1st August 2020

Matthew Taylor (CEO of The Royal Society of Arts) asks if we are entering a new era, which he calls The Reflexive Age – ‘In grammar, theterm ‘reflexive’ denotes a pronoun that refers back to the subject of theclause in which it is used, for example, myself, themselves. What do I mean by a Reflexive Era? It is what could result from cultivating a deeper and shared awareness of ourselves, our nature and the social patterns that result from that nature’. Here is his proposition compellingly discussed and examined in this recent RSA online event. and also from the RSA, here is another highly engaging debate, driven by thesubject of  ‘statues’ – Mary Beard and David Olusoga on – History, Memory and Change. 

A powerful project from New Zealand’s Human Rights Commission and featuring the Oscar-winning director Taika Waititi, aims to heighten awareness of micro-aggressions.

ProPublica and The New York Times Magazine, with support from thePulitzer Center, have for the first time modeled how climate refugees might move across international borders. Where Will Everyone Go?

A group of refugees, friends of refugees, humanitarians, data scientists & social entrepreneurs have come together to collaborate online and map the impact of covid19 on refugees communities as well as list existing potential solutions ready to be implemented locally or at scale to respond to it.

These whitewashed logos reflect the lack of diversity in their companies’ leadership 

Why millennials and Gen Z are turning to Instagram as a news source. The trend isn’t necessarily harmless. “The challenge with Instagram is that it’s a highly visual space….so people share memes that are more about influencing than informing and people need to exercise caution and be aware of who they’re engaging with.”

In the US, the suggested cost of avoiding the next pandemic is 2% of thecurrent Covid-19 bill. 

Tik-Tok might be in trouble in India and the US, but seems to be well placed in Africa.

From The Atlantic. ‘Hauling the CEOs of Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and Google to testify together as a unit, the subcommittee produced a hearing that was the antithesis of the Zuckerberg fiasco of 2018. The Tech giants are dangerous, and Congress knows it.

The story of the U.K. lockdown through Google Trends. 

Interesting perspective on curiosity. It seems that we are least curious when we feel that we already know something, or when we know nothing at all about it. “When we know nothing, we aren’t curious at all. We have nowhere to begin, and therefore no curiosity to drive us to acquire theknowledge.”. It’s hard to find your ‘C’ spot. 

Nike’s exhilarating split-screen epic, shows why you can’t stop sport.

Using the neural-net tool Artbreeder, Photoshop and historical references,  Daniel Voshart has created photoreal portraits of Roman Emperors.Which one are you?

Google’s top search result? Probably not a surprise.

The late great Olivia De Havilland cursing her way through a blooper reel. 

There is no holding the rising stars back in this epic FIFA 21 spot, with the legend, Eric Cantona. 

Wonderful. #OnThisDay 1977: Thanks for the Memory – The Viewer’s View asked people what they thought about television. This woman was likely approached for a snappy vox pop, but ended up delivering something closer to a dramatic monologue.

Love this. Extraordinary alliteration. Paper People. A poetry performance by Harry Baker at TEDx Exeter.