In the world of football and wider popular culture, Pelé is an elusive figure. Regarded by many as the greatest football player of all time, he is a national hero in Brazil, was among the first truly globally successful black players, and is even credited with popularising the phrase “the Beautiful Game”.
Netflix documentary Pelé sets out to investigate the legacy of this footballing legend. In addition to archive footage from the peak of his career, the filmmakers interviewed Pelé as well as a host of his peers, journalists and other significant figures from the period.
When dealing with such a towering personality, especially when they are directly involved in the project, there might be a tendency to gloss over some aspects of the past and focus on his unprecedented sporting achievements. The great success of this documentary is that the filmmakers resist this temptation by properly investigating their subject.
At the height of Pelé’s success in the 1960s, the Brazilian Armed Forces launched an American-backed coup against the civilian administration of João Goulart, beginning a period of authoritarian military dictatorship that lasted over two decades. In the documentary, Pelé is explicitly questioned about his knowledge of torture and extrajudicial killings by the regime and even responds that he was aware at the time.
Pelé never endorsed the dictatorship in any sense and repeats his claim to be uninterested in politics in the documentary but his immense public profile left many frustrated that he did not speak out. Former Brazilian teammate Caju makes this explicit in the film, describing Pelé’s behaviour as “that of a black man who says ‘yes sir’, a submissive black man“.
Throughout the period of the dictatorship, the unprecedented success of the Brazilian team became incredibly important to the regime. After their third World Cup victory in 1970, President Médici was prominently pictured alongside Pelé and the rest of the national team while holding the Jules Rimet Trophy.
Though none of this should detract from his incredible talent on the field, it adds a degree of depth to the documentary that the filmmakers were willing to explore this aspect of Pelé’s life.
The rest of the film is relatively familiar territory for a biographical documentary. The story is told linearly from his childhood in Brazil through his early success and to the height of his fame. At each stage there are interviews with those who knew him and some great footage of his best moments on the pitch.
Given the similar subject matter, it is difficult not to draw comparisons with Asif Kapadia’s Diego Maradona from 2019. That film utilises footage of Maradona playing much more effectively and presents a more refined vision of its subject than Pelé; although this might be an unfair comparison given there is far more footage available from the Maradona era.
Pelé is an engaging film about a magnificent footballer and a flawed character. In spite of its generally celebratory tone, it doesn’t ignore the controversial aspects of Pelé’s legacy. For any fan of the Beautiful Game, it is worth the watch.
Sub Cultures are an exciting alternative indie four-piece band with members from South Wales and Gloucestershire. Their debut self-titled EP will be released on the 26th March via Prank Monkey Records. Ahead of this, I called frontman Kane Radnor to chat about the band. We discussed their influences, how the pandemic has affected their work, and what the future holds for the group.
They’ve been compared to DMA’s and The Night Café which Kane says are some of ‘his favourite bands’. But their influences are eclectic, ranging from 90s and noughties alt-rock bands to The Cure, whom Radnor is ‘massively inspired’ by.
The band’s name came from a piece of art by a friend of theirs. Kane explains it was a picture of ‘lots of different people belonging to different subcultures like goths, emos, rastas and skaters’ . He mentions the name also reflects the band’s wide range of influences. I asked Kane if he were to belong to a specific subculture, what it would be? He decided on skaters, enthusing about Bristol’s thriving skate scene.
Having members in both England and Wales during the COVID-19 pandemic has made rehearsing and writing difficult for Sub Cultures. Yet, Kane tells me the band has been ‘optimistic’ about the situation, and has been able to adapt to using online platforms such as Zoom to plan and share ideas.
However, in September last year, the boys were able to travel to Rockfields Studios in Monmouthshire, Wales. The legendary studio which has hosted names such as Oasis and Manic Street Preachers, to record their new EP, an experience that Kane describes as ‘surreal’.
The opening track ‘Comedown’ is 2 minutes of pure energy. Soaring guitars and infectious basslines from Charlie Foster feature heavily throughout the EP, and this track is no exception.
Lead single ‘Enjoy Yourself’ erupts in a similar vein and is sure to be a hit with audiences when the band can play it live. The lyrics are relatable, clearly inspired by various lockdowns in the UK (‘you find yourself at home with nowhere else to go’), but also optimistic. The instrumental section in the final minute already brings to mind roaring festival crowds.
“We’re more of a live band […] we play all the songs a little differently live”
Sub Cultures have previously toured with Northern bands such as The Pines and Violet. Kane explains ‘We’re more of a live band […] we play all the songs a little bit differently live than we would on the record’. He can’t wait to get back on the road, and hopefully play some more festivals in the future.
Third track ‘Friends’ takes a different turn, slowing down and allowing Radnor to show off his vocals. Done so over smooth guitars from Lewis Perks and steady drumming from Eric Karvik.
‘Ride with You’ is a brilliant finale to the EP, with its catchy chorus (‘step out my car I don’t want to see you anymore’) and quick changes of pace showcasing Sub Cultures’ more experimental side.
Asking Kane to describe Sub Cultures in three words, he responded with ‘rough, punky and energetic’. Hailed as ‘indie heaven’ by Last Day Leaf, Sub Cultures’ eponymous EP with its distinct sound certainly establishes the band as one to watch in 2021.
‘Sub Cultures’ EP is available on 26th March 2021, but you can stream lead single ‘Enjoy Yourself’ on Spotify now.
Sub Cultures – ‘Sub Cultures’ EP tracklisting:
Sub Cultures EP Packshot – Lewis & Jessica Perks 2021
Ruben Stone (Riz Ahmed) is living the life of his dreams. Being a drummer on tour with his band co-member and the love of his life, Lou (Olivia Cooke), travelling through the United States in their RV.
Until one night, during a concert, something unexplainable happens – he suddenly starts losing his hearing. It’s not all immediate. At first every sound is muffled but somehow hearable. However, the condition is deteriorating quickly and the fear of becoming entirely deaf gets bigger with every day. Desperate Ruben sneaks out to the audiologist, yet unaware that his life is about to change forever.
Shortly afterwards he hears the terrifying diagnosis – he won’t be able to hear again. The only thing he can do is eliminate every loud sound from his life and dream of a cochlear implant which price amounts to tens of thousands of dollars.
Ruben’s girlfriend gets him a place in a rural deaf community, where he is about to learn to accept his fate with help of fellow hearing-impaired people and the head of the community, Joe (Paul Raci). This is where Ruben’s internal battle begins.
Should he settle in the new place and come to terms with the fact that there’s no coming back to the life he was living? Or should he do all what’s in his power to get the money for the implant and try to return to music, to Lou, and to the spontaneous, almost nomadic life they had together?
Much akin Chloé Zhao’s 2017 understated gem The Rider, Sound of Metal rejects any hollow dramatisation and focuses on the human and honest aspects of the story. These two films bear many similarities, and Sound of Metal’s screenwriter and director Darius Marder directly pays tribute to Zhao’s film in a frame-by-frame homage in the latter part of the story.
Marder’s effort, however, delves deeper into the meaning of what the main character is fighting for. Is it actually worth hurting the feelings of people around us and dismissing the stable, quiet life to fight for a lost way of living? What exactly was in that way of living that he’s longing for the most and why can’t he find happiness in the new situation?
After all, everything seems to be going well, and it looks like Ruben is slowly accepting the new way of living – as a deaf person in a caring, supportive community far from the shambles and intensity of his past.
But it’s not that easy to run away from who we used to be, and he clearly can’t be at peace living the quiet life which, as we see, cannot satisfy everyone. This difference in people’s preferences is brilliantly explored through countless discussions and quarrels Ruben has with Joe, whose heartfelt but overtly patronising monologues are aimed at helping Ruben find his way in life and teaching him how to start loving himself.
Sound of Metal is a beautifully honest meditation on our attachments to our ways of living. And although the story of a musician becoming deaf is seemingly specific, the film conveys a universal message and will encourage everyone to reflect on their lives – maybe it will help you accept some major changes – or, on the contrary, make you realise that a part of your identity has been lost and needs to be fought for.
Klara and the Sun is the keenly awaited new title by Kazuo Ishiguro; the author of Never Let Me Go and The Remains of the Day. It is his first book since winning the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2017.
The novel reflects on love, friendship, and feeling, through the eyes of an Artificial Friend, Klara. It has already been hailed as ‘another masterpiece’ by The Guardian.
In his eighth novel, Ishiguro offers yet another alternative reality. His astounding creativity is reflected in his ability to repeatedly depict scary parallels to the world we inhabit. Yet what struck me while reading Klara and the Sun is the cohesive anxieties that run through Ishiguro’s novels, such as the climate crisis and fear of extreme technological advances.
The novel depicts a recognisable but very different America. Josie and her mother buy solar-powered Klara from ‘the store’, where she is chosen instead of the more expensive but more sophisticated B3 models.
Klara then returns with them to their home, where she begins to piece together bits of their world and family relationships. Josie suffers from an unspecified illness and, like other ‘lifted’ children, studies online with tutors via their ‘oblongs’. To readers in lockdown, it is a scarily recognisable lonely and isolated life and way of learning, hence Josie’s need for an AF.
“I believe I have many feelings,” Klara says. “The more I observe, the more feelings become available to me.”
Klara’s fondness for the sun is explained by her solar powered nature, yet her belief in the sun’s power is, ironically, one of her most human-like qualities. However, we are constantly reminded of her robot-ness. It is apparent when she attempts to navigate uneven ground, and when the world breaks up into ‘squares’, or pixels.
There is a mixture of astute observation and blind naivety in Klara’s narration, making it at once endearing and frustrating. Klara’s judgement and perspective are limited, so we are left to try and fill in the blanks ourselves.
As with Never Let Me Go, Ishiguro only slowly drip-feeds pieces of information to the reader about this futuristic America. This is one of the reasons for the staying power of both novels, but I was left with many questions about the way aspects of this world function.
