Reading for Battle
Battle Readings is a regularly updated compilation of articles, essays, and opinion pieces relevant to the themes of the Battle of Ideas.
Choose a theme from the listing on the left to narrow your search, or view all readings.
Arts & Culture
The soundtrack of your life
'"Our biggest competitor," a member of Muzak's marketing department told me, "is silence"'
David Owen, New Yorker, 10 April 2006
'"Our biggest competitor," a member of Muzak's marketing department told me, "is silence"'
David Owen, New Yorker, 10 April 2006
The Carolingian Renaissance
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the Holy Roman Emperor Charlemagne and the Carolingian Renaissance.
In Our Time, BBC Radio 4, 30 March 2006
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the Holy Roman Emperor Charlemagne and the Carolingian Renaissance.
In Our Time, BBC Radio 4, 30 March 2006
A ponta do iceberg (IV): Francisco Frazão
Francisco Frazão, nesta sua primeira experiência enquanto programador, assume que o que lhe interessa é saber que pode contribuir para uma nova relação entre a criação, a programação e o público, sempre partindo de uma reflexão em torno do texto.
Tiago Bartolomeu Costa, O Melhor Anjo, 23 March 2006
Francisco Frazão, nesta sua primeira experiência enquanto programador, assume que o que lhe interessa é saber que pode contribuir para uma nova relação entre a criação, a programação e o público, sempre partindo de uma reflexão em torno do texto.
Tiago Bartolomeu Costa, O Melhor Anjo, 23 March 2006
The personal library - now there's an idea
The public lending library, another great Victorian institution, has had its day.
Helen Rumbelow, The Times, 9 February 2006
The public lending library, another great Victorian institution, has had its day.
Helen Rumbelow, The Times, 9 February 2006
Shedding new light on the Dark Ages
The period from the 5th to the 11th centuries in Europe has traditionally been treated in Britain as the ‘Dark Ages’—of little interest.
Chris Harman, International Socialism, 3 February 2006
The period from the 5th to the 11th centuries in Europe has traditionally been treated in Britain as the ‘Dark Ages’—of little interest.
Chris Harman, International Socialism, 3 February 2006
Music, Food and Love
"Music, Food and Love" conveys the vivid experiences of a boy with a passion for music and cooking who grew up in Beijing before and during the Chinese Cultural Revolution. For him, music and food are equally important.
Guo Yue and Clare Farrow, Portrait, 26 January 2006
A treasure house for Moomins, Biggles and well-thumbed pages
'So libraries of every sort are treasure houses. I love them, I cherish them, I use them all the time, I could not bear to live in a society without them.'
Philip Pullman, The Times, 2 January 2006
'So libraries of every sort are treasure houses. I love them, I cherish them, I use them all the time, I could not bear to live in a society without them.'
Philip Pullman, The Times, 2 January 2006
New Musical experiences
Have changes in the means of distributing and consuming music privatised what was once a collective experience?
Dan Hill, City of Sound, 2 January 2006
Have changes in the means of distributing and consuming music privatised what was once a collective experience?
Dan Hill, City of Sound, 2 January 2006
Extreme Makeover: The Changing Face of Documentary
In an age when practically no one is outside the media loop, every life is understood as intrinsically a production-in-the-making whose idioms are shaped by a spectrum of 'documentary' practices
Paul Arthur, Cineaste, 2005
In an age when practically no one is outside the media loop, every life is understood as intrinsically a production-in-the-making whose idioms are shaped by a spectrum of 'documentary' practices
Paul Arthur, Cineaste, 2005
Is the Big Society the good society?
"A superb brainstorming of gritty brinkmanship. Totally mind-stretching and wonderful."
Humphrey Hawksley, BBC World Affairs correspondent
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