news
Tell it to the birds
At last, a piece of good news that will, quite literally, cheer us all up. In a consummate bit of PR, the Royal Society for Protection of Birds made the headlines with news that listening to birdsong boosts mental wellbeing in 90% of adults. The YouGov poll commissioned by the RSPB found that 88% of…
Read MoreJaw-jaw vs war-war?
Many of the “soldiers” that make up the band of mercenaries collectively known as the Wagner Group, are convicts. Faced with the unpalatable choice of doing stir in a Russian gaol, or being used as cannon fodder in Ukraine, many have opted to take their chances with the latter. Russia has a history of deploying penal battalions…
Read MoreHelp yourself why don’t you…
In a great example of how to do PR well, a letter appeared in the Times last week, urging the government “to consider the value of self-care” – and reassuring us that “self-care does not mean no care”. The letter, which comes from “a coalition of leading health and pharmacy organisations” highlights their “blueprint for…
Read MoreNever complain, never explain
In these troubled times, surely what the nation is crying out for is a bit of cognitive dissonance. We could all do with a bit of diversion from the fear of falling in the shower, or having a stroke while ambulance crews, nurses and shortly, junior doctors, withdraw their services in protest at (in part), the…
Read MoreMy Qatar Silently Weeps
Visit Qatar’s shiny new website and it states that every visit to Qatar starts with a feeling. Boy, have they got that right. Feelings have been somewhat on public display since the World Cup circus rolled into the Emirate last week. While diehard travelling soccer fans will no doubt be enjoying the glow of warmth the State…
Read MoreWho Dares Wins
The BBC has just launched a new drama, SAS: Rogue Heroes. It’s the (almost) true story of the formation of the Special Air Service, and is based on a terrific book by Ben Macintyre. In many ways, it’s a salutary lesson in how it takes real disruptors to do things differently, make change and above all,…
Read MoreSpud-u-don’t-like
Reflections on the week’s ups and downs – and the terrible waste of food at Halloween If the events of the last few months have left you yearning for a period of total, hermit-like isolation, away from the ups and downs of British politics, BBC news reader Ben Brown has been living the dream. Although for…
Read MoreAusten Powers
In troubled times, turning to Jane Austen can provide a little respite. Her prose uses parody, burlesque, irony, free indirect speech and a degree of realism. No shortage of material for her style at the moment, then. Penned over two hundred years ago, some passages resonate today. For example, in Pride and Prejudice, Mr Bennet, unable…
Read More