Klara and the Sun lived up to my extremely exalted expectations, and I devoured it in a few days. However, I have to confess to being left wanting more, which is perhaps precisely as we should expect to feel after seeing a world filtered through artificial eyes.
The uses of gene editing have been clouded with controversy ever since the technology was first developed in the 1970s. Originally, as with many new discoveries (evolution, anyone?), the concept was met with hesitancy, and slowly gained interest and acceptance. But this came to a crashing halt in 1999 following the death of 18-year-old Jesse Gelsinger. The scientific community stayed relatively quiet on gene therapy after that in attempt to shy from contentious limelight that threatened the reputation of genetic research. However, the media and science fiction never failed to keep the concept in people’s minds, forwarding negative frames of gene editing technology that kept the embers of bioethical debates aflame.
Today, phrases like “designer babies” still stir up fervent dinner table debates. These conversations were reignited by the breakthrough gene-editing tool CRISPR-Cas9 that emerged in 2012. However this potentially life-saving technology is often discredited and plagued by misinformation. With the doors reopened for gene editing to return to the forefront of modern medicine, it’s crucial to learn about the correct facts and information that can decode this controversy.
The history of genes and gene editing technology
Following the discovery of the DNA double helix in 1953, the dominating research questions that emerged aimed to understand more about the microscopic code in our bodies. DNA is organised into thousands of genes and each one contains the instructions to create an element of you. Everything from the shape of your cells to your eye colour is influenced by your DNA.
By the 1970s scientists around the world were fascinated by using the recent discoveries of gene understanding to consider the possibilities of genetic engineering. The technology boomed in the subsequent decade. In 1982, bacteria was engineered to produce synthetic human insulin (the hormone needed to breakdown glucose). In 1988, pest-resistant corn was available for the first time. As a result, most crops are genetically modified in some way today. Of course, one of the most famous examples of genetic engineering is the famous cloning of Dolly the Sheep in 1996. From glow-in-the-dark pets to tomatoes that stayed ripe, suddenly everything seemed possible. The obvious next step was to apply the technology to humans.
The first gene therapy trial was approved in 1990 to treat a four-year-old girl suffering from an immune system deficiency called SCID. The researchers concluded that there was room for improvement, but overall was a “safe and effective addition to treatment for some patients with this severe immunodeficiency disease”. She was not cured, but it was definitely a promising start for human gene therapy.
The viral story of Jesse Gelsinger
Experimental trials took place throughout the 1990s to varying degrees of success, but no outcome was as devastating as the death of Jesse Gelsinger. Jesse was being treated with experimental gene therapy for a rare metabolic condition called ornithine transcarbamylase deficiencywhich leads to a toxic buildup of ammonia in the blood.
One widely used method for gene therapy is to use a non-threatening virus as a carrier, called a vector, to ‘deliver’ undamaged copies of the targeted gene to the cells. This method was used to treat Jesse. Even though the viral vector used for could not make him ill, Jesse’s body recognised the vector as foreign and his immune system responded drastically to it. It was this inflamed response that ultimately led to his tragic death. The medical catastrophe plunged gene editing into unending debate revolving around the blurred lines between medical progress and peril.
The biggest obstacle for gene therapy is delivering the new genes to the cells, as the environment of the blood stream is unpredictable and under constant surveillance by the immune system. And though this problem persists with modern gene therapy tools, they do not require a viral vector. This removes the risk of an intense immune response. The improvements of gene editing technology over time have been developed with this controversy in mind, acutely aware of implications to human health and safety.
CRISPR-Cas9
This revolutionary technology was discovered in 2012 by the Nobel Prize winners Jennifer Doudna and Emmanuelle Charpentier and has transformed the ability to edit genes.
Though promising, this too drew controversy following the questionable experiements carried out by He Jiankui in 2018. He originally claimed that he had created the first genetically modified babies, a set of twins whose altered genes to made them immune to HIV. We now know the He misled couples into receiving IVF and experimented on the embryos unethically. What’s more is that there is no evidence that the twin girls are in fact immune, and little is known about what the effects are of He’s manipulation. In 2019, He was sentenced to three years in prison, where he currently remains. So far, he is the only scientist to take such drastic strides into the unknown realm of gene editing. For now.
Approaching the future of gene therapy without fear
So yes, designer babies are a reasonable bioethical concern to hold. But like any new field of science, legislation is emerging. With gene editing technology, it’s technically possible to change physical characteristics eye or skin colour. However, the positive potential of gene editing technqiues should not be underscored.
CRISPR-Cas9 could remove damaged or variant genes which could treat, prevent or even cure some diseases. Gene therapy will be essential in finally conquering some seemingly incurable conditions. So we encourage the heated discussions with your friends and family over the ethics of what seems like science fiction, but make sure not overlook what it could mean for medicine, and the lives it could save.
For the past 5 years there has been a large political shadow over the country, to the point where it has almost been over satirised: Brexit. As we’ve entered 2021, the government have been finishing off the last-minute details, but COVID has unfortunately overshadowed a lot of this process’ media coverage. In this article, I will briefly summarise how the UK science community will be affected going forward.
Firstly, a big issue for all international industries, is the trade and acquisition of resources. Although the UK is still a massive export power, it also imports a vast quantity of materials, and many of these come from the EU. For example, around 70% of all chemical imports come from EU member states.
We have to start thinking about how to access these resources now we are out of the EU, and it will take a lot of workers (and even more paperwork) to solve these problems. Trading in this area was previously overseen by REACH: Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of chemicals.
To replace this, the government has introduced UK REACH, and at first glance, it’s just a rip off of EU policy. Now for a lot of manufacturing and research will need to go through both UK and EU REACH, which will apply similar, but slightly different health and safety executive policies.
There are also other factors to consider besides trade. When the most recent UK budget was unveiled on March 3rd, the plan for the governmental increase in Research and Development was laid out.
This included a £22 Billion investment in the next 3-4 years that was announced last year. This is encouraging, however, the precise funding still leaves a lot of academics and policymakers uncertain.
In addition, this funding may fail to combat the current pressure on the charity sector due to the pandemic’s impact on the economy. This could have significant impact on research carried out by funding bodies such as Cancer Research UK.
Both the government and the scientific community are currently trying to ensure a revival for the economy in these uncertain times. Despite most to all of current resources being pooled into getting us out of the pandemic, there are still promising areas of development.
The requests of the scientific community are fairly simple in nature, despite being complex to fulfil. We want the chance to innovate, and for graduates and academics to find stable and invested futures beyond university. This new era for science, and this new era for the UK, doesn’t necessarily negate this. However, there will almost certainly be some more paperwork involved.
The number of vaccinations are steadily increasing in the UK. To control the global risk of COVID-19, citizens of all countries must be vaccinated. The WHO-backed COVAX scheme is currently underway to provide equitable access of vaccines to less wealthy countries. Alongside the GAVI vaccine alliance and UNICEF, COVAX works with more than two-thirds of the world’s countries. It is attempting to end the pandemic, and provide free healthcare to the people that need it most.
The first countries to receive mass vaccinations through the COVAX scheme were Ghana and Ivory Coast. These began on the 1st of March. Beginning in Ghana, with the most vulnerable and frontline workers, as well as the President Nana Akufo-Addo, the Oxford-Astrazeneca vaccine began to be safely administered.
COVAX: Aims
The aim of Covax is to deliver 2 billion vaccines to 190 countries, including 92 poorer nations. This initiative is important for keeping the people of these countries safe and healthy, by providing immunity against this destructive virus. It also has huge benefits in reducing the global transmission of SARS-CoV-2. Wealthier countries will be much more able to negotiate and afford vaccine contracts. However, every country needs access to vaccines to protect everyone’s safety, including people in the UK.
If people are vaccinated quickly, the virus has less chance of spreading and mutating into potentially more dangerous versions. These versions may render the current vaccines ineffective. The scheme also provides a key level of security, even to the wealthier nations, as an ‘insurance policy’ – in case of a shortage on vaccines.
COVAX is mostly funded through government aid, alongside some philanthropic donations. The US has pledged $4 billion towards the scheme after recently re-joining WHO. The UK has already committed £548 million.
WHO has estimated that global mass vaccinations improve the global economy by preventing the loss of $375 billion each month, so the cost to governments is likely to be a wise economic decision.
No doubt met with challenges, COVAX is an ambitious scheme. However, a global effort to reduce the harm and spread of COVID-19 is necessary in restoring life as we know it and protecting the most vulnerable.
UoM’s Fashion Society is hosting its first-ever panel discussion on 17th March at 6pm. Topics such as sustainability and representation will be discussed as well as work experience opportunities in the fashion industry.
Lydia, the president of the fashion society explains her motivation behind the event, ‘I believe that hearing from a variety of voices in the industry is the best way to be inspired.’
Speakers for this panel event come from wide range of backgrounds and diverse experience in the fashion industry, including:
Dale Hicks from the Fashion Network, an expert at running panel discussion events with some great industry insights.
Dre from Native Youth, an experienced marketer in the industry
Nichole from Black In Fashion Instagram page dedicated to represent and connect black individuals in fashion and beauty industry.
Costy from Renoon, a technology start-up which helps people find sustainable products to avoid misleading ‘greenwashing’ companies. She is the community organiser for the company.
Kupa Matondo, a fashion stylist and founder of afar jewellery brand.
Ben, with the username of @thefashionboyy on TikTok, is a fashion TikToker with over 95k followers.
Katie, UoM’s Fashion society’s social media manager and owner of the student start-up eco-friendly and hand-stitched brand Luna lane accessories, where 25% of the profits are donated to another University of Manchester’s student-led charity project, Once A Month.
