People’s right to think, teach and speak are routinely violated

In Western world, free speech is held up as core value, but there is widespread discord and disagreement about what freedom of expression means. In China, India and across the Islamic world, unorthodox views about politics, sex, and religion are repressed and people are often punished for expressing them. Amidst perennial imbalances of power, continually evolving cultural taboos, dramatic new technologies and a fast-changing global media landscape, where free speech comes from- and how we might think about it- are critical questions. Through lens of history, freedom of speech is not an absolute from which societies and regimes have drifted … Continue reading People’s right to think, teach and speak are routinely violated

Greed, lies and Veil of Secrecy

Former Wall Street Journal reporter, editor and Bloomberg’s investigative journalist Duncan Mavin’s Melt Down exposes a crisis year for Credit Suisse’s 2023 implosion, with a lucid account of how greed and complacency of bosses and employees destroyed the bank. For centuries Swiss banks have served the globe’s wealthiest individuals, employing a strict culture of anonymity and gaining massive wealth in the process. In March 2023, bank runs and panic among depositors of smaller US lenders spread to customers of Credit Suisse. As the crisis deepened Credit Suisse remained highly solvent across a reassuringly wide range of metrics, but said it … Continue reading Greed, lies and Veil of Secrecy

Glamour, greed from ruthless dealer, super curator and a fawning auctioneer

“Artists are slaves to their vanity. But in the end, in time, they see things as they are”. Today’s commercial art world is a marketplace of extremes, mysterious dealing with unbelievable money, glamour with excess grubbiness, visions of great beauty, generosity, and greed. James Cahill give us the ruthless dealer Claude Berlins, who is only interested in dollar signs. The super curator Fritz Schein, is definitely involved.  A fawning auctioneer, Florian Roth, set on getting his hands on the collection of mega-rich octogenarian collector, Leo Goffman for the sale of the century. Lorna Bedford, whose gallery was the first home of … Continue reading Glamour, greed from ruthless dealer, super curator and a fawning auctioneer

Spotify sold itself to major record labels as musicians earnings fell

Music critic and journalist, Liz Pelly, weaves an unsparing investigation into Spotify’s origins and influence on music, with incisive cultural criticism, illuminating how streaming is reshaping music for listeners and artists alike. If you stream a song on Spotify, how money does the artist make? Spotify has been profoundly damaging for all but the most commercially successful musicians and even shaped the kind of music that they make. Like several digital start-ups, Spotify, founded in Sweden in 2006 by tech entrepreneurs Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon, purported to be revolutionsing an industry when really it was just reinforcing the status … Continue reading Spotify sold itself to major record labels as musicians earnings fell

Democracy is in Crisis

Democracy is in crisis across the globe, especially in UK, it has been rocked by Brexit, the pandemic and successive attempts by governments to bypass legal norms.  Jonathan Sumption renders acute analysis of the state of democracy today – from the vulnerabilities of international law to the deepening suppression of democracy activism in Hong Kong, and from the complexities of human rights legislation to the defence of freedom of speech. One of the finest examples is of Jonathan Sumption, whose career has been an unusual combination of medieval historian, barrister, supreme court judge, member of the House of Lords. The … Continue reading Democracy is in Crisis

Have we lost ability to make things?

We live in a manufactured world, Unless you are floating naked through space, you are right  now in direct contact with multiple manufactured products. How ofoten we stop to think: where do the things we buy actually come from? American President, Donald Trump, promised in his recent inaugural address, America would soon become “a manufacturing nation once again”. His planned tariffs, will encourage some global companies to relocate factories back to the US.  Academic expert on innovation and technology at Cambridge University, Tim Minshall’s Your Life Is Manufactured is about perils of losing touch with the art of making things .  This … Continue reading Have we lost ability to make things?

DEI – diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives

In a World of White people, The Science of Racism uses clear scientific research to expose what we know about racism, exactly how we know it, and what we can do about it. Since 2000s, recruiters have suffered from unusual occupational hazard. Having received numerous applications for jobs they have advertised, they have consistently been hiring people who do not exist. Ghost applications with identical CVs, the only difference between the two is that one applicant is Black while the other is white. They fall victims of their own prejudices, as well as to what is by now, a well … Continue reading DEI – diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives

England lose first ODI

First one-day international, Nagpur England 248 ao (47.4ov) Buttler 52, Bethell 51, Jadeja 3-26, Harshit 3-53. India 251-6 (38.4ov) Gill 87, Iyer 59, Mahmood 2-47 India won by four wickets, lead T20 series against India, Jos Buttler’s England  did not make use of a good start with the bat to be bowled out for 248. Opener Phil Salt who scored 26 from one Harshit Rana over, scoring 43 from 26 balls only to run-out which triggered a collapse of three wickets for two runs in eight balls from 71-0. Captain Buttler mustered 52 before miscuing, leaving Jacob Bethell to bat with … Continue reading England lose first ODI

Wildlife Photographer of the Year 60 People’s Choice winner

Wildlife Photographer of the year 60 People’s Choice winner Ian Wood’s “No Access” fought off competition form 24 other images to emerge winner. Residents of St Leonards-on-Sea, on England’s south coast, had been leaving food out on the pavement to encourage foxes, but other urban wildlife had better idea. Ian noticed that badgers living near his house were coming out of forage, passing by a piece of badger graffiti as they did so. As a solitary badger made its way along the pavement glacing around the street, Ian clicked the picture at the right moment. His photo shows the badger, … Continue reading Wildlife Photographer of the Year 60 People’s Choice winner

Language and curriculum have to be decolonised to deliver diversity, equality and inclusion.

Why our universities, established as sanctuaries of truth and higher learning are broken and are failing a generation of young people. Consumed by funding and admission crisis, mired in political scandal and governed by self-interest, their founding principles have been corrupted. Matt Goodwin spent decades working as an academic in some of the world’s leading universities including professor of politics at the University of Kent, delivering underfunded courses to increasingly disengaged lecture theatres, sitting on rudderless committees, counselling depressed colleagues and concerned students, watching standards slip and academic integrity decline. He argues that diversity of opinion is under threat in … Continue reading Language and curriculum have to be decolonised to deliver diversity, equality and inclusion.