St Andrew’s Day is a public holiday in all but actuality, with many Scots again pondering why it’s not designated as such. However, Calum Martin, national co-chair with Scottish Socialist Party, says a public holiday isn’t a frivolous demand and can be accompanied by a range of options and policies to enhance Scottish arts, culture and public space…

Music is often divided into two broad spheres: the mainstream and the underground. In Scotland, this is no different, and ‘DIY culture’ as a concept continues to be lauded and promoted in our independent music media. But how inclusive and community-driven is our underground music scene? And what attempts are there to decouple it from the dominant neo-liberal model? Dr Stewart Smith poses these questions in this long read…

On Sunday, Dundee plays host the second annual Leftfest, a one-day festival of political radicalism with music, spoken word, food and drink, and stalls from trade unions, local traders and campaign groups. The Leftfest Dundee Collective write for Conter about the values of such a project, its challenges and why people should come along and learn from it….

A recent arts industry report posed the question: where are all the working class people in the visual arts? Reflecting on Glasgow's biggest festival for contemporary art, Hailey Maxwell concludes that, if anything, exploitation and inequality in the world art itself reflect British society as a whole...