Adrian Lobb
@adey70.bsky.social
I write for The Big Issue about arts and culture and stuff. SE London, via Derby, Cov, N London and Glasgow.
Reposted by Adrian Lobb
This is a really good piece by @adey70.bsky.social for The Big Issue. An accurate assessment of what to expect of Channel 5's new Play for Today, which mentions some of the less often trumpeted greats from the original strand, like Destiny (1978), Sorry (1981) &, actually, The Spongers (1978).
Play for Today helped launch the careers of Ken Loach, Ray Winstone, June Brown and Kenneth Branagh. Now Channel 5 is bringing it back…
Why the return of Play for Today is good news for British televisio
www.bigissue.com
November 14, 2025 at 2:57 PM
This is a really good piece by @adey70.bsky.social for The Big Issue. An accurate assessment of what to expect of Channel 5's new Play for Today, which mentions some of the less often trumpeted greats from the original strand, like Destiny (1978), Sorry (1981) &, actually, The Spongers (1978).
Power cut in the middle of screening of The Hack (new phone hacking and much more drama coming soon to ITV). Clearly some powerful people don’t want us to watch…
September 11, 2025 at 10:08 AM
Power cut in the middle of screening of The Hack (new phone hacking and much more drama coming soon to ITV). Clearly some powerful people don’t want us to watch…
This whole thread. Scary times for the arts. We take our brilliant, innovative, skilled (and lucrative) arts sector for granted at our peril. "These planned cuts mean that by 2029, the government is projected to be spending well over a third less per citizen on Culture, Media & Sport in real terms…"
Today in the House of Lords, the Government was asked "what assessment they have made of the value of the subsidised arts sector".
Baroness Twycross said the Government "strongly believes in the benefits of publicly funded arts".
🧵 (1/6)
Baroness Twycross said the Government "strongly believes in the benefits of publicly funded arts".
🧵 (1/6)
July 1, 2025 at 11:30 AM
This whole thread. Scary times for the arts. We take our brilliant, innovative, skilled (and lucrative) arts sector for granted at our peril. "These planned cuts mean that by 2029, the government is projected to be spending well over a third less per citizen on Culture, Media & Sport in real terms…"
Was great to talk with Prof Les Back about his new BBC Radio 4 documentary exploring the idea of football chants as folk music. Read all about it in @bigissue.com - on sale now. And listen tonight on Radio 4 and BBC Sounds…
Please go and buy the current edition of The Big Issue, it features Adey Lobb’s brilliant article on our programme about the art of the football chant. @adey70.bsky.social is a wonderful and intelligent writer. I enjoyed visiting him in his ‘writing shed’!
June 14, 2025 at 12:56 PM
Was great to talk with Prof Les Back about his new BBC Radio 4 documentary exploring the idea of football chants as folk music. Read all about it in @bigissue.com - on sale now. And listen tonight on Radio 4 and BBC Sounds…
Reposted by Adrian Lobb
Fantastic ending to Baroness Kidron's speech in the House of Lords yesterday, which led to the government's defeat on AI & copyright.
Speaking the UK's creators: "Their property, their labour, is worthy of your protection - because apart from anything else, it is not ours to give away."
Speaking the UK's creators: "Their property, their labour, is worthy of your protection - because apart from anything else, it is not ours to give away."
May 13, 2025 at 4:41 PM
Fantastic ending to Baroness Kidron's speech in the House of Lords yesterday, which led to the government's defeat on AI & copyright.
Speaking the UK's creators: "Their property, their labour, is worthy of your protection - because apart from anything else, it is not ours to give away."
Speaking the UK's creators: "Their property, their labour, is worthy of your protection - because apart from anything else, it is not ours to give away."
"War is an absolute waste of everything – time, money, lives. It doesn’t improve anything. It just proves you’ve got some egotistical man trying to improve his status. Because men start wars, women don’t."
This week's @bigissue.com cover star Dorothea Barron (100)…
www.bigissue.com/life/ve-day-...
This week's @bigissue.com cover star Dorothea Barron (100)…
www.bigissue.com/life/ve-day-...
100-year-old WW2 heroine Dorothea: 'War is an absolute waste of everything'
It's 80 years since VE Day. To mark it, our special Letter to my Younger Self, features 100-year-old former Wren, Dorothea Barron.
www.bigissue.com
May 8, 2025 at 9:17 AM
"War is an absolute waste of everything – time, money, lives. It doesn’t improve anything. It just proves you’ve got some egotistical man trying to improve his status. Because men start wars, women don’t."
