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Virginia McKenna: Freedom Fighter

Issue 1474

Virginia McKenna: Freedom Fighter

Born Free

In this week’s Big Issue we take a walk on the wild side. First we meet Virginia McKenna who at 90 is still very much a freedom fighter. She reflects on a life dedicated to conservation and animal welfare and tells us why there’s hope for the future.

A tiger saved my life

We’re no stranger to feelgood feline tales but this one’s about a nurse-turned addict whose life was turned around after she volunteered at a (pretty high profile) tiger sanctuary

Benedict Cumberbatch

We catch up with Britain’s biggest actor to get his take on the strange days we find ourselves in, ahead of his new film, Cold War spy thriller, The Courier.

Also inside

  • Meet the Big Issue vendors trading their tabards for training vests as they prepare for the London Marathon
  • Decolonising the history books, beginning with the presumably problematic David Livingstone
  • Lin-Manuel Miranda’s righthand man Alex Lacamoire on the pair’s latest musical marvel, Vivo
  • Who is this week’s Letter To My Younger Self. Yes, former Doctor and Withnail’s pal Paul McGann
  • And our vendor Jim in Norwich tells us about his new hobby – lawn bowling

Plus much more!

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