Men In Black
The last few weeks have seen two groups of British citizens don crisp new uniforms. First there are the schoolboys and schoolgirls, back from the summer break and clothed in […]
Semmelweis Syndrome
It’s that time of year when many organisations – still grappling with the vicissitudes of delivering the current plan – turn to strategising next year’s activity. It’s less the season […]
The Squiggle Lives On
We all recognise it: the international sign for “can I have the bill please?”. A mime of signing a piece of paper1], made across a noisy restaurant or bar: a […]
Everybody Dance Now
So there you are, on the last weekend of the long, long summer. Enjoying a quiet pint in the sun, outside some rural pub. And then you hear it. The […]
HERDspotting At The Turning Point
These are the inbetween days. The days between the long, hot summer, the unnaturally long, hot summer we’ve sweated through this year, and the autumn that the poetic souls long […]
Geese
Our resident columnist Mark Earls explores the rapid rise-and-rise of Brooklyn rockers, Geese: how talent and luck inevitably had their part to play and also how people follow other people […]
Dobby’s Grave (And What It Tells Us About Ourselves)
There’s a beautiful beach on the wild coast of Pembrokeshire: Freshwater West. It’s got all of what you’d want from the West Walian coast: huge skies, clean water (rated “excellent” […]
Everywhere Is A Ritual Site
There’s a longstanding joke among archeologists that whenever they uncover a site or a building they don’t really understand, they call it a ritual site. A stone-lined Neolithic pathway. A […]
HERDspotting On The 390 Bus
If like me, you’re a regular user of the great fleet of big red London buses that cruise our streets, you may have noticed something new happening on board in […]
Rituals #1: You’ve Seen This Movie Before
HERDspotting in the press pack Yes, you have seen the movie before. You really have. And that’s the point. The car pulls up in front of the black door on […]