The Herald comment & analysis
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Comment and analysis from HeraldScotland.com - the home of Scottish politics and debate on the biggest issues facing Scotland
'Living as I do in the clasp of the central belt at times it can feel like I’m surrounded by the skeletons of modernism. Skeletons and ghosts' says @teddyjamieson.bsky.social as he reviews Modernist Scotland
'This book is a bible for believers in post-war Scottish modernism'
Much Scottish architecture in the 1960s and 1970s was substandard or built on the cheap. Now, new book Modernist Scotland by Bruce Peter looks at…
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November 18, 2025 at 4:44 PM
'Living as I do in the clasp of the central belt at times it can feel like I’m surrounded by the skeletons of modernism. Skeletons and ghosts' says @teddyjamieson.bsky.social as he reviews Modernist Scotland
SWG3's Mutley says that the current economic conditions have been the most challenging the Glasgow venue has ever faced in its 20 years, says @marissamacwhirter.bsky.social @heraldscotland.bsky.social @swg3glasgow.bsky.social
How a derelict Glasgow warehouse became one of Europe's most coveted arts venues
SWG3 in Glasgow's West End is celebrating 20 years of art and music that has helped put Scotland's creatives on the map.
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November 18, 2025 at 3:32 PM
SWG3's Mutley says that the current economic conditions have been the most challenging the Glasgow venue has ever faced in its 20 years, says @marissamacwhirter.bsky.social @heraldscotland.bsky.social @swg3glasgow.bsky.social
Bob Dylan review: 'There were a few walk-outs by people frustrated by - well, who knows? Perhaps it was Dylan’s traditional reworking of his songs old and new; or the regrettable absence of a greatest-hits set' @heraldscotland.bsky.social
'I watched Dylan bring his magic to Glasgow - I've no idea why those fans walked out'
Bob Dylan, SEC Armadillo, Glasgow: On the evidence of this concert, the great Bob Dylan is still eminently watchable, still having fun
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November 18, 2025 at 2:37 PM
Bob Dylan review: 'There were a few walk-outs by people frustrated by - well, who knows? Perhaps it was Dylan’s traditional reworking of his songs old and new; or the regrettable absence of a greatest-hits set' @heraldscotland.bsky.social
'Drosten founders Sean McLean, Stephen Tait, and Kurt McGonigle envisioned a retail destination that would breathe life back into brick and mortar. The store finally opened last month to much fanfare from the city’s fashion crowd' @marissamacwhirter.bsky.social @heraldscotland.bsky.social
Inside the new Scots boutique breathing life back into bricks and mortar
Drosten opened in Glasgow last month to much fanfare from the city’s fashion crowd.
www.heraldscotland.com
November 14, 2025 at 3:05 PM
'Drosten founders Sean McLean, Stephen Tait, and Kurt McGonigle envisioned a retail destination that would breathe life back into brick and mortar. The store finally opened last month to much fanfare from the city’s fashion crowd' @marissamacwhirter.bsky.social @heraldscotland.bsky.social
Have you seen these hilarious hipster memes? @marissamacwhirter.bsky.social @heraldscotland.bsky.social
Is being 'cool' now 'uncool'? Asking for a Stockbridge yummy mummy, writes Marissa
What does it mean to be cool? Columnist Marissa MacWhirter asks if we have reached post-irony, and if following the herd is finally in vogue.
