tagged w/ WORLDbytes
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In this gripping on the sofa discussion, volunteers raise questions on the press and free speech in light of the Leveson Inquiry. The online journal Spiked has launched a campaign against the Leveson Inquiry and spiked journalist Patrick Hayes challenges participants not to go along with the Inquiry’s dangerous underlying assumptions. Support for the Leveson inquiry with its bewigged judges, celebrities and government seeking to control the press, shows nothing but elitist snobbery and contempt for the public. Free speech and a free press with no ‘buts’ are essential for democracy he argues and while not everyone on the sofa agrees, WORLDwrite and WORLDbytes does.In this gripping on the sofa discussion, volunteers raise questions on the press and... more
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Technological advances have benefitted humanity; we can all see how fitting prosthetic limbs to amputees can raise no moral objections. But how might we respond if designers invite us to upgrade to Arm 2.0 or Brain 4.0? Is there a point where technology transforms what it means to be human and should we be wary or embrace it? Speakers include Daisy Ginsberg, design fellow, Synthetic Aesthetics, Stanford University/University of Edinburgh; Professor Andy Miah, director, Creative Futures Research Centre, University of West Scotland; Marilyn Mond, emeritus professor of molecular embryology, University College London; Susana Soares, designer; senior lecturer, London Southbank University.Technological advances have benefitted humanity; we can all see how fitting prosthetic... more
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Until recently, leaking confidential information was perceived as disloyal and irresponsible and not only was it rare but involved a moral dilemma. Yet now, it is secrecy, confidentiality and privacy that are stigmatised and Wikileaks is lauded for enabling individuals to spill the beans. Is this development a triumph for transparency or a blow to moral integrity? This debate is superb and speakers include Mick Hume, editor-at-large, spiked; writer, The Times; Joyce McMillan, theatre critic, Scotsman, Henry Porter, political columnist, Observer; UK editor, Vanity Fair; Gwyn Prins, research professor, LSE; Richard Sexton, partner, PwC.Until recently, leaking confidential information was perceived as disloyal and... more
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Ever thought about building your own house, or putting up a garden wall with just the mud you have around you? Forget expensive builders’ costs and environmentally oh-so-painful machinery to do your work. Here’s how to do it yourself. Do let us know how you get on.Ever thought about building your own house, or putting up a garden wall with just the... more
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This exciting new strand features volunteer’s stories of migration. Natascha’s story interweaves lessons from history with contemporary political insights. Under apartheid South Africa her mother married a white man at a time when mixed race relationships and marriage were illegal, hence they moved to Germany. Returning to South Africa and to a new school, she was asked what race she was, she wasn’t sure. Racial classification maybe a thing of the past, but today’s border controls are classifying people by place of birth preventing the freedom of movement we need to realise our potential.This exciting new strand features volunteer’s stories of migration.... more
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In this new programme, a group of volunteers reflect on the conflict in Syria. Focussing on the arguments for and against Western intervention, blogger and commentator on the Middle East Karl Sharro answers critical questions with great insight. As the demand that ‘something must be done’ intensifies, Karl provides us with the understanding and principles needed to keep a cool head and examine what’s really going on.In this new programme, a group of volunteers reflect on the conflict in Syria.... more
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Ever thought of foraging for your own food but don’t have the know-how? The Sustainable Living Advice Guru shows us how to get all the food we need from hedge-rows and our own back yard. No more visits to nasty big, bright, brash supermarkets will be needed as this a recipe for guilt free, local, unpackaged, non processed, natural, organic, sustainable, delicious eating.Ever thought of foraging for your own food but don’t have the know-how? The... more
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For this new strand on WORLDbytes guest experts with a critical take unpick orthodox ideas which suggest we should all tighten our belts. For this first programme debt is the issue and with us in the studio is Phil Mullan, Business Transformation Director with Easynet Global Services. He is also researching global economic trends and writing a book on ‘The Limits of Fudge: why muddling through can’t work forever’.For this new strand on WORLDbytes guest experts with a critical take unpick orthodox... more
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The Welfare Reform Bill has been hotly debated in both the House of Commons and Lords. By 2013, the government hopes to implement £18 billion in welfare cuts. We are told this will help save cash, get the unemployed back into work and it is only fair that the unemployed do not receive more on benefits than working families on a low‐wage. On the streets of Barking, East London, we asked the public what they thought and the response was instructive.The Welfare Reform Bill has been hotly debated in both the House of Commons and Lords.... more
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This simple make-it-at-home hoe is a powerful device that enables you to plough vast fields in your own back yard, grow all the food and dig all the wells you need. No longer will there be any need for supermarket shopping for groceries or spending hard-earned cash on environmentally-unfriendly packs of bottled water. To top it all off, you get all your daily exercise and a trim figure, just like the cavemen.This simple make-it-at-home hoe is a powerful device that enables you to plough vast... more
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The prestigious Institute of Ideas Debating Matters Competition runs this national debating competition for sixth form students in the UK and in partnership with the British Council in India. Honoured to be partners with this inspiring organisation which privileges content over style, WORLDbytes volunteers have filmed many debates and edited this short glimpse of the toughest intellectual challenge around for 16-18 year olds. With hundreds of schools involved and top level judges, the competition puts learning on a new level, deals with issues which affect us all and never fails to inspire. For full details of the competition and to take part visit http://www.debatingmatters.com/The prestigious Institute of Ideas Debating Matters Competition runs this national... more
