As someone who grew up in the ’90s, one of the things I find most surreal about current political debates is the left’s whole-hearted embrace of global capitalism. I was a teenager in the 90s and a student in the early 2000s. I remember reading about the ‘Battle of Seattle’ anti-WTO protests, the Make Poverty history campaign about debt forgiveness and learning in geography about the plight of Vietnamese coffee growers (caused by, so we were taught, the World Bank)….
A couple of weeks ago I was looking to create another playlist for long car journeys, ideally satisfying the constraints that the rest of my family would also enjoy, or at least tolerate it. The last playlist had just been good driving music, so for this one I wanted a theme. My first idea was to make it science themed. This turned out not to be a very good idea, as it turned out the three tracks I’d already thought…
This may be more controversial than my posts on Brexit, but as an avid book-lover I really dislike World Book Day. In particular, I dislike the way the primary focus of the day is about dressing up. I recognise that some people like dressing up – but we already have other days dedicated to dressing up, notably Halloween. There are also fancy-dress parties and other fancy-dress events. We have one day a year that’s meant to be about celebrating books…
I’ve made a submission to the Independent Review of the TEF. The submission: Sets out the strategic imperative and goals of the TEF. Looks at what essential elements are needed to achieve those goals. Considers the ratings and metrics. Examines both the underlying principles and the current proposals for Subject TEF. Download and read the full submission.