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 […]
FLAG MANIA
Well. That escalated quickly. What started with a flutter of red, white and blue on a municipal lamppost has turned into something bigger. Hotter. Stranger. A St George’s cross on […]
HERDspotting: How Things End
We don’t often think about how things end. And that’s a shame. Take riots for example. They start how? Well, we have plenty of theories about that. Grievance, provocation, the […]
HERDspotting: On Leaning
It was a long drive back from Minehead, on a wet and windy winter’s day. I’m told I held her on my lap for the best part of a hundred […]
HERDspotting: Looking For The Kestrel
The kestrel. She stands at the window. Sulking or fuming, some bruise to her prestige or some unseen orunacknowledged slight. The details don’t matter. She peers out through the raindrops […]
HERDspotting: In The Field
There is a recurring fantasy that particularly affects those who focus on human behaviour. It goes like this: if you can just get far enough back, stay quiet enough, keep […]
HERDspotting: It’s All A Performance
Last week at Wyndham’s Theatre, Rosamund Pike finished her performance in Inter Alia, took her bow — and then came back. “I am trying to tell you a story, and […]
HERDspotting: The Death of Expertise
Do me a favour: go on your LinkedIn feed and count the number of people who describe themselves as a “thought leader” or who pedal “disruptive innovation.” Count the “experts […]