The Skinny Current Issue

“When they talk about the September issue in The Devil Wears Prada, do you think this is what they mean” asks Anahit on the morning of print day as it turns out everyone has missed their deadlines to such a degree that we are all still writing features or indeed editorials and contents pages when we should, theoretically, already be sending pages to the printers. 

This issue finds us a team depleted by a month living in the midst of the world’s biggest arts festival™, reviewing, making Fest magazines, doling out Besties awards every Saturday, generally living life to the fullest while surviving on overpriced chips and pints. But! Thoughts turn to September, and the realities of life in an autumnal Scotland once the literal and metaphorical circus has left town.   

In the heart of this here magazine you will find our annual Student Guide, a 32-page special supplement commissioned by Clubs editor and actual student Myrtle which aims to provide an introduction to life in our cities as well as a few pointers on how to survive as a newly independent adult. Turn to p33 for an insight into open mic nights, reasons not to feel guilty for dodging the societies, a guide to intimacy, advice on navigating friendship fallouts, institutional horoscopes, chef budget recipes and more besides. 

Our lead feature is an examination of the situation at Dundee’s Cooper Gallery, the latest Scottish cultural venue threatened with closure due to bureacratic failure to understand that humanity cannot survive on the bottom line alone. Find out more about the campaign to save it, and its vital role as a space of experimental, thought-provoking programming. 

Space is tight, but in brief – we have words with corto.alto, celebrate a decade of Freakender Festival, meet Nicholas Winding Refn to find out about his extremely divisive (one star – The Skinny) new film Her Private Hell. We look forward to Aussie queer horror Leviticus, celebrate the return of Iberodocs, talk to Highland poet Colin Bramwell about trying to make fetch happen, consider proposals for a universal basic income for artists in Scotland, herald the arrival of the UK AIDS Memorial Quilt in Tramway and discuss Willem Dafoe with director Kent Jones. 

We close with The Skinny on… Eva Peroni, who has some wise words for the students of 2026 as well as inspiring dreams of life as a Japanese macaque.

- Rosamund West