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November 13, 2025 at 5:45 PM
Have you seen these hilarious hipster memes? @marissamacwhirter.bsky.social @heraldscotland.bsky.social
'Tom Newlands has created a character who imprints herself indelibly on the memory, a working class Scottish voice that’s smart, quirky and highly distinctive' @heraldscotland.bsky.social
I read the Scottish Book of the Year. Here's my review of Only Here, Only Now
Waterstones Scottish Book of the Year 2025 has been announced. So should you read it? Here's our review of Only Here, Only Now by Tom Newlands
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November 13, 2025 at 12:49 PM
'Tom Newlands has created a character who imprints herself indelibly on the memory, a working class Scottish voice that’s smart, quirky and highly distinctive' @heraldscotland.bsky.social
'The best song is saved till the very end of a show that celebrates the ones that are still there for you, even after all these years' Herald theatre critic on the Friends! theatre show @neilcooper.bsky.social @heraldscotland.bsky.social
Friends theatre show is kooky and lots and lots of fun
Review: Friends! The Musical Parody, King’s Theatre, Glasgow: Over a decade from 1994 to 2004, David Crane and Marta Kauffman’s flatshare comedy…
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November 12, 2025 at 1:00 PM
'The best song is saved till the very end of a show that celebrates the ones that are still there for you, even after all these years' Herald theatre critic on the Friends! theatre show @neilcooper.bsky.social @heraldscotland.bsky.social
'Lynne McEwan's Scottish crime novel takes place in the depths of winter, which inspires her to conjure up beautiful postcard images in the reader’s mind as the plot snakes around the forests, villages and country estates of Dumfries & Galloway' @heraldscotland.bsky.social @canelobooks.bsky.social
Latest Scottish crime thriller has more twists and turns than a country road
The sixth of Lynne McEwan’s series of novels about Dumfries-based police detective Shona Oliver comes with a lot of baggage from previous books…
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November 12, 2025 at 12:23 PM
'Lynne McEwan's Scottish crime novel takes place in the depths of winter, which inspires her to conjure up beautiful postcard images in the reader’s mind as the plot snakes around the forests, villages and country estates of Dumfries & Galloway' @heraldscotland.bsky.social @canelobooks.bsky.social
Review: 'Gary Numan live is no museum piece or wholly retro exercise. These songs live and breathe again — louder, darker, but in the main faithful to how in 1980' @heraldscotland.bsky.social
'It all started here': Why a pop icon was reborn in the Scots city he cannot forget
It was September 20, 1979, at the long-lost Glasgow Apollo, when Gary Numan first felt the full force of pop stardom. Cars had just hit number one…
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November 12, 2025 at 11:56 AM
Review: 'Gary Numan live is no museum piece or wholly retro exercise. These songs live and breathe again — louder, darker, but in the main faithful to how in 1980' @heraldscotland.bsky.social
'BBC south of the Border is under attack for what it has done on big issue subjects, the criticism which come BBC Scotland’s way focus on what it isn’t doing. Like making a success of an hour-long current affairs programme' @heraldscotland.bsky.social
I've watched BBC crisis unfold - here's how I think it was affect Scots TV and radio
What does the BBC crisis, which has seen the resignation of the director-general Tim Davie over journalism standards, mean for BBC Scotland?
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November 11, 2025 at 11:13 AM
'BBC south of the Border is under attack for what it has done on big issue subjects, the criticism which come BBC Scotland’s way focus on what it isn’t doing. Like making a success of an hour-long current affairs programme' @heraldscotland.bsky.social
Where once the BBC's news department was staffed by experienced and trained journalists now they’ve been annexed by activists for whom the concept of diversity of opinion is unbearable
'Insidious woke' culture is putting the future of the crisis-hit BBC at risk
Those campaigning for the BBC licence fee to be scrapped should be careful what they wish for, says Herald writer Kevin McKenna
www.heraldscotland.com
November 10, 2025 at 5:43 PM
Where once the BBC's news department was staffed by experienced and trained journalists now they’ve been annexed by activists for whom the concept of diversity of opinion is unbearable
'Just like the BBC, everything which shaped the 20th century - particularly from the post-war period to the millennium - is collapsing. There seems no way to arrest the process. History is moving too fast', says @neilmackay.bsky.social @heraldscotland.bsky.social
Crisis-hit BBC is just another casualty of the collapse of the 20th century rulebook
Like the Tory-Labour duopoly and the NHS, the BBC is a hangover from an age that’s dying. We must find how to make the media relevant again,…
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November 10, 2025 at 1:24 PM
'Just like the BBC, everything which shaped the 20th century - particularly from the post-war period to the millennium - is collapsing. There seems no way to arrest the process. History is moving too fast', says @neilmackay.bsky.social @heraldscotland.bsky.social
Is it true, I ask Lynne Ramsay, that on the first day on set of your new film Die My Love you decided to shoot a sex scene between its stars Jennifer Lawrence and Robert Pattison? @teddyjamieson.bsky.social @heraldscotland.bsky.social
"She was totally fearless" - Lynne Ramsay on Jennifer Lawrence in Die My Love
Is it true, I ask Lynne Ramsay, that on the first day on set of your new film Die My Love you decided to shoot a sex scene between its stars…
www.heraldscotland.com
November 7, 2025 at 11:43 AM
Is it true, I ask Lynne Ramsay, that on the first day on set of your new film Die My Love you decided to shoot a sex scene between its stars Jennifer Lawrence and Robert Pattison? @teddyjamieson.bsky.social @heraldscotland.bsky.social
'Scotland's landscape can be brooding, our architecture can hold darker histories', says one of Scotland's most exciting writers. @francinetoon.bsky.social @doubledaybooks.bsky.social @heraldscotland.bsky.social
This Scottish crime writer will send a Gothic shiver down your spine
Scots author and poet Francine Toon is following up her debut novel with Bluff. So what's it all about?
