BE CREATIVE. BE CONTROVERSIAL. BE CURIOUS. BUT CRUCIALLY, BE INFORMED
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OCTOBER ‘10
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Is Britain at war with Cyber terrorists?
Cyber warfare has been grossly exaggerated.
Debates Debates on the month’s hottest issues, providing you with both sides of the story.
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We all love a little argument here and there, but how much do we really know about what we are arguing and how much about our own opinions has been shaped and moulded by the newspapers we read? We think that if you really want to win your argument, you need to know both sides to the issues - this way you can argue your opinion but be prepared for someone else’s, without being caught off guard. So every month In-Debate will give you four debates on the month’s hottest topics that you’re going to argue with your friends about! Seeing as we are still pretty new we value your comments so we can make our future issues the best they can be! We would love you to drop us an email at letstalk@indebate.com and tell us what you think of our little idea. Be it the design, content, or even a debate request, let us know... after all, it’s for you. All emails will be entered into a draw to win a year’s free premium membership to the Intelligence Squared website, with access to all new content, and two free tickets to an upcoming live debate of your choice. We are also giving you the opportunity to involve yourself in the debate by joining our Facebook page and following us on Twitter! Follow us on:
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Contents
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Be creative, Be controversial, Be curious. but crucially, Be informed.
2 Oct '10
In-Debate
p.5 Cyber terror can bring down Britain
In the recent defence review cyber terror-attacks were upgraded to the Number 1 national security threat Britain faces. Some have argued that cyber terrorism could be our Achilles heel and could disrupt all aspects of society leaving us crippled, while others have been quick to dismiss it as hysteria. So is it one of our most dangerous threats or is it just media hype?
p.9 Strikes are bad for Britain So far 2010 has seen a lot of industrial action by Unions taken to combat a variety of different grievances. Now with 490,000 public sector employees set to lose their jobs, strikes look like playing a bigger role in people’s lives. Has striking become too easy? Or should we should be backing the strikers?
p.15 Axe the X Factor
The X Factor, now in its seventh series, has caused a lot of controversy recently with the accusation of using Auto-tune and the outcry over the treatment of X Factor hopeful Gamu. Has one of the UK’s most successful shows had it’s day? Or should it continue to thrive and bring a nation together each year in rooting for a favourite?
p.19 Social media can’t change the world
With the release of Facebook’s biographical film The Social Network and details that Facebook and Twitter have a combined global audience of over 550 million, some have argued that these sites can bring about profound social and political change. Are they is right? Will the Internet ever prove an adequate substitute for a good old fashioned protest? Disclaimer: In-Debate’s goal is to offer a balanced platform where both sides of an argument are evenly represented. These views are not In-Debate’s, but a summation of what has been portrayed in the media.
In-List
In-Addition
p.23 Brain Food
p.12 Fantastic Facts
p.25 Mind Fuel
p.13 Let’s Talk
p.27 Inspiration
p.28 London Treats
p.29 IQ2 Debates
p.30 Puzzles
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Cyber terror can bring down Britain Image: U.S. Army/Flickr
The Stuxnet computer virus that swept through and almost destroyed an Iranian nuclear power plant has been hailed as a watershed moment in warfare...the dawn of cyber terrorism. There is little doubt that it was built by a state intelligence organisation and it has raised some alarming questions as to how vulnerable Britain could be to foreign spies stealing state secrets and crippling our economy and national infrastructure with the push of a button. In the recent defence review Cyber terror has been labeled as a Tier 1
+ Agree
But with the fallout of a cyber-terror attack too catastrophic to ignore should we be making urgent preparations or should we ignore the hype?
- Disagree
Cyber terrorism is real, imminent and deadly This is a modern day arms race There is no Geneva Convention for Cyber warfare Uncertainty makes the threat worse Our defence budget must reflect the danger
It's a little known fact that...
threat putting it on par with terrorism and natural disasters. Critics of this apocalyptic scenario, however, claim that cyber-attacks are more likely to be perpetrated by criminals trying to steal your money then governments or terrorists trying to kill you. And the hysteria surrounding this new threat is in fact just a sinister plot used by governments and the military to control the Internet.
