About this issue: Overview
Former Big Issue North vendor Garry Mackintosh has turned his life around and now works in the construction industry. His first step after the magazine was a job at Latch, which renovates empty houses for homeless people to rent. But despite the success of the Leeds organisation – and the amount of empty homes in the city – its future remains uncertain, reports Christian Lisseman.
The prescribing of antidepressants has soared in recent years even though some patients feel they are not a suitable treatment for their symptoms. But with GPs limited to only a few minutes for each consultation and other therapies such as counselling in limited supply, can they be blamed for dishing them out, asks Saskia Murphy.
In his long and varied career he’s shunned multi-billion grossing films in favour of theatre roles and films celebrating the underdog. But Denis Lawson tells Richard Smirke he’s concerned acting is still a pursuit of the privileged.
In arts and entertainment, alongside reviews of TV, games, albums and independent cinema, you can read about Settle Stories – a big storytelling event in a small town.
On the news pages, a report on tree felling in Sheffield, which is causing increasing tension between protesters and police.
Columnist Roger Ratcliffe hears about conspiracy theories down the gym, Will.i.am writes a letter to his younger self, and we have our popular crossword and Sudoku, as ever.