The King’s Speech
Rupert Read delivers an alternative to the Queen’s traditional Christmas message to the nation.
Writings
How dolphins and whales can teach us to survive
We have much more in common with other social mammals than we have so far thought. The humanities would benefit from investigating the animal kingdom.
‘Stubborn Optimism’ Will Pave the Way to Climate Disaster
We can’t seriously address the climate emergency until we admit that some of our hopes have died.
Earth vs Futurism
From the way stock markets and for-profit firms operate to the way the media news-cycle works, chronic short-termism is landing humanity in desperate straits.
Will disruptive action help save the planet?
Is there any point throwing soup at a Van Gogh painting? Rupert Read and Indigo Rumbelow share their views.
How climate grief could be the making of us
Gone is the age of natural disasters. The climate disasters of today are the product of pumping the atmosphere full of carbon dioxide, methane and other greenhouse gases.
Is “longtermism” the cure or the sickness?
Politicians need to practice precaution and overcome their tendencies to look no further than the next election.
Who voted for this, Liz?
Liz Truss has pushed through extremely radical, untested and damaging policies that were not included in the Conservative Party's 2019 manifesto. She also didn't become Prime Minister at a general election.
Climate change activism is no longer enough – it’s time to become ‘doists’
It’s too late to wait for governments – we need to start acting, in the communities where we live, in the places where we work, to make ourselves resilient
The failed ideology of Davos
This article first appeared on Brave New Europe. This week, Davos, Switzerland is hosting a networking event themed around the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), a set of 17 ambitious UN targets around poverty, health, education, governance and environment. The event…
Stop saying ‘climate emergency! (until, collectively, we mean it)
By Rupert Read and Wolfgang Knorr. This article first appeared on Brave New Europe. The IPCC’s two scariest-yet reports earlier this year made headlines worldwide… for about 24 hours. The world’s front pages screamed of our terrifying civilisational crisis, the…
Will the passing of 1.5 degrees see the end of cruel optimism?
By Rupert Read and Marc Lopatin. This article first appeared on Resilience. ‘The public gets what the public wants’ sang a young Paul Weller on the 1979 hit Going Underground. It’s a lyric that doubles as our one-line summary of this…