Colin Cushion

Category: Column

  • Belonging Begins at the Door

    Belonging Begins at the Door

    in

    I went looking for community and left through the back door. Community events promise connection, but too often forget about the person who arrives alone.

  • Looking For Stability In A Broken Job Market

    Looking For Stability In A Broken Job Market

    in

    After hours spent battling through convoluted applications and a growing pile of rejections, I’m left wondering how someone willing and able to work can still end up feeling unemployable. Between bipolar disorder, therapy, and an increasingly dehumanising recruitment process, finding stability feels harder than ever.

  • Not Every Emergency Needs an Audience

    Not Every Emergency Needs an Audience

    in

    After emergency vehicles attended a possible missing person search in the Docklands, I found myself watching another kind of spectacle unfold: the crowd. Why are people so instinctively drawn towards sirens, flashing blue lights, and unfolding emergencies, and at what point does curiosity become performance?

  • Performing Adulthood While Living in Poverty

    Performing Adulthood While Living in Poverty

    in

    A curdled bowl of Weetabix, bounced payments, and a city built for people with money. A bipolar journalism student reflects on poverty, performance, and trying to survive in modern London.

  • The Problem With Olympic “Legacy” In Britain

    The Problem With Olympic “Legacy” In Britain

    in

    Britain became unbelievably good at selling the visual success of London 2012. Measuring the deeper social legacy proved far more difficult. As talk of a northern-led Olympic bid grows, the country faces a bigger question than where the Games should happen: does Britain still know how to deliver lasting national ambition beyond branding, spectacle and…

  • The World Cannot End Every Morning Before Breakfast

    The World Cannot End Every Morning Before Breakfast

    in

    Modern news increasingly feels designed to emotionally overwhelm rather than inform. After waking up to coverage of the Trump and Xi summit, Colin Cushion reflects on doomscrolling, media framing and why audiences are desperate for perspective again.

  • The Cinema Is Losing Control of Its Own Experience

    The Cinema Is Losing Control of Its Own Experience

    in

    From late arrivals to absent staff, the modern cinema quietly shifts responsibility onto the audience. But if the experience cannot be protected, what exactly are we paying for?

  • The Line That Gets You Out Is Breaking Down

    The Line That Gets You Out Is Breaking Down

    in

    Newham gets you through the day. Getting out is another story. As delays mount on the Docklands Light Railway, the gap between what Transport for London says and what passengers experience is becoming harder to ignore.

  • The Debate Around Assisted Dying Is Detached from Reality

    The Debate Around Assisted Dying Is Detached from Reality

    in

    The assisted dying debate increasingly feels detached from the legislation itself. As arguments grow louder, the question becomes whether people are debating the bill currently proposed, or the one they fear could exist in the future.

  • London Makes Pressure Look Invisible

    London Makes Pressure Look Invisible

    in

    Life in London can look effortless. Coffee shops are full, queues stretch around attractions and the city rarely seems to stop moving. But beneath the surface, many people are quietly calculating every expense, balancing ordinary experiences against the rising cost of simply staying afloat.