Boiled Coins

Richard Lutz looks back at a weird old week.

Living in a viral world

Richard Lutz re-adjusts to a life that has changed.

Cheers and Piers

Richard Lutz is blasted by a storm and blessed with a Google promise. 

Letter from Scotland

Tony Fitzpatrick reports from north of the border on Brexit and a sense of loss.

Sir Howard asks: Quo vadimus, baby?

Sir Howard Elston, our sanitaryware editor, demands answers about the burning questions of the day.

50 shades of you know what

Richard Lutz tours the geometry of a grey Evenlode valley.

The long and winding road to Xtampak

Stephen Cooke, in Mexico, runs into a dubious policeman, a jungle and a lost city.

2020 and the snap of the plastic flags

Richard Lutz witnesses change and immutability as 2020 approaches.

Labour and the election: no Big Idea, no shared future, no narrative

Will Mapplebeck, a Tyneside political commentator, reports on the outflow from the election.

Voting and the long poisonous shadow of the referendum

Richard Lutz braces himself for an election that will stop the country cold in its winter tracks.

From Everest to Embleton, it’s a mountain of plastic, paper and polystyrene

Sheilagh Matheson walks on an award-winning beach but has to pick her way through a wasteland of rubbish. 

Advocate for an Advocaat

Sheilagh Matheson raises a glass or two.

The town that doesn’t see itself

Sheilagh Matheson works in an African community so poor it can’t afford mirrors.

What autumn brings

Richard Lutz says goodbye to a friend.

Cameron is where the blame lies

Richard Lutz points the finger of blame at you-know-who.

Britain: Broken, bedevilled, betrayed

Richard Lutz watches democracy go down the pan.

My no-deal letter to my MP

Richard Lutz tries to persuade his MP to turn his back on No Deal come October.

Juggling your life passion and your full-time job

Local community activist Abid Khan talks about working at what you enjoy.

Requiem for a bloody nation

Richard Lutz on the double massacre in the US.

The Rocky Boris Show and The Murder Hole

Richard Lutz holds his breath as Britain twists in the wind.

Double trouble in the land of Bojo and Trump

Richard Lutz feverishly peers into his crystal ball as the political world swirls around him.

Lost voices of Muslim women

Gay activist Saima Razzaq gives her opinion of the Birmingham schools protest controversy.

This is rubbish

Richard Lutz is reduced to writing about garbage.

Music from the depths of a river- and other tales

Richard Lutz gets to see the woods through the trees. 

Two takes on Africa and the tale of the dragon

Richard Lutz dips into African theatre twice and finds a lost church.

Total eclipse of the Sun

Dave Woodhall comments on a disgraceful piece of gutter reporting.

Karkosa – big in Seoul

Stephen Pennell reports on another promising Birmingham band.

The Brexit baloney

Andy Munro poses a topical question or six to his MP.

Book Review: ‘Our City’ explores how immigration changed Birmingham

Richard Lutz reviews an investigation into the changing face of our city landscape.

Voices in the Machine

Richard Lutz queries just who benefits from ever-newer levels of digital technology.