This week's @bigissue.com cover star Dorothea Barron (100)…
www.bigissue.com/life/ve-day-...
This week's @bigissue.com cover star Dorothea Barron (100)…
www.bigissue.com/life/ve-day-...
Reposted by Adrian Lobb
We’re proudly working with the V&A on an exciting new project that champions grassroots music venues and their cultural legacy - and you can be a part of it.
Contribute your artefacts from between 1988-2025 by contacting musicvenues@vam.ac.uk before May 31.
Contribute your artefacts from between 1988-2025 by contacting musicvenues@vam.ac.uk before May 31.
April 30, 2025 at 8:58 AM
We’re proudly working with the V&A on an exciting new project that champions grassroots music venues and their cultural legacy - and you can be a part of it.
Contribute your artefacts from between 1988-2025 by contacting musicvenues@vam.ac.uk before May 31.
Contribute your artefacts from between 1988-2025 by contacting musicvenues@vam.ac.uk before May 31.
Reposted by Adrian Lobb
The same Tony Blair has been paid to advise oil rich autocratic states including Azerbaijan, UAE and Kazakhstan
This should be included in *every* story about his net zero comments
www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/poli...
This should be included in *every* story about his net zero comments
www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/poli...
Tony Blair calls for radical reset of climate change policies in major intervention
Former PM warns climate policy has become disconnected from ‘political, public, and economic reality’ and claims COP is struggling to ‘deliver change at the speed required’
www.independent.co.uk
April 30, 2025 at 8:50 AM
The same Tony Blair has been paid to advise oil rich autocratic states including Azerbaijan, UAE and Kazakhstan
This should be included in *every* story about his net zero comments
www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/poli...
This should be included in *every* story about his net zero comments
www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/poli...
Bless my cotton socks, I'm in the news (pages of the Big Issue magazine)… 2025tcslondonmarathon.enthuse.com/pf/adrian-lobb
April 25, 2025 at 2:07 PM
Bless my cotton socks, I'm in the news (pages of the Big Issue magazine)… 2025tcslondonmarathon.enthuse.com/pf/adrian-lobb
I don't DJ very often. I'm rubbish at it. Way too indecisive. But when I do, I always play Non-Alignment Pact by Pere Ubu, whether anyone wants me to or not. RIP David Thomas…
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Leax...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Leax...
Pere Ubu - Nonalignment Pact
YouTube video by cookingvinylarchive
www.youtube.com
April 24, 2025 at 12:25 PM
I don't DJ very often. I'm rubbish at it. Way too indecisive. But when I do, I always play Non-Alignment Pact by Pere Ubu, whether anyone wants me to or not. RIP David Thomas…
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Leax...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Leax...
HOLD THE FRONT PAGE etc
Our very own senior arts correspondent, Adrian Lobb, is swapping interviews for running shoes on Sunday, 27 April, taking on the biggest London Marathon to date, to raise money for the Big Issue.
We're cheering him on, and you can too! Sponsor @adey70.bsky.social below. ⬇️
buff.ly/ygygZ6d
We're cheering him on, and you can too! Sponsor @adey70.bsky.social below. ⬇️
buff.ly/ygygZ6d
April 15, 2025 at 2:27 PM
HOLD THE FRONT PAGE etc
Reposted by Adrian Lobb
“Every sentence flows and dazzles like liquid gold, every paragraph has its own rhythm.” 📘
Big Issue books editor Jane Graham celebrates the centenary of F Scott Fitzgerald’s Great American Novel, first published in April 1925. ⬇️
buff.ly/izT9mWh
Big Issue books editor Jane Graham celebrates the centenary of F Scott Fitzgerald’s Great American Novel, first published in April 1925. ⬇️
buff.ly/izT9mWh
April 11, 2025 at 2:13 PM
“Every sentence flows and dazzles like liquid gold, every paragraph has its own rhythm.” 📘
Big Issue books editor Jane Graham celebrates the centenary of F Scott Fitzgerald’s Great American Novel, first published in April 1925. ⬇️
buff.ly/izT9mWh
Big Issue books editor Jane Graham celebrates the centenary of F Scott Fitzgerald’s Great American Novel, first published in April 1925. ⬇️
buff.ly/izT9mWh
Signed...
