Ciar Byrne talks to Paul McNamee, editor of The Big Issue, about his early career “going where the work was”, why the triumvirate of editor, deputy editor and art director is so central to a magazine’s success, how he works to make the title “challenging and provocative” but not a “pity purchase”, his 20 ft rule for assessing front covers, some of the great guest editors he’s had (Armando Iannucci, Floella Benjamin and Mark Millar), the buzz he got coordinating Mark Hamill (aka Luke Skywalker) interviewing The Kinks' Ray and Dave Davies, the existential threat Covid posed to their street-sale model and what they did about it, and how “driving around Glasgow in the rain, listening to The Blue Nile is one of life’s rich pleasures” and much more…

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