Link Loving 20.12.12

• Research says that studying economics turns you into a liar.  Jordan Weissmann.
• Outrageous HSBC settlement proves the drug war is a joke. Matt Taibbi.
• The disciplined pursuit of less. Greg McKeown.
• Johnny Depp thrills a local school after arriving unannounced as Jack Sparrow to help lead a mutiny against the teachers. BBC News.

Link Loving 19.12.12

• Great and wide-ranging interview with Adam Curtis. Alex Miller.

Sunday Reading Suggestion – The State Of The World

This is the best ‘state-of-the-world’ essay I’ve read in a while. It is a corker!

It opens with a comparison of the Western world today to that of Rome during the end of the ancient world and the emergence of Christianity. Then, sweeping through philosophy, history, psychology and science – explores today’s conceptions of power, progress, consciousness and meaning. The best bit is that it doesn’t focus on the dying of something epochal – but on the reorientation and rebirth of the new, the just and the free. Hope you enjoy!

http://vanwishard.com/books/sleepwalking-through-apocalypse.html

Thanks to Alex Evans as ever for recommending!

Why English Spelling Is So Weird

I just listened to this fantastic episode of In Our Time from Radio 4, exploring the history of William Caxton and the printing press in England.

A rich conversation reveals some interesting history – including one of the reasons why English spelling is so strange, and how technology shapes culture. Recommended listening!

Link Loving 14.12.12

• How Britain can’t come to terms with its imperialist history. Adam Ramsay. 
• A classic case of how most big businesses still aren’t asking the right questions to drive sustainable innovation at scale. Natalya Sverjensky.
• Launch of Local First – Peace Direct’s great local-led development work.

Elizabeth 1st Of England Was An Environmentalist

“The use of sea and air is common to all; neither can a title to the ocean belong to any people or private persons, forasmuch as neither nature nor public use and custom permit any possession therof.”

-Elizabeth I of England (1533-1603)

Elizabeth 1st, 1601 – Isaac Oliver

Link Loving 13.12.12

• Here’s a better way to remember things. H. James Wilson.
• Life without parole: Four inmates’ stories. John Tierney.
• The disadvantages of an elite education: Our best universities have forgotten that the reason they exist is to make minds, not careers. William Deresiewicz.

Victory: Harvard Social Choice Fund

Just sent this email out to allies in the Kennedy School community…

Friends,

 

Today we woke up to big news – 

 

President Faust just announced the creation of the Harvard Social Choice Fund. This is a huge victory for students, alumni and supporters of the Responsible Investment Campaign and will mean money potentially invested in fossil-fuels, war and land-grabs is now going to ethical investments that are in line with our university values. 

 

This would never have happened if students hadn’t MADE it happen. 

 

Over the last ten months, 

• Undergrads voted 80% in favour of creating the Social Choice Fund in a college-wide referendum
• Campaigns were started in a number of graduate schools – including the Kennedy School
• 36 student groups officially supported the campaign

Next semester – there are exciting plans to make sure the rest of our $30+Billion endowment is invested responsibly. We are going to need all the help we can get –

 

Will you join us? 

 

Click here to be part of the campaign!

Link Loving 12.12.12

• It’s official – austerity economics does not work. John Cassidy.
• Six habits of highly empathetic people. Roman Krznaric.
• British farmers forced to pay the cost of supermarket price wars. Alex Renton.

Naomi Klein – Linking Capitalism And Climate Change

I met her a couple of weeks ago. She’s amazing.

Naomi Klein on the Links Between Capitalism and Climate Change from BillMoyers.com on Vimeo.