‘We have decided to create this business panel discussion as a means of connecting members with each other and those playing an active role in the industry. We hope this event will provide perspectives on topics such as sustainability and representation’, Lydia, president of the fashion society.
After covering Asian and French and Italian films we come back with the third part of our International Cinema series, and this time we picked our favourite films from Spain and Latin America. From stories of drug trafficking and crime to deeply human dramas, everyone will be able to find something for themselves.
In many ways, Birds of Passage is a typical crime story about the moral corruption of being involved in the drug trade and how it haunts those at its centre. Rapayet, a member of the indigenous Wayuu people of northern Colombia, is the film’s protagonist and it follows his story over the period of a decade. Despite the seemingly familiar narrative, Birds of Passage is a profoundly original work.
From the soundtrack to the cinematography, directors Ciro Guerra and Cristina Gallego create a rich and diverse texture to the film that enhances the sense of being immersed in the time and place of the story. By utilising the conventions of genre to manipulate the familiar into something completely new, they create a masterpiece of modern cinema.
Set in the abandoned Colombian mountains, a group of militant teenagers try to hold on to remnants of their humanity in this haunting and gripping film.
Written and directed by Alejandro Landes, Monos cascades from high above the clouds to the depths of the dark jungle below. The teenagers fight, love, and kill in order to show their devotion to an unknown, egregious cause.
Jasper Wolf’s stark cinematography and Mica Levi’s pulsating score shift the film’s already enthralling narrative into a whole new realm. Utilising themes and visuals from such works as Golding’s Lord of the Flies and Coppola’s Apocalypse Now, the film explores the depths of the human condition when law and order become relics of the past.
If you’re looking for the ultimate road trip movie, The Motorcycle Diaries is the movie to watch! It follows the early life of Che Guevara and his journey across South America where we see the roots and motivations behind his activism. Juan Garcia Bernal delivers an exquisite performance of Guevara by creating an empathetic, imperfect, and provocative portrait of arguably one of the most iconic and influential figures of the 21st century.
This is an incredibly inspiring watch will surely give you urge to jump on a motorbike to discover yourself and the world around you. Additionally, the cinematography is absolutely stunning as it exposes the striking beauty of the South American landscape.
There is a lot to love about Volver. The balance of colours, the juxtaposition of modern and traditional Spain, and the fantastic performances from the entire cast. But two elements tower above the rest of the film.
The first is Penelope Cruz’s confident and well-judged performance that speaks of a strong bond between a great actor and their director (Volver is the third Cruz’s collaboration with Pedro Almodóvar). Her performance carries the audience through the melodrama of the story, ensuring every emotional beat lands where it should.
The second is the writing. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a man write female characters as naturally as they appear here; and they are wonderfully realised by the cast. It is a dense plot, like a strange city of narrow, twisting streets, yet the script remains as airy as the village at the centre of the drama.
Y tu mamá también is one of two Mexican masterpieces by Alfonso Cuarón (alongside Roma), capturing the essence of the country’s culture, society, and politics. What makes it truly stand out though is its youthful playfulness and an unforgettably dynamic character. We follow two teenage best friends, Julio and Tenoch, who embark on a journey with an older woman that they both fancy. As they drive through socially divided landscapes of rural Mexico, their journey of self-discovery takes place simultaneously.
The film explores the boundaries between friendship and love pushing them to absolute limits and testing the nature of human connections and relationships. A road trip movie like no other and a coming-of-age gem showing the essence of adolescent uncertainties.
Nick Cave is well-known for his macabre writing. Yet, after two tender albums dealing with loss, he appears to have successfully found a middle-ground. Just between snarling storytelling and moving melodies with Carnage.
Cave’s greatest talent may well be his ability to evoke opposite emotions; to make you laugh with his deadpan humour and to make you cry with his emotive writing. He’s a king of contradictions, whose writing can be both harrowing and hopeful. Someone who can simultaneously sadden and soothe the listener. He certainly achieves these effects on Carnage, where he is accompanied by Warren Ellis, veteran Bad Seed, multi-instrumentalist and frequent collaborator with Cave since 1993.
Religion, a favourite subject of Cave’s, appears to be the main theme of album opener ‘Hand of God’. Where Cave questions our purpose on Earth and the afterlife. The track’s pulsing beat and the eerie chant of ‘Hand of God’, along with Ellis’ haunting string arrangements towards the end set the tone for the darkness to come.
A King of Contradictions
Cave laments the past on ‘Old Time’. This is a song which is carried forward by rattling drums and describes desolate, almost apocalyptic, landscapes. It is clear that grief is still an important theme on this album. Cave harrowingly reassures ‘wherever you are darling, I’m not that far behind’.
Evoking the imagery of his previous 2019 album ‘Ghosteen’ where Cave wrote about the tragic loss of his son.
In the solemn title track ‘Carnage’, Cave is ‘reading Flannery O’Connor’. What is a a devoutly Catholic novelist of the Southern Gothic literary genre, whose influence is felt on many a Bad Seeds song. Cave comments with self-awareness ‘this song is like a rain cloud that keeps circling overhead’, as tinkling chimes resound.
Undoubtedly the most striking song on the album is its centrepiece, ‘White Elephant’, with its jolting melody and vivid lyrics. Cave rarely releases a politically charged song. As such it is interesting to hear him explicitly refer to the toppling of the Edward Colston statue in Bristol at the height of the Black Lives Matter movement. More specifically to the killing of George Floyd at the hands of US police (‘I can’t breathe’).
Somehow, Cave manages to inject a song of such serious subject matter with his absurd humour (‘I am a Botticelli Venus with a penis’).
At one point he declares ‘I’ll shoot you in the fucking face if you think of coming around here’. Thus evoking the violent songs of the Bad Seeds’ 1996 album ‘Murder Ballads’, as sirens screech in the background. The song ultimately takes on a more uplifting tone, as bells chime, suggesting positive change is coming, and providing some much-needed optimism at this point in time.
‘Albuquerque’ is a delicate piano-led number, with lyrics which seemingly refer to the numerous lockdowns and travel restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic. Mentioning ‘We won’t get to Amsterdam or that lake in Africa’. The idea of finding unity in times of hardship is further explored on the next track ‘Lavender Fields’. Here, Cave is backed by a gospel choir, who offer their support when he is ‘appallingly alone’. It also poses more existential questions: ‘Where did they go? Where do they hide?’, much like ‘Hand of God’.
‘Shattered Ground’ is a love song, featuring some of Cave’s most poetic lyrics: ‘The moon is a girl with the sun in her eyes’. But like many of the characters he meets along the way of this record, the girl is ‘waving goodbye’. Perhaps she is leaving town or perhaps she is dying (the ambient synth-heavy music by Ellis would certainly imply the latter).
An album preoccupied with Mortality
On album closer ‘Balcony Man’, Cave is still questioning his beliefs. He plays shape-shifter: at first he’s ‘two hundred pounds of packed ice’, recalling the melting statue of ‘White Elephant’, then he’s ‘Fred Astaire’, ‘a bag of blood and bone’ and an ‘octopus’. It is fitting both for an album preoccupied with mortality. Made real by a writer who has taken on a variety of personas in his work over the years. But like ‘White Elephant’, ‘Balcony Man’ contrasts the morbid with a wave of optimism in its latter half.
At its core, Carnage appears to be a record about overcoming the uncertain situation in which it was written. Summarising the unpredictable effects of the pandemic in its final line, Cave declares ‘What doesn’t kill you just makes you crazier’.
It’s been a tumultuous 12 months for the UK’s 2.5 million students, so imagine it being your job to represent the vast majority of them.
NUS President Larissa Kennedy has taken it in her stride, tackling the Government’s controversial treatment of students against a backdrop of the Covid-19 pandemic and seemingly endless lockdowns.
I sat down with her for an informal chat to talk about her journey in an academic year like no other. There are many things we could have started with, but we went with her pink headwrap…
I love your head wrap!
Thank you! I live with my nan and I care for her, and she has all of these wraps that I’ve just stolen and she’ll never get them back.
You know what? I back it. Our hair needs looking after, and at the end of the day, that’s what they’re there for, right?
Honestly.
And you’re there to look after the NUS. How is that?
Everything at NUS is great, but it’s weird doing it all online.
I was going to ask you about that. Most of your campaign experience was offline – from your work against sexual violence, to racism and student fees. What’s a pandemic presidency like?
It’s an odd but also such a fruitful year to be in this role. In many ways it’s more difficult in terms of building and organising communities, in terms of sharing those skills that are passed down organically through the student movement, but in others it’s been so much easier – one minute I’m talking to students in Liverpool, then next it’s students in Exeter, then Cardiff and the list goes on.
I always try to find a silver lining, and online, it’s about how we do digital disruption in a way that’s more accessible than in-person forms of protest and organising may have been. How do we do it in ways that connect people from different spaces where that might not have been possible [before]? It’s different but it’s a blessing as well.
The Mancunion’s Aasiyah Faryal sits down with NUS president Larissa Kennedy.
What are the most enjoyable parts of the job?
I enjoy the fact that we’ve become a cohesive team across the whole organisation. While it might have felt quite isolated before, now it feels like we’re one team fighting for justice. Even though the intricacies of that might look different, its core tenets it are the same. The fact that we want economic and academic justice for students is the same. That we want students to register to vote – small plug – is the same.
Students really have been very angry this year and have been mobilising in various campaigns. Which local student led campaigns in particular have caught your eye this year?
That’s a difficult one, because obviously I have no favourites. But in terms of what’s caught my eye, and folks I’ve really really enjoyed engaging with, of course the UoM rent strike, they had to get a shoutout. Seeing that occupation set a precedent for a revived student movement was so powerful.
Knowing a lot of the folks behind the scenes, a lot of them are first years who just straight out of the gate took up the baton said ‘we’re here, and we’re ready to shake shit up’. Sorry, am I allowed to say that?
