A scrapbook for my life
A look back at the week at home and abroad including the Essex golliwog affair and its aftermath. Plus a review of Ian Dunt’s brilliant new book How Westminster Works and Why It Doesn't; How to replace the BBC's licence fee with something more 21st Century; and the latest on AI including the fake TV …
Continue reading "The Eyecatching Words Podcast Episode 20 – April 17 2023"
If someone offered you the opportunity to opt out of the human race for a year, and subsequently have enough money that you would never have to work again, would you take it? I recently came across something I had not heard of before which is Moravec’s paradox – the notion that for robots, the …
Pagan plagiarism and the season of sex Spring is my favourite time of year. This year the Christian festival of Easter, the Jewish festival of Passover and the Islamic festival of Ramadam are in unusually close proximity. But these are all upstart religions; at heart Spring is pagan and associated with the change in seasons …
https://anchor.fm/s/d04bc460/podcast/rss Summary The spring edition with a review of religious customs; why men should not feel bad about drinking less beer; and how you might be able to rent you body to an AI in the future. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/justin-dix/message Transcription
Can we trust fungi or are they leaving us without mushroom for manoeuvre? On a whim I recently bought a book by a man with the unlikely name of Merlin Sheldrake called Entangled Life. Merlin is a mycelial groupie who will literally get down and dirty with his favourite fungi and hang out with them …
What’s the best way to get someone’s attention and then keep it? An image, yes. But also a strap line. Some years ago I was driving to work and passed three quite unrelated vehicles a few minutes apart from each other. Each one had a strap line on them. I had a better memory and …
I am a magpie of the heart and mind. Drawn to all manner of creation's trinkets, including those that others do not consider worthy or beautiful.
Why I write; The week in view; The wonderful world of mushrooms; Eight billion reasons to be a bit uneasy; and Tik Tok versus the arms race - a lesson for our times. https://open.spotify.com/episode/5OUYFTMHa6p2XIy47SyEhl?si=YEW3sW6iQ42cf70A8WBkzw
This episode majors on a fascinating conversation piece about Germany since World War Two, how it has developed, and how it is now emerging as the leader amongst Western liberal democracies as they struggle to overcome the problems of the last decade. Plus a personal roundup of news in a week that was so busy …
Eyecatching 