Category Archives: book review

Read my weekly roundup of radical arts and politics..new films on Joan Littlewood, Mass Observation, Nightmail and Zinky Boys

Posted on May 1, 2016 by lipstick socialist

Watch                 O What a Lovely War; a Tribute to Joan Littlewood   (free, click on the link). It’s hard to imagine a character such as Joan running a theatre these days. An … Continue reading →

Posted in book review, Communism, drama, education, feminism, films, human rights, labour history, Manchester, political women, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Stop,Look,Listen…my weekly selection of favourite films, books and events to get you out of the house

Posted on April 25, 2016 by lipstick socialist

Watch Dheepan (Home)…how much do we really know about the refugees who escape war in their country and arrive in the west? Few people know about the war in Sri Lanka and the role of militants, the Tamil Tigers, who … Continue reading →

Posted in anti-cuts, book review, drama, feminism, films, human rights, Ireland, Irish second generation, labour history, Manchester, music, novels, political women, trade unions, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Celebrating women of the Easter Rising; my review of We Were There 77 Women of the Easter Rising

Posted on April 25, 2016 by lipstick socialist

Today is the actual day of the 100th anniversary of the Easter Rising in Dublin when revolutionaries tried to kick the British government out of Ireland. Not an anniversary that the Irish government really wants to celebrate properly; it might … Continue reading →

Posted in anti-cuts, book review, feminism, human rights, Ireland, Irish second generation, labour history, Manchester, political women, Socialist Feminism, trade unions, Uncategorized, working class history | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Stop,Look,Listen…my weekly selection of favourite films, books and events to get you out of the house

Posted on April 17, 2016 by lipstick socialist

      Watch  Public Eye (DVD.) As drama on our television screens seems to be dominated by murder and violence, it’s good to remind ourselves that there was a time when stories about the seediness and smallness of  people’s … Continue reading →

Posted in Blacklisting campaign, book review, drama, education, films, human rights, labour history, Manchester, peace campaigns, trade unions, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Stop,Look,Listen…my weekly selection of favourite films, books and events to get you out of the house

Posted on April 10, 2016 by lipstick socialist

      Watch Ladies who Do (free on this link ) a fascinating comedy set in London in 1963 about women cleaners from the east end of London who use their inside knowledge to play the stock market, well, … Continue reading →

Posted in anti-cuts, book review, drama, education, films, human rights, labour history, Manchester, May Day, political women, Socialism, trade unions, Uncategorized, women, working class history | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Book review; Gone to Ground by Marie Jalowicz Simon

Posted on March 31, 2016 by lipstick socialist

Marie Jalowicz Simon was 11 years old when the Nazis came to power in Germany in 1933. By 1939 a whole system of laws were enacted in order to exclude Jewish people from everyday life; stopping them from  going  to … Continue reading →

Posted in book review, Communism, human rights, political women, Uncategorized, women, working class history, young people | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Stop,Look,Listen…my weekly selection of favourite films, books and events to get you out of the house

Posted on March 27, 2016 by lipstick socialist

Watch The Pearl Button (Home)….another brilliant documentary by Chilean filmmaker Patricio Guzman, once more looking at the brutal history of his country; this time in Chilean Patagonia. At one time the nomadic Kaweskar (or “Water People”) paddled up and down … Continue reading →

Posted in anti-cuts, biography, book review, Communism, feminism, films, labour history, Socialist Feminism, trade unions, Uncategorized, women, working class history | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Stop,Look,Listen…my weekly selection of favourite films, books and events to get you out of the house

Posted on March 20, 2016 by lipstick socialist

 Watch High Rise  (Home and elsewhere) based on the J G Ballard novel of the same name which was written in the 70s. Tom Hiddleston plays Richard Laing, a new occupant in a soaring modernist tower block. Not sure if … Continue reading →

Posted in book review, Communism, drama, feminism, films, human rights, Uncategorized, working class history, young people | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

Why we need to reclaim International Women’s Day from the middle class feminists!

Posted on March 8, 2016 by lipstick socialist

I have grown to hate International Women’s Day. As the lives of women (and the partners we live with) deteriorate under the Tory government with the collaboration of Labour councils, the meaning  of the annual Day, started by Socialist women … Continue reading →

Posted in anti-cuts, book review, Communism, education, feminism, human rights, International Women's Day, Palestine, political women, Socialist Feminism, trade unions, working class history | Tagged , | 3 Comments

Book Review; Angry White People; Coming face-to-face with the British far right by Hsiao -Hung Pai

Posted on March 4, 2016 by lipstick socialist

I call this genre of book “slum lit”. Just as in the 19th century, when novelists chose to shock their readers by depicting slum life and the effects of capitalism on the poor,so  in the 21st century we have a … Continue reading →

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