Latest editorial
Ron's rages are sincere and — according to his wife — healthily cathartic. But can these splenetic outbursts loosen the grip of capitalism at its most monstrous?
Poetry
ANGUS REID considers the power of the podcast as a vehicle for consensus building in opposition to mainstream media narratives
GLENN FOSBRAEY recommends a biography worth reading for both existing George Michael fans and those yet to be converted
FRANCIS DEVINE introduces a new collection of essays that draws on Pease McKenna’s example to indicate future paths for the movement
KEVIN DONNELLY and MARIA DUARTE review Shoot the People, The Last One For The Road, Rosebush Pruning, and Moana
JAMES WALSH recommends an exceptional documentary about the experience of Western doctors in Gaza
Fidelity
You were the leader of the revolution
With your olive-green uniform and cigar clamped in your mouth
(Thanks to you cigars are no longer sole preserve of the ruling class).
Ordinary women roll them on their thighs
And smoke them just like men
While over the factory loudspeaker love messages
Are read out for their fellow workers.
You gave up smoking a long time ago
But your flame has never been extinguished.
Your beard is now white and sparse
(The revolution looks different too)
But you’ll never have it shaved off.
Bearded men once dreamed of raising revolt on your island
And half the world rose up with them.
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ALAN MORRISON welcomes a new collection from the most imaginative and committed ecopoet of our time
BEN CHACKO says in different ways, the centenary of the General Strike and that of Fidel Castro’s birth point to priority tasks for the British left in the coming year
ANDY CROFT welcomes the publication of an anthology of recent poems published by the Morning Star, and hopes it becomes an annual event
Remembering the 1787 Calton Weavers strike, MATT KERR argues that golden thread of our history needs weaving into the fabric of every community in the land