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Lennie Pennie

Lennie Pennie

Herald Scotland

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Lennie Pennie: I stayed too long in an abusive relationship. Here's why

Someone recently approached me at an event and asked me when I had learned to forgive myself for staying so long in an abusive relationship. I often...

02.11.2024 8

Herald Scotland

Lennie Pennie

Lennie Pennie: True crime like Netflix's Menendez Brothers is a dangerous obsession

I was on the train the other day and couldn't help but overhear a discussion about a new TV show. It was a documentary, true crime, one I'd been...

04.10.2024 10

Herald Scotland

Lennie Pennie

Lennie Pennie: In the name of Moira, a message of hope and healing

Recently I was invited to speak at a fundraising event for the Moira Anderson Foundation (MAF), and to learn all about the incredible work they do. ...

21.09.2024 10

Herald Scotland

Lennie Pennie

Lennie Pennie: An appeal on domestic abuse: put yourself in our shoes

Every single year, Scottish police record around 60,000 cases of domestic abuse. That’s just one sobering statistic in a slew of others, a drop in...

07.09.2024 4

Herald Scotland

Lennie Pennie

Lennie Pennie: Fans take note – celebrities have a right to privacy too

The singer Chappell Roan recently made headlines for apparently releasing a furious rant, condemning her own fans. Was she slinging insults and...

24.08.2024 10

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Lennie Pennie

Lennie Pennie: The convicted child rapist who shamed the Olympics

So you're watching an Olympic volleyball match between Norway and the Netherlands, and there's something you can't quite put your finger on. Amid the...

10.08.2024 20

Herald Scotland

Lennie Pennie

Lennie Pennie: Women are living in a culture of perpetual mourning

When it comes to understanding violence against women, there's an extremely effective model that helps visualise how pervasive and insidious it is. ...

27.07.2024 10

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Lennie Pennie

Lennie Pennie: Level the playing field on tax and give every kid a chance

As part of Keir Starmer’s new financial plan he's set his sights on the private education sector, with a view to taxing them less like a charity,...

13.07.2024 9

Herald Scotland

Lennie Pennie

Lennie Pennie: Old and young can work together to beat the bigots

Usually when we hear about the generational divide, it’s being highlighted in order to pit us against each other. Recently I’ve been hearing more...

29.06.2024 5

Herald Scotland

Lennie Pennie

Lennie Pennie: Baby Reindeer and the painful truth about making art out of trauma

Autobiographical work is more popular than ever, whether it's fact-based documentaries and memoirs, fictionalised retellings, or artistic...

15.06.2024 10

Herald Scotland

Lennie Pennie

Lennie Pennie: Robust and honest sex education is essential in every school

In the latest tactic to obfuscate and create division just in time for the election, this month it’s teachers being pitted against parents over...

01.06.2024 20

Herald Scotland

Lennie Pennie

Lennie Pennie: The global community must come together to oppose this inhumanity

There’s a quote that’s often attributed to Josef Stalin, but is actually thought to have originated in an essay by the German pacifist and...

18.05.2024 50

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Lennie Pennie

Lennie Pennie: Why won't our politicians give us straight answers?

How often have you heard an interview with a politician where, despite repeatedly being presented with a straightforward line of questioning, they...

04.05.2024 20

Herald Scotland

Lennie Pennie

Lennie Pennie: The perils and pitfalls of adapting Roald Dahl for today's audiences

I recently came across a video promoting the new adaptation of Roald Dahl’s book, The Twits. It featured Greg James and Chris Smith discussing how...

20.04.2024 30

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Lennie Pennie

Lennie Pennie: Coeliac disease isn’t a fad, or a preference, it’s a serious condition

As someone with food intolerances, I have quite a strict routine when ordering from restaurants. Regardless of whether it’s sitting in or taking...

05.04.2024 10

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Lennie Pennie

Lennie Pennie: Scots criminal justice system needs to put survivors first

I recently took part in a BBC Disclosure documentary detailing my experiences as a survivor of domestic abuse and stalking. The documentary featured...

23.03.2024 5

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Lennie Pennie

Lennie Pennie: Protecting our libraries helps everyone in the community

If the concept of a public library were proposed today, there is no doubt in my mind that it would be rejected by a great number of people as some...

09.03.2024 6

Herald Scotland

Lennie Pennie

Lennie Pennie: It shouldn’t take Taylor Swift to make us change the law on AI

It often seems that with every technological breakthrough humanity makes, there soon exists a way for it to be used to hurt people. AI is the new...

02.03.2024 20

Herald Scotland

Lennie Pennie

Lennie Pennie: It shouldn’t take a celebrity to make us change the law on AI

It often seems that with every technological breakthrough humanity makes, there soon exists a way for it to be used to hurt people. AI is the new...

02.03.2024 9

Herald Scotland

Lennie Pennie

Lennie Pennie: The people of this country must always come before profit

One of my very favourite cliches is: “A society grows great when old men plant trees in whose shade they shall never sit.” You can pick your...

03.02.2024 30

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Lennie Pennie

Lennie Pennie: Men have been made to feel as though their voice won't be heard

I was recently asked by a male survivor of sexual assault why I don't write poetry about men who have experienced abuse. I had to sit with this for a...

27.01.2024 10

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Lennie Pennie

Lennie Pennie: Ageing isn't a moral failing. Don't believe the skin 'care' companies

I was watching a video made by a dermatologist about anti-ageing skincare, under which I saw multiple comments from pre-teens asking if it was too...

20.01.2024 9

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Lennie Pennie

Lennie Pennie: Nobody mentions your BMI or the size of your bahookie in your eulogy

Just a wee heads up before we start, this column will cover topics like eating disorders and unhealthy attitudes towards food, exercise and bodies. If...

13.01.2024 3

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Lennie Pennie

Lennie Pennie: Jokes about assaulting women aren't really jokes, are they?

After meeting victims of spiking, and shortly after the UK Government announced its plans to treat the crime with the utmost care and attention, the...

06.01.2024 8

Herald Scotland

Lennie Pennie

Lennie Pennie: Enough is enough: we need an immediate and permanent ceasefire

We're just coming out of that time of year when many people will get together to celebrate the birth of a wee baby born in Bethlehem. I hope all those...

30.12.2023 6

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Lennie Pennie

Lennie Pennie: To solve poverty, we must tackle the causes of wealth

Imagine scientists are performing an experiment on resource hoarding in mice. They give a surplus of food to one set of mice and very little food to...

23.12.2023 10

Herald Scotland

Lennie Pennie

Lennie Pennie: For all our sakes, these cuts to languages cannot go ahead

The ink isn't yet dry on the Scottish languages bill which represents a commitment to protect and promote Gaelic and Scots, and we're already seeing a...

09.12.2023 30

Herald Scotland

Lennie Pennie

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