Definitely allowed.
Yeah, and it was just so powerful, and yeah, I’m just – I felt like a proud mum, even though I’m like three years older than these people but anyways, we’ll scoot past that. It was just amazing to see, to be a tiny part of empowering and pushing forward that movement, to do whatever I could to support it. That’s all I could do – be the cheerleader at the sidelines of what has to be led by the grassroots. That was amazing. I’m trying to think of who else to shout out now, because I’ll come and people will be like ‘why didn’t you shout me out?!’ But obviously I had to do Manchester, I’m talking to Manchester, so here we go.
Moving from students to government. How easy or difficult is it working with the current government?
You can literally be reading the lived experience of a student who hasn’t met a single person on their course, who is at the brink financially, in rent arrears, who has lost their job and is a single parent. You can be reading these things verbatim and they’re just deadpan, as though those aren’t people’s lives. And we often do that because there are millions of students who don’t get to interface with that minister, whose stories and whose lived experiences are as valid as anything that I have to say.
It’s a relentless struggle with this government to even get them to see the humanity of so many of the students they have power over and I won’t lie, that is difficult, when you’re having to beg for scraps. We’ve won 70 million in total, and even that, I’ve had to explain to the minister that that’s like putting a plaster on a broken leg.
It’s a problem that came far before coronavirus and will last far beyond it. It’s a crisis within the system of student funding. It’s a system of exploitation that is decades long, that started before this government. And just trying to explain that the way things are set up are set up for students – particularly marginalised students – to fail. But when the interface with government is infuriating, exhausting and demoralising, the energy in this movement is what keeps me going.
Larissa has been fighting against the government. Image credit: Alicia Canter @ NUS
How do students sustain that power and energy, when a lot of are feeling so drained from what’s going on around them?
The key to it is to create sustainable collective organising spaces that are rooted in a practice of care. There has to be an element of looking after each other in this space, otherwise we burn out and it fizzles out, and then people have to start from scratch all over again. In the cyclical nature of a student movement that often happens.
Let’s come to senior leadership teams.
Aasiyah, I think you know where I’m gonna go on that. There’s a complete misconstruction of the institution as it is. Why are there people who are so far removed from the realities we face as students, but also as staff, who are making these massive decisions that impact all of our lives when they just have no clue?
Honestly, when I was a sabatical officer, sometimes talking to senior leadership and trying to explain what the day-to-day was like, and you could see it going straight over their heads.
They’d say stuff like ‘oh, I had no idea’, and it’s exhausting because a) why are you being paid that much to not know anything? and b) why do you have this power? That power and its centralisation within universities has been constructed to shut students out.
This isn’t how all institutions are run in the world – there are other ways of doing things. It’s making us take a serious look at what the democratisation of universities would look like – what would it mean for students and staff and communities to have power, agency and say over the decisions that impact their lives? That’s an exciting journey.
Just the idea of senior management, the whole concept of having a few folks who have no idea what’s happening earning upwards of 100k in many cases is inherently problematic. It’s always going to center whiteness, it’s always going to center the antithesis of what how we should run our universities and what our education systems should look like.
Today, I formally become President of the National Union of Students. We’re seeing movements across the world seeking to radically transform society. This is what I see @nusuk & our 7 million members being part of. Grateful to those who put their trust in me. All glory to God 🙌🏾 pic.twitter.com/FTVdn4TRE5
— Larissa Kennedy #StudentsDeserveBetter (@Larissa_Ken) July 1, 2020
It’s really interesting that you’ve said that because we at Manchester have the Nancy Out campaign, I’m not sure if you’ve heard about it.
[nodding] mhm.
What is your stance on the Nancy Out campaign at Manchester, where students are mobilising to oust the senior leadership team?
It’s so interesting to see student resistance to the structure, to the idea that there’s some random white woman who can decide whether or not there’s a fence constructed outside your house. To the idea that there’s a random white man – in most cases – who can make a decision on whether or not you can access funding to get through your degree. This form of resistance is really powerful. We’re gonna see it spread. We’re not gonna see students who’ve seen what’s happened this year to sit back and think ‘cool, let’s just go back to normal.’
That’s just not happening. People are outraged, not just at the things that are happening, but at the systems that have enabled that to happen. We’re only going to see a really fruitful discussion about how we ensure that our institutions belong to the students, staff and communities that they exist to serve. I’m excited to see where we go with this. Again, I’m being led by the movement, and my perspective continues to be shaped by it, so I hope to see more of this resistance popping up and I’m happy to support in any way I can.
Looking to the future then, especially with NUS elections happening so soon, are you looking to rerun for president?
This is actually so funny. NUS just came out of reform and they wanted continuity, so I’m on a two year term, and this is a one-time thing. It’s super exciting because it means that I’ve got 14 or 15 months left and I can think about what we wanna see in the long term. We want to be strategic about how we build a powerful movement and having this space is really a gift. So I’m not rerunning, but I am back, in a twist of events!
If you’ve been on Facebook recently, you may have noticed the sudden flurry of people posting what seems to be their dating profile on university groups.
While some are purely comical, others would appear genuine. It seems the student population has exhausted the likes of Tinder and Bumble and are now turning to reliable old Facebook.
Some of these pleas are anonymous in groups like Mancfessions where students can submit their deepest darkest desires to be shared on the internet forever. This kind of anonymity makes people brave, giving them the courage to say things they never would in person.
Anyone who regularly checks Mancfessions will know the standard post is usually along lines of ‘cute blonde I saw in the library with the checked backpack, hit me up x’. To me this seems like an entirely futile effort as goodness knows who that could be referring too.
However, I’m not a total pessimist, and hopefully someone would recognise the weirdly specific details some of these posts include and can make a new connection at university. I would love to know how often these types of posts have actually connected people who have only met in passing.
UoMLove is another Manchester students group that allows people to post anonymously. Previously, posts on UoMLove tended to focus on the rivalry of subjects, humanities versus STEM, these types of arguments.
Recently though, UoMLove posts have become increasingly romance driven, with people asking for advice for pre-existing relationships battling the lockdown blues, or even tips on how to get out there online.
Some people pour their hearts out online because they feel they have nowhere else to turn, and at the moment this is mostly true. The internet gives people the courage to say what they can’t say to people’s faces, and it’s wonderful to see the sheer amount of people who come out in support of those struggling, especially at the moment. I must note the comments on these posts are not anonymous, but still Facebook gives people confidence to reach out to help others which is exactly what we all need.
There are, of course, more explicit posts and with people feeling lonely over lockdown there has been a noticeable spike in tales of what being alone has driven people to do to find some comfort.
Many just seem lonely, which is entirely understandable given we have been in some form of lockdown in Manchester for nearly a year. While the internet has shown us amazing new ways to connect with people, it doesn’t make dating any easier.
Taking that first step to ask some on a (virtual) date has been made infinitely harder. It’s just not the same as the real thing and this puts off so many people making life for those who already struggle making connections even harder.
What doesn’t help is pressure on this daunting world of dating appearing from all over our social media – on Facebook, in these groups I mentioned, and Instagram, with loads of sponsored ads for various dating sites. Now the first thing you see when opening Tik Tok is an ad for Tinder with a wonderful song by Frances Forever, but nevertheless, the pressure on online dating is constant and terrifying for some.
So what do we do? What can we do, rather, considering we have to wait till June for life to go back to normal?
Well, there is still the online world. Even though we are all sick of Zoom, we have to make the best out what we have.
Romance can blossom online. Social media is now full of fun tips and tricks on how to spice up your dating life while maintaining social distancing rules. A recent Glamour article has released 21 virtual date tips ranging from a tour of the Louvre in your pyjamas to a Buzzfeed quiz marathon. My recommendation would be a personalised TED ED talk over Zoom about which co-workers you think would survive longest in an apocalypse and why.
I understand many people don’t feel like they can do such things, or maybe they don’t have time with the university workload, but it is important to take time for yourself.
It’s not selfish to want to talk to someone every now and then. We all need a little love sometimes and with the whole world now online we have to make the most of what we’ve got left – even if that does mean turning to Facebook’s dating services.
If I’ve learnt anything from Facebook (which is never usually a good way to start a sentence), it’s that while there are problems with social media, good things can also come of it; whether that’s finding that blonde from the library with the checked backpack or just getting some much needed support from strangers online.
Either way, while we usually condemn the internet, I’d like to praise it today for helping us make new connections in a very socially restricted time.
Greater Manchester has one of the biggest student populations in Europe. With its five higher education institutions, boasting 96,200 reeling students, one may suggest that it’s a crazy idea to encourage the elderly to settle somewhere overcrowded by voracious and overly hormonal youths.
However, considering this pledge in light of the coronavirus pandemic, perhaps it’s not such a far fetched idea after all.
This last year has seen a population of once youthful and enigmatic 20 somethings grow old prematurely. We’re confined to our couches instead of the clubs. When I settle down on a Saturday night in front of the third Twilight film – a franchise which has proven very divisive in my flat (but objectively, if you’re team Jacob, you are just wrong*) – with my mug of hot chocolate and a stolen corner of my flat mate’s electric blanket, it’s pleasant.
What it’s not, however, is the ‘best days of your life’ experience I’d been led to believe university would provide. At this point, the sparkling vampires on the screen before me seem more real than the LEDs of 42s.
To make Manchester ‘one of the best places in the world to grow up, get on and grow old’, Burnham arguably doesn’t actually need to do anything. At least where the aged population is concerned. Cups of tea are offered more regularly than glasses of wine. Young people have begun counting lines of crochet instead of coke. Doesn’t Manchester already seems like a pensioner’s paradise? I can vouch for the numerous agreeable parks the elderly may wish to amble through between reruns of Antiques Roadshow. Pretty much all we’ve been allowed to do is socially distanced, slightly frosty walks. For months.
