Issue 133, April 2019

This month Opus is proud to release its new company branding into the world, including a new company face (literally, see opposite) and new visual appearance for all our projects, including Now Then and Festival of Debate. We hope this is the beginning of a new chapter for the company and that it will help everything we do become more identifiably part of the Opus family. Our mission as a company remains the same.

Also coming up this month is the launch of Festival of Debate 2019. Read more on page 25 or visit festivalofdebate.com for the full festival programme. Some keynote highlights include George Monbiot & George Marshall, Afua Hirsch, Paul Mason, The Guilty Feminist and James O’Brien.

This month’s issue is looking slick courtesy of featured artist Anna Forlati, who comes to Sheffield soon as part of a collaboration with Ruskin in Sheffield. We’ve got interviews with comic and columnist Mark Steel and country-folk singer-songwriter Gretchen Peters, plus loads more to sink your teeth into.

by Sam Walby (he/him)

Follow @NowThenSam on Twitter

This month's articles

1 April 2019

"Our leaders have failed us. This twisted system is killing us. It has us headed for extinction. It's time to rebel." This is a statement…

1 April 2019

"It is the province of knowledge to speak and it is the privilege of wisdom to listen." Oliver Wendell HolmesThe sound of clacking…

1 April 2019

Mark Steel is a lovely person and a sharp comedian with many accolades. His columns in The Guardian and The Independent crack me up while…

1 April 2019

In 2017 work began on a cluster of abandoned buildings at Moorfoot as part of a regeneration project, transforming the space into a new gay…

1 April 2019

A sign tied to a lamp-post gives notice of the planning application to turn the abandoned Eye Witness Works, the spiritual home of knives…

1 April 2019

Treating yourself to something sweet will brighten up any grey day.You only need to look at Instagram for a taste of the sweet treats you…

1 April 2019

175g butter450g chocolate (higher cocoa solid content is better)350g light brown sugar5 free range eggs150g plain flour (can be substituted…

1 April 2019

A big thanks to those of you who have been following our experiments with augmented reality and poetry over the last few months. If you've…

1 April 2019

Now Then's parent company, Opus, also co-ordinates Festival of Debate, which returns this month for its fifth year. Here's a quick rundown…

1 April 2019

The Politics of Offence Where has all this politics of offence come from? What happened to all the good old days, when social change wasn't…

1 April 2019

"Among my illustrations, the ones I prefer are mostly those that emerge from inside rather than outside. Sometimes I conceive them when I'm drifting into sleep."

1 April 2019

While writing and performing music I've met plenty of Ryans.

1 April 2019

According to Google, Club Rush is a tall plant with creeping underground stems, commonly found in most areas of England. Nestled in the…

1 April 2019

It had been one of those transient March days, when the weather brewed a perfect nostalgic storm. The liminal space between bright sunlight…

1 April 2019

On the night after International Women's Day, Hatch celebrated the occasion with an energetic line-up of female-fronted live goodness,…

1 April 2019

The AlgoMech Festival of Algorithmic and Mechanical Movement returns to Sheffield in May. "AlgoMech is a strange one, but coming to its…

1 April 2019

Ahead of the aptly-named Strings Attached tour, which stops in Sheffield this month, we spoke to Gretchen about the past, present and future accomplishments spanning her twelve-album career.