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November 6, 2025 at 12:54 PM
'Scotland's landscape can be brooding, our architecture can hold darker histories', says one of Scotland's most exciting writers. @francinetoon.bsky.social @doubledaybooks.bsky.social @heraldscotland.bsky.social
'Scottish exceptionalism is a myth. On all the typical measures – attitudes to taxation and spending, redistribution and liberal values – Scottish voters are only fractionally more left-leaning than English ones' says @rebeccamcq.bsky.social @heraldscotland.bsky.social
Independence could be the making of a Scottish right wing, says Rebecca McQuillan
John Swinney wants to convince voters that independence is necessary to “protect” the Scottish Parliament from Reform and further distance…
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November 5, 2025 at 2:42 PM
'Scottish exceptionalism is a myth. On all the typical measures – attitudes to taxation and spending, redistribution and liberal values – Scottish voters are only fractionally more left-leaning than English ones' says @rebeccamcq.bsky.social @heraldscotland.bsky.social
It's a tough life for Scotland's actors - and it's tougher still when ex-MPs steal their jobs @heraldscotland.bsky.social
No wonder Scots actors are angry Mhairi Black is stealing their jobs
Does the decision by BBC Scotland to cast ex-SNP MP Mhairi Black in a new TV drama look anything but daft? Is it any surprise that Scotland’s…
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November 5, 2025 at 2:07 PM
It's a tough life for Scotland's actors - and it's tougher still when ex-MPs steal their jobs @heraldscotland.bsky.social
'Nor did Ed Gein ever admit to, or was charged with, murdering his older brother Henry, although this is presented as fact in the Netflix series' writes criminologist David Wilson @heraldscotland.bsky.social
Can we trust Netflix’s take in this grisly Ed Gein show?
From Netflix to lecture halls, the question remains the same: why do people commit horrific crimes? David Wilson unpacks our obsession with the…
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November 5, 2025 at 11:33 AM
'Nor did Ed Gein ever admit to, or was charged with, murdering his older brother Henry, although this is presented as fact in the Netflix series' writes criminologist David Wilson @heraldscotland.bsky.social
'Caledonian variety has its own particular flavour, and while the centre of gravity is focussed firmly on Glasgow, it draws on musical influences from all points of the compass.' @heraldscotland.bsky.social
Five jazz musicians putting Scotland on the map
It used to be a standing joke that every year a token jazz act would be nominated for the prestigious Mercury Music Prize but would never win it.…
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November 4, 2025 at 3:36 PM
'Caledonian variety has its own particular flavour, and while the centre of gravity is focussed firmly on Glasgow, it draws on musical influences from all points of the compass.' @heraldscotland.bsky.social
Review: Does online popularity of Scots comedian Stuart Mitchell translate to onstage? On this evidence, very much so, says @teddyjamieson.bsky.social @heraldscotland.bsky.social
Tips Not Included: Stuart Mitchell turns trauma into comedy gold
Stuart Mitchell: Tips Not Included. After roughly a decade on the comedy circuit Stuart Mitchell has become something of an overnight success.