The threat is exaggerated by the media Most cyber-attacks do not kill The Government just want to invade our privacy Cyber defence is a waste of money Our biggest threat is still terrorist bombings
If the Internet went down for just one day it could disrupt nearly £4 billion worth of transactions.
The new GCHQ headquaters cost £337m to build and now houses 5,500 employees.
Cyber attacks increase at an annual rate above 60%.
The roof comprises over 11,000 sq metres of aluminium and is based on the design of the Wimbledon’s Centre Court.
In 2000 a computer virus that carried the message “ILOVEYOU” affected up to 10% of UK businesses.
The central courtyard area of the building could accommodate the Albert Hall.
In-Debate 5
+ 1
Cyber terror can bring down Britain Cyber terrorism is real, imminent and deadly
Agree
Only last week the National Security Strategy review singled out the London 2012 Olympics as at major risk of a cyber-attack and upgraded the threat of cyber terrorism to the number one danger to national security and safety. The reason for this heightened vigilance is the sheer volume of attacks on a daily basis and the importance of computers in everyday life. According to Iain Lobban, head of the UK Intelligence agency GCHQ, there are over 20,000 hostile emails on British government networks each month, 1,000 of which are deliberately launched by cyber terrorists and foreign states. Just one attack he said could cripple critical infrastructure such as nuclear power stations or lead to blackouts where fridges, phones, computers, water networks and transport systems are all brought to a halt. The Stuxnet virus is proof in itself that cyber terror is a very real and credible threat. Essentially it is a cyber weapon created to cross from the digital realm to the physical world. Now after wiping out over 30,000 computers in Iran it has been deemed the first virus aimed at physical destruction and it heralds a new era in cyber terrorism.
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This is a modern day arms race
Russian espionage in London has returned to levels not seen since the Cold War. Last month Defence Secretary Liam Fox warned of Russia’s capabilities after they launched a cyber-attack on Georgia before its military invasion two years ago. It is estimated that around 20 foreign espionage networks are currently operating against the UK interests with Chinese spies believed to be the greatest cyber threat with their advanced hacking technology that can penetrate government departments and steal state secrets. U.S. Deputy Defence Secretary William Lynn said last year: “We know that both Russia and China have the capability to disrupt elements of other nations’ information infrastructure.” President Obama has revealed that countries other than the US have already been planning mechanisms to guard national cyber security, including the UK, France, Russia, South Korea and Israel. It is now a race between countries to advance their cyber technology and if we don’t follow suit we will face very serious threats from around the world.
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There is no Geneva Convention for Cyber warfare
3
“Unlike conventional warfare, there is no Geneva Conventions for cyber warfare. There are no boundaries in place and no protocols that set the standards in international law for how such wars can and cannot be waged,” says Military expert Randall Dipert. Only recently, a plot to electronically infiltrate and blow up a nuclear power plant in Iran which would have killed tens of thousands and left the region radioactive for years was uncovered. The lack of rules and the level of threats has caused serious alarm, and military experts have argued the need for international agreements to regulate cyberspace. But policy like this is hard to consider when we cannot define cyber warfare, leaving our systems even more vulnerable.
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Uncertainty makes the threat worse
Michael Chertoff, former head of the US Department of Homeland Security, argues: “The greatest stress you can have on security is when there is uncertainty - we are now in a state of uncertainty - and this makes it much more of a threat.” Cyber-attacks are clean, cheap, deniable and asymmetric making it hard to know when it began, who started it and how to defend against it. So what would we do if a cyber-attack was launched on the UK? At present we don’t have the resources to deal with it. If we do not address this problem sooner rather than later we may be a confronted by a catastrophic event.
5
Our defence budget must reflect the danger
The current Defence Strategy Review has created an outcry of public opinion concerning the budget cuts for the armed forces, but who needs planes and warships when future battles may be fought over Ethernet wires and computer screens? We have already pledged £650m to fight cyber crime, but this falls short of the £1bn predicted sum and is farsical compared with the $50bn the U.S. have invested in cyber defence technology. We have to stop thinking of war in the conventional sense, if we don’t develop a defence to this kind of attack we put our national security at serious risk.
