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
Futures Past: History, Memory and Nostalgia
As the ghosts of an analogue past come to haunt a digital present, forms of nostalgia loom large in some quarters, while the optimistic claims made for new technologies are subject to increasing scrutiny.
photoworks, May 2012
As the ghosts of an analogue past come to haunt a digital present, forms of nostalgia loom large in some quarters, while the optimistic claims made for new technologies are subject to increasing scrutiny.
photoworks, May 2012
Is it time to get Anglo-Saxon about England's local government?
The government wants a new era of localism and civic engagement. But rather than thinking up new ideas, should they be looking back into England's distant past for inspiration?
Justin Parkinson, BBC News, 26 April 2012
The government wants a new era of localism and civic engagement. But rather than thinking up new ideas, should they be looking back into England's distant past for inspiration?
Justin Parkinson, BBC News, 26 April 2012
The Scandal of Reason: A Critical Theory of Political Judgment
Theories of justice are haunted by a paradox: the more ambitious the theory of justice, the less applicable and useful the model is to political practice; yet the more politically realistic the theory, the weaker its moral ambition, rendering it unsound and equally useless.
Albena Azmanova, Columbia University Press, 13 April 2012
Fifty Shades of Grey
Unworldly and innocent, Ana is shocked to find she wants this man. And, when he warns her to keep her distance, it only makes her want him more.
EL James, Arrow, 12 April 2012
Other Ways to Think About the Copyright Debate
Do we, as a society, value our artists and the arts as a whole? Do we appreciate them enough to support them so that the arts can continue to grow and that artistic expressions of ideas can be protected? Or do we believe that all artistic works should be free, no matter the cost, even if that cost includes the actual content creators themselves?
Simon Tam, Music Think Tank, 11 April 2012
Do we, as a society, value our artists and the arts as a whole? Do we appreciate them enough to support them so that the arts can continue to grow and that artistic expressions of ideas can be protected? Or do we believe that all artistic works should be free, no matter the cost, even if that cost includes the actual content creators themselves?
Simon Tam, Music Think Tank, 11 April 2012
'Don't break the internet': How an idiot's slogan stole your privacy...
For 15 years internet companies have been waging a war against any kind of laws that establish properties and permissions for digital things. Every attempt to do so has been bitterly fought. It's the one constant in Silicon Valley's battles against the copyright industries.
Andrew Orlowski, Register, 9 April 2012
For 15 years internet companies have been waging a war against any kind of laws that establish properties and permissions for digital things. Every attempt to do so has been bitterly fought. It's the one constant in Silicon Valley's battles against the copyright industries.
Andrew Orlowski, Register, 9 April 2012
Damien Hirst and the great art market heist
Hirst is the world's richest artist and the Tate's big retrospective will mark the zenith of his power. But when his stock falls, how will an art world in thrall to big money respond?
Hari Kunzru, Guardian, 16 March 2012
Hirst is the world's richest artist and the Tate's big retrospective will mark the zenith of his power. But when his stock falls, how will an art world in thrall to big money respond?
Hari Kunzru, Guardian, 16 March 2012
Opera for the masses, by the masses?
What Graham Vick and his company demonstrate so well is that opera, regardless of when, where and by whom it was made, can speak to us all and enrich our lives.
Niall Crowley, Independent, 15 March 2012
What Graham Vick and his company demonstrate so well is that opera, regardless of when, where and by whom it was made, can speak to us all and enrich our lives.
Niall Crowley, Independent, 15 March 2012
Henley review of cultural education backs arts in the national curriculum
Government responds positively to Henley review and pledges money for national film and dance academies
Lizzie Crump, Guardian, 29 February 2012
Government responds positively to Henley review and pledges money for national film and dance academies
Lizzie Crump, Guardian, 29 February 2012
Our Manifesto
Our vision is of communities and individuals flourishing through music making. This manifesto is intended to show how that vision can be realised in the context of music & wellbeing.
Making Music, 1 February 2012
Our vision is of communities and individuals flourishing through music making. This manifesto is intended to show how that vision can be realised in the context of music & wellbeing.
Making Music, 1 February 2012
Learning Jargonese - Steven Poole - 'Intelligent Design' is dishonest jargon
"If you have not tried it, you miss the best annual collective thought provoking opportunities in Britain."
Vijaya Madhavan, business consultant and part time doctor
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