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Gay rights have vastly improved over the decades, but have we progressed enough? This lively on-the sofa discussion with Jason Smith a freelance journalist and director of Birmingham salon explores the state of ‘queer progress’ today, from Clinton and Cameron’s advocacy of tying foreign aid to gay rights to Stonewall calling for a policing of anti-gay speech in the playground. Has intolerance of anti-gay intolerants lead to a tyranny of the minority? Are gay individuals so vulnerable they now need posh protectors to police our views and intervene in African states?Gay rights have vastly improved over the decades, but have we progressed enough? This... more
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On the streets of Walthamstow in East London, we ask the public what they think about the European Union. It’s clear that opposition to the EU is not the preserve of bigoted ‘little Englanders’, far from it. Eloquent, well informed citizens are seriously concerned at the EU’s undemocratic set up and want to have their say. Individuals backing the EU are hard to find and are against a referendum as they see their fellow citizens as ignorant and too ill educated to ‘understand the issues’.On the streets of Walthamstow in East London, we ask the public what they think about... more
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Parents, it seems, are no longer trusted to parent. If you fail to take on the latest childcare fad deemed best by policy makers for your baby, then you risk being judged a 'bad parent' - guilty of some kind of negligence and abuse. Hence the recent story in the UK of four children being taken away from their parents, without a right to contact, because the family were fat. WORLDbytes Citizen TV makers visited Jennie Bristow, journalist and writer of Standing Up To Supernanny and Alison Small and Jane Sandeman, members of the Institute of Ideas Parenting Forum who provide a critical and thought provoking perspective, questioning prevailing distrust.Parents, it seems, are no longer trusted to parent. If you fail to take on the latest... more
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In the run-up to Christmas, many charities are encouraging us to shop ethically. By making moral choices about what you put in your shopping trolley, these charities say, you will not only have a guilt-free shopping experience but you will be helping millions to escape the worst excesses of poverty. But what exactly are these ethical principles which underlie the fair trade label and what do we really know about it? In this revealing report, we ask the public if they buy into fair trade and the response is a mixed bag. Many base their purchasing decisions on price and need and plenty of people who know the score in the developing world see it as far from fair.In the run-up to Christmas, many charities are encouraging us to shop ethically. By... more
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The wind up is a small gadget with big uses. This seemingly normal handle is a device designed to power any electrical appliance by simply winding it up. Tipped to become the century’s most important invention preventing trillions of units of carbon emissions from polluting the air, reports suggest the wind up could reverse the effects of global warming within our lifetime.The wind up is a small gadget with big uses. This seemingly normal handle is a device... more
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Innovations in clinical practice, drugs and other technologies can improve the quality and extent of patients’ lives – but they are often expensive. With budget cuts looming, the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) has been charged with helping the government to decide which treatments are sufficiently cost effective to be made available on the NHS. But for those facing life threatening illnesses, can a price be put on life? We ask the public whether medicine should be rationed due to its price and denied according to your lifestyle. For many, this is an affront to the value of human life and most argue that medicine should not be rationed even it only gives us a few more weeks life. Lifestyle however is a different ball game and sadly the idea that healthcare should be rationed for smokers, drinkers and the obese is gaining ground.Innovations in clinical practice, drugs and other technologies can improve the quality... more
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Welcome to Dharavi where residents are reaching for the sky. They want Dharavi to surpass London as a great city. Unlike the poverty tourism and accolades awarded to communitarian slum living by the likes of Prince Charles and Kevin McCloud, Dharavi residents think big. Sadhvi Sharma takes us through the streets and introduces us to aspirant families for whom Dharavi is a place of transition. The least we can do, she argues, is support their aspirations.Welcome to Dharavi where residents are reaching for the sky. They want Dharavi to... more
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A pot that will grow food for your family and the entire world from the comfort of your own home is now a reality. A breakthrough in food production, a single pot will grow food for an entire household. In less than a week, you can grow your own tomatoes, parsnips, peppers and greens without worrying about the well-documented health and environmental risks of genetically modified food. What’s more, famines will be a thing of the past and nasty supermarkets will die a natural death, as they should. So get your pot, some seeds and start growing.A pot that will grow food for your family and the entire world from the comfort of... more
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To mark the world’s population reaching 7 billion on Halloween 2011, WORLDbytes has launched this hilarious parody of modern day Malthusian thinking. The programme features talented Blood Brothers star and ex-RSC actor James Hirst as the central character, Bill. For Bill the news of 7 billion is a Halloween nightmare. His solutions include: getting rid of ‘thickies’, euthanasia, gelding and paying African women not to have children- a carbon offsetting scheme first proposed by the Optimum Population Trust, now rebranded as Population Matters. Bill is no Daily Mail reader, he gets his over-consumption paranoia from the Guardian and he’s going for the cull. This parody reflects WORLDbytes’ concern to challenge the profoundly anti-human roots of over population ideas.To mark the world’s population reaching 7 billion on Halloween 2011, WORLDbytes... more
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