to suicide and campaigns on behalf of the CALM organisation, a vital group during great work in men’s mental health.

There is much else including, Spot The Ball, and our great puzzle set by Big Issue boffin Ben Ambridge.