God bless him, of course none of this confined frustration is actually Burnham’s fault. In October of last year, the man took it upon himself to oppose Bojo’s Covid strategy. The Mayor accused the government of treating Manchester like a “sacrificial lamb” for regional lockdown policies. He advocated instead for a national lockdown in order to combat the currently ongoing pandemic. Here, Labour’s motto “for the many not the few” serves multiple purposes.
Being from Newcastle myself, I couldn’t agree more with Burnham’s accusations. I was disappointed but certainly not surprised when Manchester, Liverpool and Newcastle were essentially left to fend for themselves in tier 3, while London remained in tier 2. Ah, London, that famously underpopulated and safety-conscious city. One that just so happens to be the home of many of the politicians deciding on Covid regulations. Including the Prime Minister himself. Funny that.
With his new pledge to work towards making Greater Manchester “a region where no person or place is left behind,” Burnham feels like the stable figure the nation needs. Especially after Bojo and his Tory cronies have given us trust issues through their lies about Covid infection rates. Not to mention the commitment issues developed after being forced to go through the worst break up of our lives. By that, I mean our relationship with the European Union. Or the victim-blaming of university students. At this point, I feel like the PM ought to be responsible for an awful lot of therapy invoices. Additionally, a hell of a lot of Ben and Jerrys.
Furthermore, judging by his track record, Burnham does seem to do good on his promises. Recognising the severity of homelessness and rough sleeping in Manchester, the “Greater Manchester Mayor’s Charity’ has so far raised more than £2,000,000 and set up an ‘emergency homelessness Covid-response’ up to a maximum of £10,000 per organization.
Prime Minister is a very different job role to Mayor. But if we consider that, as the Mayor of London, Johnson succeeded in wasting £43 million on a garden bridge that was never built, and left office with four of London’s boroughs in the top 10 of the Uk’s poorest boroughs, in comparison I would say Burnham could be doing a lot worse.
* And in honour of ‘The Guilty Feminist’: I’m a feminist. But Bella Swan is absolutely responsible for literally every single problem. This includes the mass war between the world’s most dangerous predators. Life would just be easier if she didn’t exist.
Will the SNP be able to survive the tirade of problems it has caused for itself, in order to prove that they could run an independent Scotland?
Unlike the Labour Party, the SNP have the pleasure of being a problem for Westminster. They hold a uniquely popular nationalist agenda in a political landscape where parties move heaven and earth in order to appear as counter-nationalistic.
Yet, the SNP continues to push forward with the feigned virtue of the notion of independence, pushing hard for a referendum in May 2021. A popular vote that would go ahead even if Westminster refused to recognise it.
At the end of the day, the battle is nothing other than the SNP vs Westminster, and it is the SNP’s fight to lose. If the SNP are to be successful, they must push through the mire of controversy that has surrounded them for weeks. If they succeeded, they would push the Party to a level of legitimacy that could convince the Scottish electorate to flee the UK.
An issue that cuts to the core for the SNP is the Alex Salmond fiasco. To put it briefly, the former SNP leader has been accused and cleared of 13 counts of sexual misconduct. Salmond’s alleged scandal spanned a duration of several years while he was leader of the party but he has since been cleared of all charges.
However, a committee is now going to assess whether or not these allegations were investigated to a meaningful and just extent. The committee’s investigation requires an interrogation of the present leader, Nicola Sturgeon, who was a central figure in Salmond’s absolution.
Speculation about the outcome of the committee’s investigation would be fruitless, but the re-emergence of Salmond’s sexual assault scandal at this time is significant. Of particular importance is that it coincides with the SNP’s push for a vote of independence. My concern is that the resurfacing of the scandal threatens the SNP’s image: to win a referendum, the party must convince the public that they are a well-founded alternative to Westminster. With Salmond’s dubious history casting a shadow over Sturgeon’s independence attempts, the future looks uncertain.
To make matters worse, Scotland is lagging behind England on vaccinations. At the time of writing this article, in England the NHS has been expanding the vaccine rollout to younger age groups, as well as those most clinically vulnerable, while Scotland is still stuck in the 70+ age group. The difference here is important because it adds weight to the argument that Scotland would be worse off if they left Britain.
These are the issues which will matter most for an independent Scotland:
Head-to-head, policy-to-policy, who will serve Scots’ best, an independent Scotland or one which is supplemented by the United Kingdom?
Before an independence referendum can be held, the SNP must first stop the spread of the virus, reopen the country and complete the vaccine roll-out. The SNP’s ability to fulfill these criteria is essential to its case for independence. Should the SNP fall behind the Conservative government in these areas, the case for an independent Scotland becomes much weaker.
Furthermore, Sturgeon heavily railed against Boris Johnson’s decision to leave the EU vaccine scheme. At the time, her objection seemed well-founded, but now looks like a grave mistake. While the UK programme excels, the EU’s is failing.
On the other hand, the SNP’s cause is not completely hopeless. It is helped by the complete ineptitude and disappearance of any meaningful opposition in Scotland.
At the moment, less than four months before the election is scheduled to take place, the Conservatives front the mild-mannered Douglas Ross, while Labour has had no leader since the resignation of Richard Leonard on 4th January 2021. This is clearly worrisome for Labour who have relied heavily on the Scottish vote in the past and, in this instance, could not have come up with a better way to give the SNP an upper hand.
Perhaps, since no other party offers a credible opposition to the SNP in Holyrood, they have decided to become their own opposition. As discussed, internal conflicts and vaccine vacancies show that the SNP’s greatest obstacle is themselves.
Instead of politics being a conflict between them and opposition parties, the SNP have transcended this, and they must now overcome the problems they created themselves. To achieve the goal of an independent Scotland, they must prove that they will be a more effective government than whoever occupies the Westminster hotseat. If they continue on their current course, this will not happen.
This article series – A Tough Act to Follow (get it?) – is an exploration into the performative nature (and indeed, the “theatre”) of social media. Each feature will see me interviewing an Instagram influencer, social media personality, or somebody who utilises social media to advance their career, as we explore the construction of online identities. In particular, this series is interested in gender and sexual identity.
Following my last “tough act”, Joe polito, are influencers, models, actors, writers and best-selling authors, the Zakar Twins, aka Michael and Zak, aka “the Middle-Eastern Mary-Kate and Ashley”!
I have been fond of the Zakar Twins for years – how could I not be inspired by out, loud and proud, gay, Iraqi-American twins?!
At two hours in length, this is the longest interview that I’ve ever done. It’s also the most fun – and after reading this essay-length article, you will understand why!
Zakar Twins’ personalities
I told the twins that I’m not used to seeing them dressed so casually, to which Michael responded: “[we’re] shirtless usually”. Indeed, the twins ooze both body and sex positivity, and they brought this to our interview.
The twins haven’t been to the UK, but they love Little Mix and Marina (and Rebecca Moore of the Cock Destroyers, of course). Their play was originally supposed to premiere here because of our love of slapstick humour and lack of Middle-Easterners.
I told the twins that Americans have a romantic image of the UK; in reality, it is a bit of a “shithole”. Zak joked, “I love shitholes”, and though I didn’t realise this at the time, that was probably another example of his brazen humour.
I told the twins how bad the pandemic is in the UK – people even had New Year’s Eve parties during lockdown – to which Michael responded: “we have people coughing at each other for fun”.
Zak later asked me how old I was, because he could not tell if I was “18 or 42”. When I told him that I was 21, he joked, “God, a child’s interviewing us!”
An award-winning child journalist!
When I remarked that my beard and eye-bags made me look older, Michael told me that I have “a very nice face” and Zak complimented my good eyebrows, good eyes, good nose, beautiful lips and good teeth – but not before sassing me once more by telling me that my lips look fake and admitting that he expected me to have “Jewel teeth” because I’m British!
This constant and unashamed sass, shade and sex positivity made this the most easy-going, enjoyable and entertaining interview that I’ve ever done.
The twins are the children of Iraqi-born parents, but they hadn’t realised how delicate Middle-Eastern politics and culture were. It wasn’t until media organisations began calling them “the gay Arabian twins”, after their best-selling novel and sold-out play brought them mainstream recognition, that they had to put an emphasis on their Iraqi roots.
Technically, the twins are Chaldean: ethnic Christian Iraqis who adhere to the Chaldean Catholic Church.
Zak said their sister still identifies as Arabian because that’s what she was told she was growing up – it is, after all, what Western narratives often decide all Middle-Eastern people are.
“We’re just White, according to standardized testing,” Zak jokingly concluded.
Joking aside, Zak told me that he is “proud to embrace a culture that wants us dead”. This is a startling phrase that the twins recently printed upon t-shirts and wore for a photoshoot.
“I’m prideful of the Middle-East, but they’re not prideful of us,” he said eloquently. “It’s frustrating trying to fight for the Middle-East when the Middle-East hates you”.
The twins grew up in a very White neighbourhood and didn’t know much about what was going on in Iraq when they were children. Michael said that 9/11 happened when they were in first grade. “I thought it was fifth,” said Zak. “Second.” “Fourth.” Michael then decided, “somewhere in elementary school. I don’t know what year we’re in right now ‘cause of Covid!”.
It wasn’t until they came out that they began to learn the “severity” of being both Middle-Eastern and gay. Since embracing both their sexuality and their ethnicity, it has become all the more clearer to the twins just how much many people in the Middle-East hate gay people – and since finding fame, how much many people in the Middle-East hate them, specifically.
This hatred became even more intense after a post, in which they merged the Iraqi and Pride flags, went viral “for the wrong reasons”.
The twins have never been to Iraq, but Zak told me, “if you want to go [to Iraq] together, we can,” with Michael asking if Iraq is only around 9 hours from the UK. I said that sounds about right given that my flight to Dubai took around 7 hours.
