Shout Out UK

Cultural op-ed for Shout Out UK on graduate unemployment.

From tulle skirts and shoe ribbons to ballet flats and Ozempic, the last few years have seen ‘balletcore’ enter the mainstream world of fashion. The term, often described as cutesy, sleeker-lined fashion, includes tulle or puffy skirts, flat pumps, ribbons and corsets as key staples of the look. But I …

I believe that fundamentally, the biggest flaw in our justice system is the way rape cases are dealt with. The #Metoo movement and the imprisonment of film producer Harvey Weinstein achieved crucial publicity and it is promising to see justice being served — to see people who feel that they …

The female gaze … A success on the screen, but one that has not transferred all too well onto our smaller screens. The term originates in film theory, countering ‘male gaze’ cinema and the objectification of women that follows. But on social media, the female gaze appears to morph into …

The female gaze … A success on the screen, but one that has not transferred all too well onto our smaller screens. The term originates in film theory, countering ‘male gaze’ cinema and the objectification of women that follows. But on social media, the female gaze appears to morph into …

If the government had an opportunity to provide a treasured skill to the public, one that encourages economic growth and prompts cultural exchange, you would think they would take it, right? Unfortunately, this is not the case for language learning in the United Kingdom.

Homelessness rates have reached record levels and nowhere is this more obvious than in the capital. It was during my first few months of university when I discovered that a man who I passed every day on my way to campus, had sadly died the night before. The only record …

Laura Coryton took down the tampon tax. Now she’s trying to revolutionise sex education and empower young girls to stand up, speak up and engage with politics. Until 2021, Chanel handbags and tampons had one thing in common: the UK Government classed them as luxury, taxable items. This is still …

IPC President Andrew Parsons’ 2024 Paralympic opening speech struck a chord when headlines just before the games highlighted the struggles of disabled people battling the transport system. First and foremost, the Paralympics is and should be about elite sport. But given the world’s focus on disability, the games can provide …

Rural English pubs are on a life support machine, and the visitors have long stopped coming by.

From November 16 until December 16 it’s UK Disability History Month. Thinking of this has made me aware of how little I know of the struggle for disability rights or any other detail of disability history. This shouldn’t be surprising, however, as a recent survey for ITV News found that …

THE STORY OF BRITNEY CONCERNS COUNTLESS OTHER WOMENBritney Spears can’t leave the house without permission or live where she wants to. She can’t spend her own money or make crucial decisions about her body — such as whether or not to have more children. For the last decade, every one …

Within the last year, this government has willfully ignored the plight of undocumented immigrants and refugees, denying them safe accommodation and safe access to healthcare.The government’s policy of creating a ‘hostile environment’ has become increasingly harmful throughout this pandemic. The term ‘hostile environment’ refers to a set of policies created …

‘What message does it send to future Disabled leaders!?’ is a question Sophie Morgan, TV presenter and #rightsonflights campaigner, posed on Instagram where upon arrival, she found 10 Downing Street was inaccessible to wheelchair users. How can we tackle issues (that often hit people with disabilities the hardest) if political …

It’s official; Elon Musk has bought Twitter. The $44 billion takeover deal agreed on Monday, comes just two weeks after the world’s richest man rejected the offer of a board seat and submitted his own bid for the social media giant. What’s the Deal with the Twitter Deal? The speed …

Should We Cast Actors that 'Live' their Roles in Real Life?

It sounded like the start of a glorious future. ‘We have a new North Star’ proclaimed Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, as he introduced Facebook’s ambitious new vision of a virtual-reality based ‘Metaverse’ and unveiled a new company name, ‘Meta’. Yet even as Zuckerberg was announcing the rebrand, Facebook was telling …

Jonathan Shapiro, also known as Zapiro, is a renowned South African cartoonist. His cartoons have appeared in numerous publications in South Africa, as well as in The Sunday Times. Shout Out UK has been working with Cartooning for Peace and the University of Leicester to run COVID in Cartoons, a …

Cartooning is a subject that has caused much division and controversy in recent years. Cartoonists have paid with their lives for drawing the Prophet Muhammed. And last year, here in the UK, there was a row about a cartoon in The Guardian that depicted the Home Secretary, Priti Patel, as …

‘Englishness’ is an elusive idea. Could a ‘civic’ version of Englishness be the answer? Those were the words of the Irish playwright, George Bernard Shaw. I was reminded of this quote last week when the renowned British author Hilary Mantel gave an interview to Italy’s la Repubblica. She said that …

The ‘Blue Wall’ analogy refers to prosperous, Remain-leaning seats, mainly in the South of England. Since the Tories embraced Brexit and are now focused on holding onto the gains made in the Red Wall, with their ‘levelling up’ agenda, it is thought that they could be at risk of losing …

Eva Clarke weighed only three pounds when she was born in Mauthausen Concentration Camp on April 29, 1945. Had her mother, Anka, arrived at Mauthausen just a few days earlier, neither she nor Eva would have lived. But by the time she arrived, the Nazis had run out of gas, …

There was something inevitable about Piers Morgan’s response to Simone Biles’ decision to withdraw (temporarily) from the 2020 Olympics on mental health grounds. Biles’ ‘greatest move’ is her ability to put herself first Biles later rejoined the competition and went on to win a bronze medal. But before this, writing …

A discussion with Professor Robert Tombs on persecuted Leave academics and Britain’s precarious new future. Whether you’ve voted to leave or remain, I think most British voters hoped that when Boris Johnson promised to ‘get Brexit done’ at the 2019 election, it would get done. Sadly, it was not to …

Harvey Sinclair is an entrepreneur who co-founded E-Light, a company that aims to simplify energy efficiency and maximise the use of LED lighting (light-emitting diode). LED lighting is more eco-friendly for a range of reasons; they last longer, so you needn’t buy them as frequently, they are brighter, which means …

HAS BBC’S MARTIN BASHIR HAMMERED THE FINAL NAIL IN THE COFFIN? One view truly unites people across the UK’s political spectrum: the BBC is outrageously biased (although they seem to be biased in favour of different political positions, depending on who is making the accusation). Brexiteers have alleged that the …

At first glance, the videos don’t seem that different from anything else users might find on TikTok. There are a lot of memes, lip-syncing, and badly synchronised dancing. But the dancers are in combat gear, the lip-syncs are accompanied by M-16s, and the memes are about killing ‘alphabet bois’, slang …

THIS GOVERNMENT OF PHILISTINES MAY NOT CARE ABOUT CULTURE, BUT SURELY THEY CARE ABOUT MONEY? A few months ago, the Conservative MP for Rosendale and Darwen, Jake Berry, was ridiculed for saying that in the North of England, football, rather than the ‘Royal Ballet or Royal Opera House or Royal …