Debate - Politics The threat is exaggerated by the media
No wonder the public are scared of cyber-attacks when headlines like “Cyber Terror Threat to 2012 Games” and “Cyber war declared as China hunts for the West’s intelligence secrets,” are sprawled across the nation’s tabloids. But as Ryan Signel writes in Wired Magazine “Security companies have long relied on creating fear in internet users by hyping the latest threat… and now they are reaping billions of dollars in security contracts from the government”. Bruce Schneier, chief security technology officer at BT, argues that it is in the interest of security companies like Booz Allen Hamilton to spread the fear of cyber terror as they have a $400 million U.S Government cyber security contract. Others have argued the media hype is even more sinister when the exaggeration of the cyber threat is used by governments and the military as reason to control the Internet.
2
Most cyber-attacks do not kill
Cyber threats are real, but 99% of the attacks we experience every day are criminal and no where near on par with terrorism or state aggression. Online identity firm Garlik’s cybercrime report claims that more than 3.5 million online crimes were committed in the UK last year. So what if the 1% of cyber-attacks did get through and a virus like Stuxnet attacked our hopsitals? Well as Bill Gates told the BBC: “The threat to computers was something that could be controlled… People depend on the reliability of the internet and there are safeguards that can be put into place. So, with the right approach, it shouldn’t be something that people will have to worry about.”
3
The Government just want to invade our privacy
Government organisations like CYBERCOM and OCS set up to help combat cyber threats are a total invasion of privacy. In the early 1990’s the NSA tried to implement the Clipper Chip that forced everyone to use encryption they controlled. This failed due to pressure for an open Internet where innovation and privacy can thrive. The power that is acquired through fear is used to justify demands for Big Brother-type surveillance. Many cyber security experts are concerned that privacy boundaries will be over stepped by
organisations if every cyber-attack is deemed to be cyber terrorism. No matter what happens in a Cyber world we cannot let the scaremonger’s win and we cannot let as Mike McConnell, former Director of U.S. National Intelligence, warns a “single authority…control the Internet”.
4
Cyber defence is a waste of money
There is no point in allocating much needed cash to a ‘threat’ that has been over exaggerated by the media when we are fighting what looks like a never ending war in Afghanistan. Labour has left us with a £38bn black hole in the MoD’s budget so if we are to scale back our Defence spending then we need to allocate what little cash we have to our troops who are already ill-equipped. With David Cameron outlining military savings of £4.7bn the promise of an extra £650m to combat cyber terror is surely wrongly spent considering we have pledged 3bn for two new aircraft carriers that will have no planes to fly off them for nine years. If we really want to combat cyber terrorism then it should be done by international co-operation as Neil Thompson, director of the Office for Cyber Security, has stressed. We can also co-operate with the private sector including internet service providers through eduction in the National Cyber Security Programme.
Disagree
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5
Our biggest threat is still terrorist bombings
This is 2010, not 2050. Our biggest threat right now are crude attacks from Islamic extremists who use homemade bombs to wreak havoc on the public. The whole notion of cyber terrorism is rhetoric and scaremongering, but the threat from terrorism is imminent and founded. Only recently the British government increased the threat level, that echoed around Europe, of an imminent Al-Qaeda attack. Worrying about the possibility of a cyber-attack over suicide bombers would be the biggest mistake. Computer viruses do not kill, they may disrupt and cause chaos but they do not end lives like a true threat of terrorism. There is no denying we are at risk - and yes we should prepare ourselves, but our resources and vigilance should be concentrated on the much more realistic threat of a conventional terrorist attack.
In-Debate 7
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Strikes are bad for Britain Image: C.G.P. Grey www.cgpgrey.com/Flickr
Over seven million people in Britain are members of trade unions and after George Osborne’s recent Comprehensive Spending Review (CSR) condemned 490,000 public sector employees to losing their jobs, strikes look like playing a bigger and bigger role in people’s lives. Already 2010 has seen industrial action threatened and taken to combat a variety of different grievances, from a series of 24-hr walkouts by Underground staff to BA cabin crew staff and threats from BBC workers to walk out
+ Agree
of the Conservative party conference.Across the Channel, the French have taken to the boulevards with placards reading “Strike till you retire!” and “Let’s paralyse the economy!” in protest against Nicolas Sarkozy’s plan to raise the retirement age. With the chaos that strikes ensue many argue that they have become too easy and the only option Unions now consider. Should we get behind the strikers who are entitled to use it as a method to express their grievances or should the strikes be banned?