This prompted Zak to decide it might be better for us to just go to Dubai. “It’s illegal to be gay in Dubai, too,” I said. When I brought up the more “liberal” Jordan and Lebanon, the twins commented on the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” approach to homosexuality there. They won’t kill you for being gay, but they probably won’t accept you either.
If you’re queer and want to visit the Middle-East, you might have to hide your queerness, as much as that sucks. Turkey and Israel are probably the safest Middle-Eastern countries for queer people. My family and I once went to a “gay friendly” hotel in Turkey!
Zak told me to just come to America, but I joked that it might soon be illegal there, too, so we settled on “f*cking Canada” – you know, that country with the smouldering hot Prime Minister who identifies as a feminist and attends Pride!
The twins came out over a decade ago. Their incredible coming out story needs an article of its own – hey, they wrote a (best-selling, as they reminded me) book about it – so I have opted not to go into great detail about it. I can’t possibly do it justice in the short amount of words that I would be able to allocate to it.
The reason the twins’ book pays little attention to their siblings and father is because, unlike their mother, they had little issue with them being gay.
Whilst the twins’ sister (who is “living the straight dream” with three kids) was fine with them being gay, her tolerance didn’t extend to Zak sleeping with one of her friends!
Their older brother is “in his own world” so he, too, was unfussed, whilst their father was accepting but didn’t want to get involved out of fear of being yelled at by his wife!
“He’s not a bad father; he just isn’t, like, a present father,’ Zak explained.
When the twins came out, their mother left the house for a week. “She went to go and sleep with the church,” said Michael – and no, that is not figurative; she literally did that.
Zak described their relationship with their mother as “a journey”.
Just over a year ago, she bought them rainbow ice cream for their 27th birthday, which shows just how far she’s come.
But whilst the twins came out to her over a decade ago, she still makes backhanded comments. For instance, when Zak’s best friend got divorced recently, his mom told him that now is his time to “f*ck her” – and yes, she was being serious.
The twins’ mom knew they were writing a book about coming out but paid little attention to it and insisted nobody would read it.
Similarly, when they turned their book into a play, their mom thought that it would be community theatre – you know, three chairs on a stage – not a touring production with an elaborate set.
Whilst the play was supposed to visit six cities, legal issues meant that it could only visit three, so the twins had their mother fly out to the final city (Minneapolis) with their best friend so that she could see it.
The twins cast a “female impersonator” (not a drag queen, dahlings; Vince Kelley hates being called that) to play their mother, which is deliciously devious and hilariously ironic.
Zak explained they chose to portray their mom as over-the-top because “coming out is normal, and it needs to be mom’s reactions that make it weird… Who’s the weird one, mom or the twins?”, which I think is brilliantly subversive.
The twins’ mom, understandably, found the play uncomfortable to watch, especially because the first act portrays her as a villain, which made her want to walk out during intermission (that’s interval for us Brits). However, she went on stage at the end of the play (at the insistence of the producer).
Seeing her sons’ sold-out play first-hand, and the love that audience-members gave to them, helped the twins’ mother finally realise how important their work is.
Here she is embracing her beloved sons with a warm hug, a cute smile and a sharp knife.
But the play, ironically, made the twins realise that they hate theatre. “We’re made for TV,” said Zak. “I want to film it once and never go back”.
The twins explained the play’s production company wasn’t the best to work with. The company tried very hard but they just didn’t understand how to properly run such a big production. The twins found that when something went wrong, they got the blame.
“Also,” announced Zak, before quickly deciding, “next question”, because, as Michael explained, if they don’t stop now, we would be there for three hours.
The twins revealed that riffs started to emerge between them and production because of communication problems.
Zakar Twins’ celebrity experiences
One of the production company’s top choices to play Mom was RuPaul winner Jinkx Monsoon, who I interviewed awhile back (and she follows me on Instagram, might I add). The twins had the opportunity to work with her at a later date, an experience which they called “amazing” because she’s both professional and funny – and “she gifted us edibles”.
The twins have relationships with plenty of drag queens, including Farrah Moan (pictured) and Jackie Cox – the latter of whom is also Middle-Eastern: her father is Canadian and her mother is from Iran. We stan!
This prompted me to ask the twins why they recently revealed that Alyssa Edwards is the worst drag queen that they’ve worked with. Michael then gave me an exclusive as to why he chose Alyssa: “she is a little diva”.
They spoke of an unsavoury fan interaction she had, but when I asked if this was on the record, they told me they will only tell me the story if it’s off the record – so sorry, dahlings, but I’ll be taking this secret to the grave. There is more than enough juicy material in this article to keep you entertained, so don’t @ me.
“Drag Race only exists because of the fans; a lot of celebrities will still get work if nobody likes them… Drag Race girls won’t. You need to, like, cater to your fans,” Zak explained.
“Never meet your heroes,” I said, remembering my disappointing meeting with Miranda Richardson. Michael explained he’s scared to meet Gwen Stefani, who he has a tattoo of! “I’m sure she’s nice but, you know, she’s dating a country man now…”
We then went on to talk about Little Mix, Marina and the Pussycat Dolls. Predictable, I know. This prompted Michael to tell me that Nicole Scherzinger (one of my favourite singers, who I sort-of met but not really) is apparently “crazy scary” to work for. Some of their friends have worked with her: “she is the HBIC, and you’ll know it”.
Zakar Twins’ careers
Zak explained they originally started Instagram as models: “let’s just have fun and look cute because we’re cute”. Michael explained that whilst their personalities make them nines, personalities do not matter in modelling.
After this, they decided to write a book – not as advocacy but just because they enjoyed writing. It is the positive reception to the book that lead them to advocacy, because they realised how much they could help people. What makes their “coming out” book so different to others is that it is a comedy.
“I literally get boners for good writing,” said Zak. “I was writing our book the other day… and I connected two chapters that I was struggling [with]… f*ck, I’m wet… I love good writing!”
Their second book is a mental health guide, whilst their third book, ‘I’m Going to Kathy’s’, is a second memoir and a sex positive guide to finding your perfect man. “I’m Going to Kathy’s” is the line that the twins told their mom whenever they were sneaking out and “getting laid” – they pretended to be at their friend Kathy’s house.
It took the twins a while to realise that they are writers, not models, at heart. Becoming influencers allowed the twins to skip college and find success in an alternative route, though they have noticed that their influencer careers have slowed down since they have gone from models (posing in their underwear) to activists and writers. “We don’t regret what got us to this point; we just wish we were more aware of what was being posted.”
Although the twins’ verified Instagram account has over 100 thousand Instagram followers, they do not quite feel famous, possibly because most of the praise that they receive is because they are authentic (out and proud gay Iraqis), not because of their work: “[they’re] thanking us for being a person… that’s easy…” explained Zak. “[They thank us] for being just a normal person; that’s why I feel normal. I’m like, oh, it’s nothing, because it really should be nothing”.
Michael commented on the ever-changing nature of social media and how their brand has to keep changing to keep up with social media. When they first started modelling, they were a little more “nude-sy” because “sex sells”.
They want to get to a point where they do not have to worry about social media, but it has been a brilliant source of promo for them and has helped them massively with their careers. They haven’t relied on agents to get them work, though this has required them to play the game, especially because you can’t rely on “being cute” forever.
The twins are also artists. Michael creates rice art: he paints rice and then glues each piece to a board. I told him I want one; he told me I better get saving!
Zak, ever the sass queen, jokingly calls Michael’s art “rice on a board”, but this stunning piece took Michael eight whole months to create.
Whilst Michael is more “craft-sy”, Zak is a painter. He even painted people’s genitals as Valentine’s Day gifts!
But he’s not one of those artists that removes the sexual, or de-sexualises nakedness. Rather, he embraces it; he sees sex and sexuality as things that should be celebrated.
I was left asking myself, is there anything these guys can’t do?!
Zakar Twins’ trolls
Indeed, there is. The Zakar Twins cannot avoid controversy – not so long as they continue fighting for the rights of marginalised peoples.
They responded in typical Zakar twins fashion, by donning dresses and lambasting Owens. This is not the first time that they have donned (and rocked) “female” clothing, but their response to Owens was particularly fabulous.
The twins told me this response was actually a response to their ignorant cousin, who had been praising Owens.
Owens saw the video, though, and shared it, which lead to even more death threats for the twins.
“Whenever we go viral, it’s for the wrong reasons,” said Zak. Michael agreed: “we get death threats”. “I don’t feel like we have a solid fan base; we have… people who like us and people who want us dead”.
Michael thinks that it’s “so tacky” for Iraqi men to make fun of men wearing dresses when thawbs are, essentially, dresses: “you just don’t call it a dress”.
He also can’t understand why people in the Middle-East are so outraged over homosexuality when there are so many bigger (and indeed, actual) problems over there. This reminded me of that time Shakira responded to an homophobic Colombian politician who wanted to ban her from the country after she “promoted lesbianism” in her music video with Rihanna. Shakira responded: “In a country like ours where there are so many needs […] for a councilman to use his voice and his time to talk about a video by an artist like me means we’re not doing too well councilman-wise, right?”
Although homophobia is a big problem, the LGBTQ+ community, itself, can be pretty problematic.
When I asked the twins about these problems, Michael responded: “it seems, if you’re not G then you don’t matter”.
Zak said that queer communities in different states have noticeably different problems, but a general problem is the division: there are so many subgroups.
Michael understands this, however, because the only stories we have been fed in the past are those of White, gay men, so of course a Black trans-person will assert their identity.
Zak agrees, though he thinks the (ever-growing) LGBTQIA+ community should just call themselves “queer”.
Indeed, the mission to cover every base is admirable, but the alphabetic acrobatics are a little intense. Where are we at now – LGBTQIABCDEFG? Don’t forget the plus!