Fun fact. All of my books are being used by Meta to feed its AI model. No one asked me for permission, or has offered any compensation. I'm certain I'm not alone here. If you think copyright is important, please sign this. www.change.org/p/protect-au...
Sign the Petition
Protect authors’ livelihoods from the unlicensed use of their work in AI training
www.change.org
April 3, 2025 at 10:59 AM
Signed...
"I never had a problem with anything other than handling my own obsessions."
Really interesting to talk with David James, who I first saw playing for Watford v Derby County in 1992. 3-1 to Derby. He remembered. He remembers every game, every scoreline.
www.bigissue.com/culture/engl...
Really interesting to talk with David James, who I first saw playing for Watford v Derby County in 1992. 3-1 to Derby. He remembered. He remembers every game, every scoreline.
www.bigissue.com/culture/engl...
Football legend David James: 'I know I could have done things better'
David James didn't expect trophies at Portsmouth, but when they won the FA Cup, it was the fans' reaction that floored him.
www.bigissue.com
March 31, 2025 at 9:06 AM
"I never had a problem with anything other than handling my own obsessions."
Really interesting to talk with David James, who I first saw playing for Watford v Derby County in 1992. 3-1 to Derby. He remembered. He remembers every game, every scoreline.
www.bigissue.com/culture/engl...
Really interesting to talk with David James, who I first saw playing for Watford v Derby County in 1992. 3-1 to Derby. He remembered. He remembers every game, every scoreline.
www.bigissue.com/culture/engl...
“It’s a classic story - a band from the UK who might have reached seminal levels if only they had been from Chicago.”
I interviewed actual Billy Mahonie - whose tour starts tonight - and their old sound engineer, Paul Epworth…
www.bigissue.com/culture/musi...
I interviewed actual Billy Mahonie - whose tour starts tonight - and their old sound engineer, Paul Epworth…
www.bigissue.com/culture/musi...
'The record is a snapshot': Inside Billy Mahonie’s unlikely comeback and the evolution of post-rock
Billy Mahonie, the instrumental post-rock pioneers, return with their first album in over a decade, Field of Heads
www.bigissue.com
March 28, 2025 at 5:57 PM
“It’s a classic story - a band from the UK who might have reached seminal levels if only they had been from Chicago.”
I interviewed actual Billy Mahonie - whose tour starts tonight - and their old sound engineer, Paul Epworth…
www.bigissue.com/culture/musi...
I interviewed actual Billy Mahonie - whose tour starts tonight - and their old sound engineer, Paul Epworth…
www.bigissue.com/culture/musi...
Wet Leg secret gig at the Moth Club last night was ace, playing as ‘Uma Thurman’. Loads of new songs. First new one was great. And one that might be called Pillow Talk. And the one they played after Chaise Longue. And one near the end. Thanks for reading my gig review.
March 25, 2025 at 8:24 AM
Wet Leg secret gig at the Moth Club last night was ace, playing as ‘Uma Thurman’. Loads of new songs. First new one was great. And one that might be called Pillow Talk. And the one they played after Chaise Longue. And one near the end. Thanks for reading my gig review.
Reposted by Adrian Lobb
Big Issue's Kids Cover Competition is back for Earth Day – judged by the legendary Chris Packham
Big Issue's Kids Cover Competition is back for Earth Day – judged by Chris Packham
It's the Big Issue's Kids Cover Competition, and we're calling on all young artists to create our Earth Day cover for 2025. The theme? GO WILD!
buff.ly
March 12, 2025 at 1:16 PM
Big Issue's Kids Cover Competition is back for Earth Day – judged by the legendary Chris Packham
Reposted by Adrian Lobb
EXC: How UK's biggest companies lock autistic people out of jobs with personality tests
➡️Morrison's, John Lewis, McDonald's, Co-op +more using tests
➡️"I just don't stand a chance" say autistic jobseekers, as charities tell @bigissue.com tests may be discriminatory
www.bigissue.com/news/employm...
➡️Morrison's, John Lewis, McDonald's, Co-op +more using tests
➡️"I just don't stand a chance" say autistic jobseekers, as charities tell @bigissue.com tests may be discriminatory
www.bigissue.com/news/employm...
UK's biggest companies locking autistic people out of jobs with personality tests
Just three in 10 working age autistic people are in work, and charities say the use of personality tests for roles could be discriminatory.
www.bigissue.com
February 11, 2025 at 9:13 AM
EXC: How UK's biggest companies lock autistic people out of jobs with personality tests
➡️Morrison's, John Lewis, McDonald's, Co-op +more using tests
➡️"I just don't stand a chance" say autistic jobseekers, as charities tell @bigissue.com tests may be discriminatory
www.bigissue.com/news/employm...
