Our 2016 favourites: Cable voices
A couple of the most interesting voices that the Cable has published in 2016.
We’re always on the look-out for interesting people, novel opinions and experiences that few of us will have gone through.
Part of the Cable’s critique of other mainstream media platforms is that they’ve tended to make room for the usual suspects, the same old people spouting the same old ‘solutions’. Well, look where that’s gotten us. We think that if we’re going to navigate our way out of this mess, we need to be hearing less from the politicians and business ‘leaders’ who brought us here and more from the people who’re outside the system and trying to change it.
I chose the way that speaks truth
What’s it about?
Sara Mohamed lost her job as a journalist in Sudan in 2013, because she was too good at it – and the government didn’t like it. After giving a talk for Cable members, she wrote a feature about what it is like to be a journalist when telling the truth can get you arrested.
Why did we like it?
It takes bravery to see the ‘official line’ and call it out as wrong – and Sara’s story is inspirational.
As Sara wrote, “When I started out, I understood there were two paths. One led to safety, bowing down to the government. I chose the other way, where I could at least be myself, take on the oppressor and hopefully win some battles. But, as I learned, this way can also lead to prison and exile.”
Black Lives Matter is an emergent force in the UK
What’s it about?
The title really says it all, this was a long feature we ran in the 9th edition of the magazine. Camille Barton gives a great overview of where the movement comes from, its challenges and its successes.
Why did we like it?
It was a great read on a difficult topic. It’s thought provoking without being needlessly provocative. The piece doesn’t hold any punches where it matters, but you don’t feel bludgeoned by opinions. There’s no skimming over the conceptual and theoretical underpinnings of the Black Lives Matter movement, but you don’t feel like you’re reading an academic paper. Overall, it makes you think, and that’s exactly what we want from our features.
The secret (former) stockbroker
What’s it about?
A rare glimpse into the world of finance that dispels a few of the stereotypes (as well as confirming a few others)
Why did we like it?
People’s workplaces are just interesting. You realise that over time the working culture ends up normalising a lot of behaviour that would be simply perverse in the outside world. Who knew that junior stockbrokers can’t even advise their clients not to do something stupid? Isn’t that stupid? You’d like to think that by examining where people work and exposing it to the public eye, the people who’ve become accustomed to it might stop and think about whether it’s a good idea.
So why did really we like it? Mostly because it might encourage a ‘secret teacher’, ‘secret policeman’ or ‘secret executive’ to pop out of the woodwork.
Working yourself to death
What’s it about?
Part of it is about reaching the lowest point in your life, the point that you want to end it. Mostly it’s about how to navigate your way back to health, in a world where toxic masculinity makes you feel like a failure and ‘bullshit jobs’ only make life seem even more pointless.
Why did we like it?
Because half the reason that suicide is the most common cause of death for males under 35 is that we don’t talk about it. There are obvious barriers to speaking up, getting help and keeping yourself well, and while the article doesn’t gloss over how difficult that can be, unless we’re aware of them more and more people will keep living in suffering, until the point where it gets to be too much.
‘We’re just as human as you’: one woman’s experience of being transgender and homeless
What’s it about?
Anna was kicked out of her house at the age of 13 when she told her mother she was transgender. Ever since she’s been living on the streets trying to get by in a difficult situation that’s made even harder by her gender. Koel, the Cable coordinator for this article, wrote up part of their conversation.
Why did we like it?
The interview is touching, personal and brutally honest. Part of the Cable’s mission is to reach out to the marginalised communities which mainstream journalism rarely makes the effort to speak to, and Koel worked hard to make that happen.
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