Michael believes we are at a great time to be alive because the queer community (yes, we settled on that) is at a breaking point, where their stories are ready to be told – but who wants to tell them, and who is listening?
For example, fifty agents turned the twins’ book down. Some told them their story was too niche, even for a gay story, because being Middle-Eastern is “not sellable”. But their book became a best-seller and their play sold out, so put that in your pipes and suck on it!
When I asked the twins about racism, and fetishisation, within the gay community, Zak said, “I’ve never… turned down someone for skin colour. I’m just like, you’re hot, I wanna f*ck.”
He then went on to talk about how he started playing rugby in high school because it is “super gay”, with all that close male contact and the jockstraps – and yes, he was a hooker.
I next asked the twins about the fetishisation that they face not just as Middle-Eastern men but also as gay twins. For instance, one description of their play makes an awkward incest joke.
“Our producer put that, and that was the stupidest thing ever,” is all Zak would say on that.
Michael said he gets it because they’ve done “sexualized” photoshoots, and whilst siblings like the Kardashians have done the same, the Zakar twins are some of the few brothers who are comfortable being body positive around each other.
“Our point was to normalize queer people in the Middle-East, but some of those intentions were on our poor planning”.
But whilst Michael understands why some people might speculate, he asked: “if me and Zak were banging, wouldn’t you think we’d be more private about it? Like, we would not be posting those photos!”
But I think it’s great that the twins are posting those photos – and I don’t say this in a thirsty way. Photos like that are helping normalise the radical notion that people can wear (and indeed, not wear) whatever the hell they want.
The twins are on a mission to be themselves – and help others be themselves in the process.
Indeed, they’ve been inspiring me since I was a teenager – I hope this makes you feel old, Zak – and continue to inspire me to this very day. I hope after reading this, they have inspired you, too.
Whilst you wait for their upcoming second and third releases, you can purchase their best-selling book, ‘Pray the Gay Away’, on Amazon.
You can follow the Zakar Twins on Instagram and Twitter @zakartwins.
As the 2021 All Star Game is approaching, there are some players who have risen above the rest and cemented their superstar status this season. Giannis Antetokounmpo is the reigning league MVP for the past two seasons, but it looks like we will have a new MVP this season.
Let’s take a look at the early contenders for the 2020-2021 NBA Most Valuable Player of the season.
Joel Embiid – Philadelphia 76ers
Photo: All-Pro Reels @ Wikimedia Commons
Joel Embiid lives by the motto of “trust the process,” and it looks like it’s working for him. The Cameroonian center is ranked second in the NBA for points per game with 29.8, and 8th in the NBA for rebounds with 11.3, while shooting a career high 52.1% from the field and 41.7% from 3-point range.
Joel Embiid is having the best season of his career so far, as he leads the Philadelphia 76ers to the first seed in the eastern conference after playing 35 games. The key for Embiid throughout this season has been staying fit, as he is considered as one of the more injury-prone players in the league, playing only 51 out of 82 regular season games last season. If Embiid does not sustain any long-term injuries, and the Philadelphia 76ers end the regular season as the first seed in the eastern conference, Embiid could make a strong claim for the 2020-2021 MVP award.
2. LeBron James – Los Angeles Lakers
Photo: All-Pro Reels @ Wikimedia Commons
“The King” has put the league on notice that he is here to retain his crown as the best player in the NBA. At an age where most players start thinking about retirement, Lebron is still performing at the highest level and is showing no signs of slowing down.
LBJ’s commitment towards maintaining his body and diet have helped him consistently perform at a high-level, despite being 36 years old. LeBron is averaging 25.5 points, 8.1 rebounds, and 7.8 assists, ranking 12th in points per game and 9th in assists per game as he looks to add a fifth MVP trophy to his accolades. He is the focal point of a Los Angeles Lakers team who are second in the Western Conference, and first in terms of defensive rating.
Coupled with his impressive individual performances, LeBron has also managed to come up clutch for the Lakers when they needed him the most. He scored 10 points during double overtime in a win against the Detroit Pistons, and 21 points in the fourth quarter in a win against his former team, the Cleveland Cavaliers. As of now, LeBron James looks primed and ready to win the 2020-21 Most Valuable Player award.
3. Damian Lillard – Portland Trail Blazers
Photo: Frenchieinportland @ Wikimedia Commons
Much like Joel Embiid, Damian Lillard has also been enjoying the best season of his career. This season, Damian Lillard thrived under his increased role, as he is shouldering more responsibility due to the injuries of CJ McCollum and Jusuf Nurkic. The Portland Trail Blazers’ point guard is averaging 29.6 points, 4.3 rebounds, and 8.1 assists, ranking third in the league for points per game.
After barely making the playoffs last season, Damian Lillard leads a significantly improved Portland Trail Blazers team to the fifth seed in the western conference after 33 games. Apart from his excellent leadership abilities, Lillard has also built a reputation for being clutch, coining the phrase “Dame Time” for himself. He has hit numerous game winners for the Blazers, most notably a buzzer beater against the Houston Rockets in 2014, which won them the series, and a step-back three-point buzzer beater over Paul George to seal their first round series against the Oklahoma City Thunder in 2019.
This season, Damian Lillard has continued to show up for the team. He ranks first in field goal percentage with 63.2% and three-point percentage with 58.8% in the last five minutes of games separated by five points or fewer. If the Blazers can maintain their top four ranking in the western conference by the end of the season, Damian Lillard could be looking at his first MVP trophy.
4. Nikola Jokic – Denver Nuggets
@All-Pro Reels from Wikimedia Commons
Nikola Jokic is another player who seems to have also been enjoying the best season of his career. The Serbian is averaging a career high of 27.1 points, 8.5 assists, and 11 rebounds, ranking in the top fifteen for all three categories. Jokic has revolutionised his role within the Denver Nuggets team with his guard-like ball handling and playmaking abilities while playing the center position. He is the only center in the top 20 assists per game leaders.
The only setback for “The Joker” is that, despite all his dominance on the statistics leaderboards, the Denver Nuggets rank 7th in western conference. If the Nuggets can improve their standings to one of the top four seeds in the western conference, Jokic may have a chance at adding the MVP award as his first major accolade.
5. Stephen Curry – Golden State Warriors
Photo: Cyrus Saatsaz @ Wikimedia Commons
After missing the majority of last season due to injury, Curry has returned to the league looking better than ever. Like Damian Lillard, Steph has also taken additional responsibility due to Klay Thompson’s achilles injury, and Kevin Durant leaving the Warriors in free agency last season. Many media analysts shared concern over Curry’s ability to handle the extra offensive load, but he has proven he can handle the additional responsibility with ease. He is averaging 29.5 points, 5.4 rebounds, and 6.4 assists, ranking fourth in the league for points per game.
Steph Curry is statistically having one of the best seasons of his career, with the last time he averaged over 30 points per game being his 2015-2016 MVP season, where he led the league in scoring, and became the first ever unanimous MVP. Steph Curry has been on an absolute tear this season offensively, making threes from anywhere and everywhere, and dazzling fans with his incredible dribble moves. He is dominating the offensive statistics, ranking first in total three pointers made with 164, and having two of the highest scoring individual games, scoring a career high 62 points against the Blazers and 57 points against the Dallas Mavericks.
The only setback for Steph Curry’s MVP campaign is that the Warriors are currently the eighth seed in the Western Conference after 35 games. Team success has played an important role in determining the league MVP over the past few years, with only four of the NBA’s 65 MVP winners being on teams below third place in their conference standings. If the Warriors can improve their standings to one of the top four seeds in the Western Conference, Steph Curry could be looking at a third MVP trophy.
6. Kevin Durant – Brooklyn Nets
Photo: All-Pro Reels @ Wikimedia Commons
After missing out the entirety of the 2019-2020 season due to an achilles injury that he sustained in the 2019 NBA finals, Kevin Durant is back and is playing better than ever.
Kevin Durant is averaging 29 points, 5.3 assists, and 7.3 rebounds, ranking sixth in the league for points per game, while shooting 52% from the field and 43% from three-point range. Like his former teammate Steph Curry, Durant’s performances this season have mimicked his 2013-14 MVP season, where he led the league in scoring while averaging 32 points per game.
Durant is playing as part of a “big three” with All-Star guards Kyrie Irving and James Harden, leading the Brooklyn Nets to being the best offensive team in the league in terms of points per game, and second in offensive rating. The Nets are currently the second seed in the eastern conference after 36 games, but Durant has only played in 19 of the Nets 36 games so far this season. His lack of playing time may have an impact on his MVP campaign. If the Brooklyn Nets can finish the regular season as the first seed in the Eastern Conference, Kevin Durant could add a second MVP trophy to his trophy room.
2020 was a series of epic blunders. Right before the door closed on the year that was synonymous with modern disaster, we had one well-timed gut punch to send us into 2021 crying with our wine glasses… MF DOOM died on Halloween (they kept it a secret for 3 months).
Now some – or a lot – of you are probably asking ‘who is MF DOOM’? Well think of every single greatest major label rapper, and MF DOOM, who had never been signed, out-did them all as the greatest villain of music history. Always donned in his signature metallic mask that is reminiscent of Marvel Comic ‘Dr Doom’, and offering an offbeat, off the cusp and thoroughly original style that combined all walks of wordplay, MF DOOM made you want to throw out your GCSE English literature poems, especially for the entire lyric sheet of ‘Operation: Doomsday’.
Daniel Dumile, London born and New York raised, started a rap career in the late nineties with his brother in a trio called KMD. However, due to his brother’s death in 1993, there was a lengthy hiatus. DOOM performed at open mics (we all miss those) in a metal mask and pretty much remained anonymous throughout his career. His debut album was then released in 1999.
Our music contributor Robbie has also explored the wordplay, lyrics and sonic highlights of MF DOOM.
