-
Dec 1, 2024 | 
benm77.medium.com | Ben Marshall
Ben Marshall·Follow4 min read·--Free votes, social reform and public opinionRon Whitaker (source: unsplash.com)Parliament has had a productive week. Free of the party whip, MPs were able to talk passionately, personally and impressively about the important issue of assisted dying. This was a moment for Burkean representation of the highest calibre, albeit with at least one eye on public opinion.
-
Nov 30, 2024 | 
benm77.medium.com | Ben Marshall
Ben Marshall·Follow4 min read·--Political economy and public opinionAntoine Dautry (source: unsplash.com)It’s an obvious thing to say, but a good and politically effective Chancellor of the Exchequer must be good at maths. Conservative Philip Hammond was known as “spreadsheet Phil” for his love of crunching numbers while the current post-holder — Labour’s Rachel Reeves — took A-Levels in maths and further maths before becoming an economist.
-
Nov 21, 2024 | 
silvermagazine.co.uk | Ben Marshall
The shocking floods in Valencia and other parts of southern Spain wrought disaster and tragedy. Ben Marshall flew straight through the storm, and into the chaos…The flight takes place the night the storm hits. It’s typically empty at this time of the year; I have a row to myself, as does the woman opposite me. On a row in front there are three small children, and opposite them their very young mother.
-
Nov 15, 2024 | 
theaquilareport.com | Ben Marshall
Be known. Select two or three people who aim to build trust with you. Let your community love you. Without this kind of community interaction, both you and your congregation are at great risk. One does not have to dig too far into the annuls of the internet to find churches that have been destroyed because of a lack of pastoral community and accountability. Simply stated, a community is a place of belonging where people unify for one reason or another.
-
Oct 11, 2024 | 
tasmaniantimes.com | Ben Marshall
Nexus – A Brief History of Information Networks from the Stone Age to AI, by Yuval Noah Harari, is for anyone concerned about the risks to democracy from disinformation and totalitarian control. First there was oral storytelling, then books, then the internet and, with it, algorithms that monetise and weaponise information. But what is information?
-
Oct 8, 2024 | 
benm77.medium.com | Ben Marshall
Ben Marshall·Follow6 min read·--A look back at 50 years’ worth of surveying what matters to BritonsJohnny McClung (source: unsplash.com)Most survey datasets are considered precious by survey researchers and statisticians, but some have a special quality. They have an extra lustre because they reliably measure the changing preoccupations and interests of British people. So, the 50th birthday of Ipsos’ Issues Index is a cause of celebration and reflection.
-
Aug 24, 2024 | 
tasmaniantimes.com | Ben Marshall
Bina – First Nations Languages, Old and New is the exciting work of three young Indigenous linguists, who travelled the length and breadth of Australia to meet with language practitioners across fifty-six language groups, and consulted and collaborated with many more academics, performers, writers, teachers and community. It was a series of epic travels, and has resulted in a book with an epic story – that First Nations languages can survive colonisation into the distant future.
-
Aug 2, 2024 | 
benm77.medium.com | Ben Marshall
Ben Marshall·Follow6 min read·Aug 2, 2024--Labour’s start in government and what it needs to do to deliverMihaly Koles (source: unsplash.com)In decades past, newlywed Brits returned from holiday resorts in Europe with stories about the warm sunshine, stunning beaches, friendly locals and delicious food. But the local roads? Terrible. Today, the pothole is closer to home. It’s pretty much everywhere.
-
Jul 26, 2024 | 
247sports.com | J.T. Byrne |Jeffrey Johnson |Ben Marshall |Nate Rutchena
BearTerritory takes an in-depth look at Cal's tight end unit going into the 2024 preseason. VIPThe 2024 preseason training camp is approaching for the California Golden Bears. BearTerritory.net previews the upcoming camp with an in-depth breakdown of the Cal tight end unit.
-
Jul 23, 2024 | 
tasmaniantimes.com | Ben Marshall
Music is such a powerful force in our lives, it’s surprising we know so little about why it affects us in the ways that it does. It makes us hum, whistle, move, sing, groove, rhythmically thump anything that might have a pleasing hollow sound, pluck strings, blow into tuned tubes, and endlessly innovate new and surprising forms of music and song. Above all, it makes us feel emotions – deep and satisfying emotions. Imagine a world without music, and you’re imagining sterile, joyless Hell.
