Author:Douglas Adams,Mitch Benn
Technology affects almost everything we do, and its possibilities can be both exhilarating and daunting. This collection features two radio documentaries exploring Douglas Adams’ vision of the digital future, plus Did Douglas Get it Right?, presented by Mitch Benn.
Douglas Adams was a passionate technology enthusiast. His bestselling The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy is full of futuristic tech, and in 1990 he predicted something very like the World Wide Web in the BBC2 film Hyperland. So in 1999, he was the natural choice to present Radio 4’s The Internet: The Last 20th Century Battleground. In it, he looked at the explosion in online communication, the evolution of cyberspace, and the risks and opportunities of the new virtual world.
A year later, he hosted The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Future, in which he and his guests discussed how music, publishing, broadcasting, and society in general would be transformed in the 21st century. Sadly, this was Adams’ last BBC project: his death in 2001 meant he would never see if his visions came true.
However, in 2015,Mitch Benn dipped into the archives for a follow-up programme, Did Douglas Get it Right?, revisiting Adams’ predictions to discover how prescient (or otherwise) they turned out to be...
Fascinating, funny and insightful, these three programmes are a wonderful tribute to Douglas Adams, and a treat for fans and futurists alike.
Produced by Mark Rickards.
An indispensable guide for anyone who wants to understand not just where Michael O'Leary and Ryanair are coming from, but where they are going
—— Sunday Business PostA frequently enlightening unauthorised biography ... entertaining
—— Irish IndependentCooper's book tracks O'Leary's change of attitude towards passengers since 2014. He built his career amid alehouse expletives and wisecracks that should have been enough to make most customers steer clear - were it not for the promise of ever lower prices.
—— Neil Craven , The Mail on SundayFascinating book ... very comprehensive
—— Eamon Dunphy , The StandIn a world of colourless corporate leaders, Ryanair's aggressive, mouthy chief executive provides catnip for journalists. Cooper, an award-winning Irish writer and reporter, makes the most of the opportunity to dissect his colourful subject.
—— Book of the Month , The Financial TimesMatt Cooper explores the recent tough times for the high-profile businessman.
—— The Journal, IrelandThis is an engaging read full of anecdotes, some of which shocked me and made me laugh out loud
—— Emma Newlands , The ScotsmanSteel’s first book, Hungry City, explored how the feeding of cities shaped civilisations over time; with Sitopia she extends her reach. Food shapes our world and the way we live in it. It determines our daily routines, it defines national cultures
—— Erica Wagner , Financial TimesFollowing her award-winning Hungry City, Carolyn Steel serves us up a second helping of food for thought with Sitopia, which poses the really big questions about food that we should all be asking ourselves right now. Foodie or not, this philosophical call to arms is essential reading for those who want to save the world, one meal at a time
—— Allegra McEvedySteel brilliantly uses food to demonstrate our ills and their causes. She shows, too, that food, if we value it properly, can heal us… [A] remarkable, prophetic, and desperately urgent book
—— Charles Foster , OldieIn this compelling and positively framed book, Steel the author of the influential Hungry City, draws on insights from philosophy, history, architecture, literature, politics and science as well as those working to remake our relationship with food, to show how we might reform its production and distribution to avoid irrevocable climate change
—— BooksellerSteel's exhilarating...journey through political, cultural, economic history will agitate sluggish imaginations to see new possibilities for nourishing a loving common life
—— Nathan Mladin , TabletBecause Internet is the most up-to-date and comprehensive guide to the way informal internet language has evolved and is evolving. Its historical perspective will illuminate every generation of internet users: oldies will get a clear picture of what young people are up to; younglings will discover the origins of their latest linguistic fashions. Gretchen McCulloch writes with great common sense, an eye for the apt illustration, an appealing sense of humour, and a real concern for explanation. She doesn't just describe language trends: she investigates why they've taken place, and it's her insightful interpretations that give this book its special appeal.
—— David CrystalMcCulloch lays out the ways in which online lingo, from emojis to GIFs to acronyms like 'lol' and 'omg,' has become a vital part of modern communication. It's also an analog window into how the evolution of digital communication mirrors the shifts in word usage that have happened over generations.” —
—— Wired, Must-Read Books of SummerPart Linguistics 101, part social history of the internet, Because Internet revels in digital language deconstruction, exploring not just the evolving language of online informal…More importantly, she doesn’t just appreciate internet language, she celebrates it.
—— The RingerGretchen McCulloch's Because Internet is not your English teacher's grammar guide—not even close. Self-described internet linguist McCulloch traces how the web has changed the way we communicate—whether through emoji, lowercase letters. or cat memes—and makes a compelling, entertaining argument that this change is good for the English language as a whole.
—— Real SimpleGretchen McCulloch is the internet’s favorite linguist, and this book is essential reading. Reading her work is like suddenly being able to see the matrix. She explains the hows and the whys of the ways we talk online with the deepest empathy, understanding, and compassion.
—— Jonny SunWe know lols, emojis and hashtags are altering our discourse. Linguist McCulloch counts—and revels in—the ways. Give it to your favorite stickler.
—— PeopleBecause Internet sheds light on so many things…about how people use text to communicate
—— Randall Munroe , New ScientistMcCulloch’s subject is an under-explored one, and Because Internet demonstrates that it is one of interest to a wide readership… she shows, in a delightfully accessible way, how internet language can offer valuable insights for linguistic research
—— Anna Hollingsworth , Times Literary SupplementHow to Love Animals is compassionate, funny and utterly readable. What's more, Mance does something of enormous value: he surprises himself and the reader, too... In marrying this openness with his clarity of vision, Mance offers a new window on the climate emergency - one of the most pressing issues of our time.
—— Clea Skopeliti , iIntensely researched and carefully woven... varied and fascinating, and at times even funny. Mance...has a lively style; if the subject matter is heavy, his prose slips down effortlessly... I was gripped and provoked.
—— Emma Beddington , SpectatorChallenging, but also funny and refreshingly low in sanctimony, this book is no frothing polemic. It will doubtless alter many readers' understanding of the systems we all participate in and lead them to make different choices. For others, it should prompt the difficult moral reasoning that those of us who love animals but also profit from their suffering cravenly manage to avoid... Mance is an amiable guide: curious and open-minded.
—— Melissa Harrison , Financial TimesMance...is spot on to make us confront the horrible truth... [How to Love Animals] will force its readers to stop and think about the incomprehensible scale of unnecessary suffering we impose on our fellow creatures.
—— Julian Baggini , Literary Review