Doomsday:
DOOM’s enigmatic and ground-breaking career began with the incredibly soulful and personal track ‘Doomsday’, which has taken on an intense poignancy with the passing of ‘your favourite MC’s favourite MC’. In it, DOOM makes reference to his own death and the tragic passing of his brother (who he previously rapped with in KMD) with the refrain:
‘On Doomsday, ever since the womb
‘til I’m back where my brother went, that’s what my tomb will say’
He rounds off the chorus with the line:
‘Right above my government; Dumile
Either unmarked or engraved, hey, who’s to say?’
Here DOOM makes a rare reference to his real name, Dumile, which also doubles to sound like ‘DOOM’ll lay’, i.e. the place where he is buried. It’s this canny and inimitable wordplay that sets DOOM apart from the rest, with this track allowing us a brief glimpse behind the mask into a life stricken by hardship. Whether his tomb is unmarked or engraved, MF DOOM has left his unique imprint on hip-hop as a true original.
Rapp Snitch Knishes:
The fact that MF DOOM can turn this strange tongue-twister of a song title into his catchiest hook of all time is testament to his determination to flip convention on its head, and to have some fun while he’s at it. This was the track that got me into DOOM, and it will be the one to do the same for you too. A hypnotic electric guitar snakes its way around your eardrums whilst DOOM and Mr. Fantastik trade verses in a crazily laid-back style. They sound like they’re having a laugh, and that energy is infectious enough to make this song hit the spot every single listen. It’s quite simply a really great time.
Ever the trickster, however, DOOM has one last ace up his sleeve on this one. To this day, no-one even knows who Mr. Fantastik is. MF DOOM will always have the last laugh.
All Caps:
2004 was DOOM’s defining year. Alongside fantastic solo album MM… FOOD, he collaborated with legendary producer Madlib on Madvillainy, which saw him expand his artistic world to include a new character, Madvillain. This concept album, backed by Madlib’s madhat and genre-beating beats, immerses you in the world of this fiendish mastermind, whilst DOOM’s ever-disorientating flows leave you coming back dozens of times over to decipher his lyrics.
Standout track ‘All Caps’ features one of the most ear-catching beats in DOOM’s discography. A haunting piano loop is contrasted with a woodwind and horn sample which compliments the filmic qualities of DOOM’s artistic universe, itself based on old comic strips. This is the ultimate hip-hop concept album; just remember ‘All Caps’ when you spell the man’s name.
Whilst doing all of these wonders that pretty much had the 2000s underground rap scene at his feet, MF DOOM was known for a lot of collaborations, that were obvious to anyone who listened as the delivery always dripped MF DOOM in big letters. Adopting this ‘Super villain persona’ made DOOM have a lot of liberties, including sending in decoys to “play the character”. Whilst that obviously irritated the audience to great degrees, I believe a classic bait and switch is a good villain move.
Beyond all this, we could talk all day about MF DOOM, but this is the part where you, the reader, must now become ‘the listener’ – go to your streaming service (or better yet order an LP) and listen to all of this. Start kicking ‘Lo-Fi Classic Hip hop beats’ off its throne and give MF DOOM the ideal soundtrack to your life. Remember though, when you spell his name… ALL CAPS.
The University of Manchester has let disabled students down and potentially broken equality laws in its shift to online learning, according to a damning report published by a society and shared with The Mancunion.
The Disabled Students Society, alongside the Disabled Students Campaign and other volunteers, said they had been forced to put together a 61-page ‘accessibility report’, calling on University bosses to take action after a “significant influx in students” reached out to them for help.
The society allege that disabled undergraduates had been met with responses from the University that amounted to “this is your problem, not mine” and slammed Manchester’s leadership team for leaving them to shoulder the burden of supporting vulnerable students.
Students across the country are struggling with the transition to online learning, a model many universities have been forced to adopt following repeated Covid-19 lockdowns.
Facebook pages for Manchester students such as MSG and Uomlove are filled with stories of overworking and mental health, with Uomlove sharing helplines after receiving “an influx of submissions concerning mental health, wellbeing, and the exorbitant amounts of work the university is setting their students”.
This increased workload is even worse for disabled students, a number of whom use screen readers which “read at half the pace of an average abled person”.
For Jas Taylor, one of the Disabled Students Officers alongside Jess Edwards, this means their “reading lists regularly amount to over 30 hours of text a week”. A recent survey of students at UoM performed by the Disabled Students Society found that 77.3% of respondents felt overwhelmed by the amount of work this year.
“The time I have spent chasing my support this year feels like an insult”
– Jas Taylor, Disabled Students Officer
Madeline McLeod-Clarke, a disabled student post-liver transplant, with severe depression and general anxiety disorder still hasn’t “had an academic advisor meeting” and when she reaches out to her department she receives “unhelpful, blunt and sometimes blanket replies”.
Oliver Chippendale, a second year Psychology student with a severe bilateral hearing impairment who requires a note taker says “it has been left to me to set it all up”. He has to “provide the note takers with the Zoom links every day, for every individual Zoom session”, and the University is yet to provide his note takers with university logins creating more problems and confusion for Oliver.
This is a significant amount of extra administrative work falling on disabled students, who’s university work already takes longer to complete due to their disabilities. Syd King (he/they), Chair of the Disabled Students Society says with his screen-reader “mathematically, I should finish this book by June. My exam is in January”.
“I am alone, unsupported, and ultimately, disposable”
– Syd King, Chair of the Disabled Students Society
While this seems outrageous to many abled students, a book that will only be finishable by June is better than the common alternatives – online textbooks which cannot be read by screen readers at all or only read “the coding used to program the document”. In these instances disabled students, such as those with dyslexia “have been made to buy the book themselves” as it is not available as a hard copy in the library, or encouraged to print documents which are 90 pages or longer at the library; impossible for many disabled students as they are on the shielding list and therefore it would be dangerous for them to head into campus.
Under Section 20 of the Equality Act (2010) it is the university’s duty to make adjustments, “to take such steps as it is reasonable to have to take to avoid the disadvantage” and when relating to the “provision of information” ensure “the information is provided in an accessible format”.
“Since the move to online, a lot of these adjustments have been treated as optional, or at worst, completely denied without valid reason”
– Syd King, Chair of Disabled Students Society
But as the Accessibility Report highlights many of the issues facing disabled students following the transition to online learning are extremely easy to fix. The University of Manchester rolled out Microsoft Teams in the summer which provides more accurate live captioning, making it accessible for deaf and hard of hearing students, yet in the majority of cases live lectures are delivered on Zoom which has only recently begun providing captioning, but it is inconsistent and difficult to enable. Students are ‘compensated’ with inaccurate transcripts.
Madeline Webster-Harris, a 3rd Year Biology student with severe hearing loss, said: “Words were both translated and spelt incorrectly making the information being delivered incomprehensible. This has exaggerated effects in jargon heavy subjects such as STEM.”
When students have contacted their respective schools to ask for the Disability Advisory and Support Service (DASS) recommended change to be made, they have been ignored. When Syd King, 2nd Year Psychology with French student, contacted his school independently they “did not agree to change anything”. DASS have now contacted Syd’s school on his behalf, but are yet to receive a response.
Syd does highlight the hard work of some individual lecturers at the University of Manchester though, as his lecturer in the Language Centre “has familiarised herself with Teams independently, and will use this platform for our classes in the future”.
Furthermore, live lectures are not always recorded, requiring disabled students to be present and engaging at the same time as their abled peers, or miss out on key content. Students with Disabled Students Allowance (DSA) provided recording software aren’t sure if it is legal for them to use it as their tutors claim they cannot record lectures or seminars due to GDPR. Lissa Reynolds (she/they), a first year Drama and English Literature student with this type of software says the lecturer discussing GDPR makes her “too worried about using my software full stop in case it’s illegal and leaves me confused on when and where I’m allowed to use it”.
Photo: Jas Taylor, Disabled Students Officer
And other students such as Jas Taylor still haven’t received their DSA equipment at all and “have been struggling without it.” The DSA is a government grant, yet the students who have not yet received their government-mandated equipment have not been compensated with extra time to complete their studies.
With semester two online for the majority of students for the foreseeable future, it is even more imperative that the University of Manchester make these changes now.
Syd King (he/they), Chair of the Disabled Students Society issued the following statement when asked to comment: “The move to online learning has been challenging to everyone, especially given the current environment, but it has further highlighted how as disabled students, our needs are taken as optional, unimportant and to be done at the convenience of abled people.
“We pay the same price for this education as you, often, we have to work extra jobs, or search for grants, just to cover this cost alongside the hidden daily costs of being disabled. However, we are still given an education that is sub-par; lectures we cannot understand, material we cannot access, classes we cannot attend, and on top of this, we are made to feel as though it is our duty to right these wrongs, and to not get in the way of abled people as we do.
“This mentality is irreparably harming disabled people, something needs to change. We shouldn’t have had to make this report, it took months of our time, and hours of tears and effort that we didn’t have, but we had to, otherwise we will not be able to access the education that we are paying for.”
A University of Manchester spokesperson said: “The safety, wellbeing and learning outcomes of our disabled students is of the utmost importance to the University. We have received the report in question and recognise that there are some areas for concern in the issues raised, which we are taking very seriously.
“We are immediately setting up a Task and Finish Group to consider how we respond and take quick, effective action. It will be made up of senior representatives from the University’s Disability Advisory and Support Service, the Directorate for Student Experience, and the Institute for Teaching, Learning and Students. We will also be reaching out to the Students’ Union and Disabled Students’ Society to ensure we have their representation too.
“The Group will also ensure that any response is aligned with the University’s action plan being developed to address the recommendations of the ‘Arriving at Thriving’ national report on disabled students.”
This article is based on the first section of the report focusing on online learning, and is part of an upcoming series about the treatment of Disabled Students at UoM.
