In a city long since transformed by gentrification and tourism, there is something brilliantly defiant about what the museum does. But after months of erratic opening hours, the People's Story was recently closed without warning, thanks to what one councillor called "staffing pressures and a need to manage expenditure".
Last Thursday Labour, Tory and Lib Dem councillors voted to keep it shut for seven months - with an "update" in December - so they can try to pare down costs across the city's museums and galleries: a small but very symbolic element of a drive to put through £26m ($34m) in spending cuts across the council's budgets.
The museum's supporters fear the worst. One of them is Jim Slaven, a community activist and Edinburgh tour guide specialising in social history, who well knows what is afoot. "They've turned the city centre into a citadel for the rich," he recently said, "and now they're trying to write us out of the history of the city as well." Here, once again, is a bafflingly overlooked story.
Denne historien er fra October 11, 2024-utgaven av The Guardian Weekly.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent ? Logg på
Denne historien er fra October 11, 2024-utgaven av The Guardian Weekly.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
After the fall
He was known for taboobusting, transgressive stories about identity, sexuality and belonging. Then Hanif Kureishi broke his neck. Despite a lifechanging injury, he's still every bit as provocative
Province's blueprint for sharing land with First Nations
An experiment is under way in British Columbia, Canada's westernmost province: the government is rewriting its laws to share power with Indigenous nations over a land base bigger than France and Germany combined.
True superstar Nadal calling time on career brings an end to golden era
There are some moments in sport that stand above all others. For Rafael Nadal, that moment came in the early evening at Wimbledon in 2008.
Play chess against Mo Salah? I would love that
The football-mad world No 1 on the players he'd like to face, why he feels he has never played the perfect gameand his retirement plans
Addis adagio Pianist plays a key role in musical adventure
Girma Yifrashewa will never forget the exhilaration of getting his own piano - a surprise gift.
'Coolest job on earth': new team for penguin post office
As a \"tent master\", whose work involves building big tops at music festivals, George Clarke has never run a post office- and certainly never counted penguins for a living.
A children's hospital with its own healing properties
From patient 'cottages' to walls designed for scribbling on, the Kinderspital in Zurich is a child-friendly miracle
Road to recovery Reeling Florida counts the cost of double hurricane strike
More than just clouds were swirling when a tropical disturbance that would become Hurricane Milton formed in the south-western Gulf of Mexico, beginning its inexorable advance towards a strike on Florida's west coast.
Forecasters targeted as conspiracy theories swirl
Meteorologists tracking the advance of Hurricane Milton were targeted by a deluge of conspiracy theories that they were controlling the weather, abuse and even death threats, amid what they say is an unprecedented surge in misinformation as two major hurricanes hit the US.
Tributes paid to ex-Scottish first minister Alex Salmond
Scotland's first minister John Swinney paid tribute to Alex Salmond's \"colossal contribution\" to Scottish and UK politics, as allies mourned his sudden death last Saturday, at the age of 69.