Peter Bradwell
Researcher
Peter Bradwell is a researcher at Demos. He is interested in the ways that information and knowledge is shared between people, and between people and government...
- That was a party political broadcast... I’ve been following an interesting thread unpicked from the loud, often shapeless YouTube quilt. On March 5th a YouTube user called ParkRidge47 uploaded a video called Vote Different. It is a riff on Apple’s 1984 ad. There was some intrigue, however, over the question of who had made the explicitly partisan video... continue reading on 3rd April 2007 Comments (3)
- Friday rant returns...Falconer fibs: Ask me no questions, and you'll tell no lies There's a lot to the speech that Lord Falconer made on Wednesday evening. He was trying to pull off a tricksy act - talking on the one hand about how great freedom of information is, and on the other explaining why the government is going to change the rules to make it potentially easier for public bodies not to disclose information. It feels a bit like FIFA telling us that high-scoring football games are really great but from now on goalkeepers have to be at least 9ft tall with... continue reading on 23rd March 2007
- “What absolute drivel, what rubbish, what poppycock.” We launched As You Like It yesterday here at Demos. We had a really interesting discussion that touched on some fascinating areas covered in the report - language learning, global powers, international development. Thanks to everyone that came down, and especially to our speakers and panellists David Graddol and Simon Anholt who shared with us their considerable insights and expertise. There was some ripe coverage yesterday of our pamphlet too... continue reading on 16th March 2007 in As You Like It Comments (3)
- Democtionary We've just launched the pamphlet As You Like It: Catching up in an age of global English. In it, we argue that Engish has developed around the world into something called 'global Engish' - which is best described as a family of language rather than one, single language with roots in one particular space.There are lots of different forms spoken around the world, for lots of different purposes - people use English to communicate for business; some have taken on the language and developed... continue reading on 15th March 2007 in As You Like It
- The death of Jean Baudrillard did not take place Jean Baudrillard died on Tuesday, in Paris, aged 77. It is desperately sad news indeed whenever such a creative thinker passes. I don’t have a deep expertise in his work, and the understanding I have isn’t formiddable by any stretch, but what I have taken the time to explore felt compelling to the extreme, and still very timely. It’s a terrible shame that his death didn’t generate more attention and reverance from the media circus whose affects, value and implications he diagnosed so forcefully... continue reading on 8th March 2007 Comments (2)
- "Je veux go" - Launching As You Like It Lots of interesting stories about languages recently. Perhaps most interesting was a report on the BBC website on the emergence of a new language in Cameroon: frananglais. It's a mixture, apparently, of French, English and Creole, and has been causing teachers there some consternation. Interesting stuff, and especially for us perhaps; Sam and I have just finished writing As You Like It... continue reading on 2nd March 2007 in As You Like It
- Watching and being watched Tech critic Bill Thompson pointed out recently that what is really exciting about the internet at the moment isn't just that people can generate their own content in increasingly simple ways, but that their content can incorporate and integrate elements and content from other websites... continue reading on 1st March 2007
- BE A PODCAST Vol. 2, ep. 2: Bryony Randall Dr Bryony Randall is a lecturer at The University of Glamorgan. Later this year she will publish “Modernism, Daily Time and Everyday Life” (Cambridge University Press), a work of literary criticism looking at the emergence of conceptions of “everyday life” in modernist writing.In this cast she discusses the emergence of competing understandings of everyday life at the start the Century. She explains that it is impossible to talk about what everyday activities are,... continue reading on 21st February 2007 in Demos Podcasts
- BE A PODCAST Vol. 2 Be A Podcast - 3 clunky words, 15 fun-packed minutes. The concept is the same as before: people with ideas send us an email; we talk to them and wittle their patter down to 5 easily digestible minutes, released in batches of three. This week we have, Dr Bryony Randall a lecturer at Glamorgan talking about Dailyness and Everyday Life, Tim Drake a writer and entrepreneur who has recently published a book called "I want to make a difference" and DK who is the trainer and a blogger... continue reading on 21st February 2007 in Demos Podcasts
- BE A PODCAST Vol. 2, ep. 3: DK - Mediasnackers DK is the founder of Mediasnackers - a souped-up blog looking at the changing ways young people are interacting with new digital technologies.In this 5 minute podcast DK (who bears a striking resemblance to Che Guevara) quickly runs through who mediasnakers are and how the generational divide is not between mediasnackers and their parents but between mediasnakers and institutions.Our very own Hannah Green spoke to Mediasnackers a while back for one of their podcasts - you can hear the result... continue reading on 21st February 2007 in Demos Podcasts