Category Archives: 21st Century Britain

The royals: back by popular demand (but not so sure about Charles)

The future of the British monarchy looks brighter after a successful and popular royal wedding. Though less deferential and starry-eyed than 30 years ago, most people  enjoyed this wedding for what it was: a big public occasion to celebrate something simple – two nice people getting married: Ipsos MORI monarchy poll. We love a dayContinue reading “The royals: back by popular demand (but not so sure about Charles)”

Edgelands, wastelands and The Fall

Paul Farley and Michael Symmons Roberts‘ book Edgelands – about the aesthetics and psycho-geography of forgotten interzones of “waste” land on the edges of our towns and cities – has been an inspiring and thought-provoking book of the week on Radio 4: Edgelands – R4 Book of the Week Anyone who watched Coast a coupleContinue reading “Edgelands, wastelands and The Fall”

Keef’s Life: how we laugh at our icons

Reading this review of Keith Richards‘ autobiography – Life– enthused me to browse through it again with renewed interest. It reminded me what a good read the book is, but also how well cross-fertilisation can happen between a work and the comments around it. Perhaps it’s me being overly interested in the opinions of others,Continue reading “Keef’s Life: how we laugh at our icons”

Qual’s harder than it looks … no kidding, girlfriend

Interesting discussion on Today this morning about the “alternative census” done by the champion of numerical literacy the More Or Less programme, among their listeners. More or Less on Radio 4 – alternative census. Unusual to hear the nature of qualitative data discussed half-decently in the media, albeit for 30 seconds. As a qual practitionerContinue reading “Qual’s harder than it looks … no kidding, girlfriend”

“Fairness is about how happiness is distributed”

This discussion at the RSA is well worth a listen, for anyone interested in, well, having a good life – but more specifically, it’s about the idea David Cameron seems to have embraced, that government should be focussed on the well-being and “happiness” of its citizens, not just in growing GDP: Richard Layard with AndrewContinue reading ““Fairness is about how happiness is distributed””

Marketing budget optimists

Is there something irrepressibly optimistic about marketers? Careful with the slightly misleading headline in Marketing Week about low confidence ( Marketing Week on Bellweather Report – Confidence.), because the budgets that have been set are more bullish than ursine. The article goes on to say that, yes, they are spending less – again – but:Continue reading “Marketing budget optimists”

Consumerism: same old values, slower pace?

Mark Littlewood and Roger Scruton with Evan Davies on Radio 4\’s \’Today\’ Some perspective on our sufferings from Mark Littlewood (“Even after the recession and the cuts, we are about as affluent today as we were in around 2006”) and Roger Scruton (“What we are calling ‘austerity‘ now is nothing compared with austerity in theContinue reading “Consumerism: same old values, slower pace?”

Lovely alternative to PowerPoint

Just find a good cartoonist and a steady cameraperson … could be nice to do for a creds presentation, for example, rather than showing some stock slides. RSA animate presentation Idea from the RSA. So much good stuff on their website, check it out!

The North Will Rise Again

Thinking Allowed on the future of the north Interesting piece of futurology in Thinking Allowed on Radio 4 this week, about the possible impact of global warming on the fortunes and demography of the most northerly areas of the world, hitherto languishing under ice and forbidding weather conditions. One factoid that grabbed me was theContinue reading “The North Will Rise Again”