➡️Morrison's, John Lewis, McDonald's, Co-op +more using tests
➡️"I just don't stand a chance" say autistic jobseekers, as charities tell @bigissue.com tests may be discriminatory
www.bigissue.com/news/employm...
Reposted by Adrian Lobb
Sense was the only disability charity that supplied evidence to a Public Accounts Committee report, which said the DWP was providing 'unacceptably poor service' to disability benefits claimants. ⛔️
Its policy and public affairs advisor writes about why change is needed. ⬇️
https://bit.ly/4jwxVgV
Its policy and public affairs advisor writes about why change is needed. ⬇️
https://bit.ly/4jwxVgV
January 31, 2025 at 2:43 PM
Sense was the only disability charity that supplied evidence to a Public Accounts Committee report, which said the DWP was providing 'unacceptably poor service' to disability benefits claimants. ⛔️
Its policy and public affairs advisor writes about why change is needed. ⬇️
https://bit.ly/4jwxVgV
Its policy and public affairs advisor writes about why change is needed. ⬇️
https://bit.ly/4jwxVgV
Reposted by Adrian Lobb
hello 👋 looking to hear from people working on any sweet photo or art projects in the areas of: social justice and activism; housing and homelessness; nature and climate change; immigration; health; human rights; other cool stuff
is this you? hit me up on ryan dot butcher at big issue dot com
is this you? hit me up on ryan dot butcher at big issue dot com
January 9, 2025 at 10:18 AM
hello 👋 looking to hear from people working on any sweet photo or art projects in the areas of: social justice and activism; housing and homelessness; nature and climate change; immigration; health; human rights; other cool stuff
is this you? hit me up on ryan dot butcher at big issue dot com
is this you? hit me up on ryan dot butcher at big issue dot com
He’s reading my interview with Nicola Coughlan about the Doctor Who Christmas special…
“When I was growing up, our home was my family’s security,” Prime Minister Keir Starmer writes in his exclusive Christmas message for Big Issue.
“We can’t build a strong future for our country unless people have a safe home today.”
Read his full message. ⬇️
www.bigissue.com/opinion/keir...
“We can’t build a strong future for our country unless people have a safe home today.”
Read his full message. ⬇️
www.bigissue.com/opinion/keir...
December 19, 2024 at 5:42 PM
He’s reading my interview with Nicola Coughlan about the Doctor Who Christmas special…
Reposted by Adrian Lobb
In perhaps his most personal column to date, Big Issue editor Paul McNamee writes about how this time last Christmas, his family was standing on the edge of a deep drop. They just didn’t know it yet. ✍️
Read his words on mental health, transporting trees, and hope. ⬇️
https://buff.ly/41ECwHk
Read his words on mental health, transporting trees, and hope. ⬇️
https://buff.ly/41ECwHk
December 17, 2024 at 5:13 PM
In perhaps his most personal column to date, Big Issue editor Paul McNamee writes about how this time last Christmas, his family was standing on the edge of a deep drop. They just didn’t know it yet. ✍️
Read his words on mental health, transporting trees, and hope. ⬇️
https://buff.ly/41ECwHk
Read his words on mental health, transporting trees, and hope. ⬇️
https://buff.ly/41ECwHk
It was a thrill to represent @bigissue.com in this match at Kingsmeadow (home of Chelsea FC Women). At 50, I thought I'd hung up my boots (they went to the charity shop in 2015). But I scored in a 7-3 victory over the Mayor and his Politician pals! Now we all join forces to tackle rough sleeping…
A true game of two halves, united by a shared cause and commitment to volunteer for Crisis this winter.
Last night, politicians and journalists took to the pitch for the inaugural ‘London VS Homelessness’ match to raise awareness of the urgent need to end rough sleeping by 2030.
Last night, politicians and journalists took to the pitch for the inaugural ‘London VS Homelessness’ match to raise awareness of the urgent need to end rough sleeping by 2030.
December 17, 2024 at 1:03 PM
It was a thrill to represent @bigissue.com in this match at Kingsmeadow (home of Chelsea FC Women). At 50, I thought I'd hung up my boots (they went to the charity shop in 2015). But I scored in a 7-3 victory over the Mayor and his Politician pals! Now we all join forces to tackle rough sleeping…