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November 3, 2025 at 11:15 AM
Review: Does online popularity of Scots comedian Stuart Mitchell translate to onstage? On this evidence, very much so, says @teddyjamieson.bsky.social @heraldscotland.bsky.social
'This hit Broadway musical condenses all 236 episodes into two hours in a fond revisitation' @heraldscotland.bsky.social @neilcooper.bsky.social
Top 10 Theatre shows to see in November, from Friends to Inside No.9
As the theatre season moves into November, Christmas shows and pantomimes prepare to open for the festive season. More of that in December, but…
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November 3, 2025 at 10:53 AM
'This hit Broadway musical condenses all 236 episodes into two hours in a fond revisitation' @heraldscotland.bsky.social @neilcooper.bsky.social
Blood is a lot thicker than water for Oskar and his new friend Eli in Jack Thorne’s stage version of Swedish writer John Ajvide Lindqvist’s much-filmed teen vampire novel, says Herald theatre critic @neilcooper.bsky.social @heraldscotland.bsky.social
'Like a Scandi-noir thriller, this sensual theatre show takes no prisoners'
Theatre review: Let the Right One In, Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, Glasgow, four stars: Blood is a lot thicker than water in Jack Thorne’s…
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October 31, 2025 at 12:26 PM
Blood is a lot thicker than water for Oskar and his new friend Eli in Jack Thorne’s stage version of Swedish writer John Ajvide Lindqvist’s much-filmed teen vampire novel, says Herald theatre critic @neilcooper.bsky.social @heraldscotland.bsky.social
As M&S pulls out of another Scottish town centre we are losing more than just a shop, says @marissamacwhirter.bsky.social @heraldscotland.bsky.social
M&S leaving our town centres marks the end of a middle-class dream, writes Marissa
We should be used to it by now, but the announcement that Marks & Spencer is abandoning another Scottish high street is still a gut punch.
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October 31, 2025 at 12:09 PM
As M&S pulls out of another Scottish town centre we are losing more than just a shop, says @marissamacwhirter.bsky.social @heraldscotland.bsky.social
It’s time for the unionist parties to rethink whether they can continue to rely on anti-nationalist voting to contain the SNP, says @markmcgeoghegan.bsky.social @heraldscotland.bsky.social
Plaid Cymru beat Reform - will Scots back the SNP to do the same?
In the wake of Plaid Cymru’s victory in Caerphilly and Reform UK’s reshaping of the political landscape, Scotland’s unionists need to rethink…
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October 31, 2025 at 12:08 PM
It’s time for the unionist parties to rethink whether they can continue to rely on anti-nationalist voting to contain the SNP, says @markmcgeoghegan.bsky.social @heraldscotland.bsky.social
Radio listeners are creatures of habit and as such tend to grumble about anything that shakes things up. On this occasion, I have to say, I’m with them, says @teddyjamieson.bsky.social @heraldscotland.bsky.social
Sound of Cinema silenced: Matthew Sweet departs, Edith Bowman steps in
On Saturday afternoon Matthew Sweet signed off from Sound of Cinema for the last time. After 12 years presenting the film music show, a show that he…
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October 30, 2025 at 3:13 PM
Radio listeners are creatures of habit and as such tend to grumble about anything that shakes things up. On this occasion, I have to say, I’m with them, says @teddyjamieson.bsky.social @heraldscotland.bsky.social
Forget tartan noir, here are five of our favourite Scottish historical crime writers @heraldscotland.bsky.social
From Renaissance Florence to 1920s Calcutta five of the best historical crime writers
Chuck a body bag in any Scottish city or rugged rural landscape and you’ll likely hit a celebrated crime writer. There are so many they have…
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October 30, 2025 at 12:11 PM
Forget tartan noir, here are five of our favourite Scottish historical crime writers @heraldscotland.bsky.social