- Disagree
Britain’s laws make it far too easy to strike
Workers need strikes to get a fair deal
There there are better ways of resolving conflict
Workers can’t just choose another job
Workers have it good Strikes are divisive and bad for the nation Strikes bring countries to a halt
It's a little known fact that...
It’s even harder in the public sector Strikes are useful in combating injustice Workers can be exploited in countries with weak unions
Trade unions are the world’s largest ‘social movement’ with over 164 million trade-union members worldwide.
In 2007 Unite formed from the amalgamation of Transport and General Workers Union with Amicus.
The TUC membership now stands at 58 unions, representing nearly six and a half million people in the UK.
If workers vote in favour of strike action then it must begin within 4 weeks of the ballot taking place.
Only 33% of those balloted supported the latest tube strikes (CBI).
Three out of five industrial disputes are over pay/benefits (47%) and pensions (13%).
In-Debate 9
+ 1
Strikes are bad for Britain Britain’s laws make it far too easy to strike
The laws governing industrial relations are skewed in favour of union bosses. As things currently stand, the technicalities mean that only 50% of those voting, rather than 50% of those in total, have to decide to go on strike. This means that even if only 1% of workers polled respond, they can take industrial action. Also, a provision in the The Trade Union Labour Relations Act (1992) allows a single ballot of union members to strike against any number of employers around the country. Today, social networking allows dissenting workers to coordinate wildcat strikes against individual grievances more easily. This shouldn’t be the way things work, and we should support Boris Johnson and the CBI who are seeking to change the law.
There there are better ways of resolving conflict
2
Agree
Work is an input to the productive process just like any other. So going on strike is an abuse of market power by an insider group. As things stand, employers can’t sack someone if they go on strike. But if a telephone company suddenly decided to stop the lines for 24 hours, customers are free to voice their displeasure by simply claiming breach of contract and choosing another provider. Worse, if a telephone company deliberately refuses to supply a particular customer, then it is probably in breach of competition legislation under prohibitions covering “limitation in access to an essential facility or a network”. Of course, there are always going to be frictions between bosses and their workers. But going on strike is the wrong way to resolve them.
3
Workers have it good
Since the industrial revolution, British workers have won entitlements on the minimum wage, maximum working hours, flexible working hours, safety requirements, sickness and statutory holidays. So it’s not as if we’re talking about the 19th century working class being flogged to within an inch of their life in the workhouse by aggressive industrialists any more. Advances in labour legislation, which is largely designed to keep workers in their jobs, has served
10 In-Debate
insiders better than outsiders. You no longer have to be a blacksmith if your father was a blacksmith. People now have savings and are free to move. And Britain is one of the most flexible countries in the world when it comes to changing careers. It’s good for the economy to make this fluidity easier, and the threat of strikes just adds grit to the smooth-running mechanism of a modern economy.
4
Strikes are divisive and bad for the nation
Strikes pit workmates against workmates, top brass against staff. This has been the bane of British manufacturing to this day, which continues to be less productive in terms of output per worker than almost any other in the rich world. The inability of a whole company – workers and managers – to join together behind a common enterprise harms the whole economy and the nation. The British workplace is full of divisions between “them” and “us”, and the threat of strikes keeps that division alive. It sometimes seems as if both workers and managers periodically relish a good bit of blood-letting through industrial action: it comforts the two sides in their view of the other. But Britain will not become a sane, modern economy with this sort of attitude, and “disarmament” by both sides is necessary. Workers need to give up the easy right to strike.
5
Strikes bring countries to a halt
When members of Bob Crow’s RMT whimsically decide they’d rather like a lie-in and London grinds to a halt, suburban commuters have to get up before dawn and take three crammed buses in order to make their morning meetings. When the rubbish collectors of Naples went on strike in 2008, the city was left knee deep in garbage and stinking. But the effects of strikes go deeper than merely inconveniencing individuals; they’re detrimental to society as a whole. Countries where workers are continually downing their tools are bad places to live; very few people remember the 1970s with any degree of fondness, and Scargill’s belligerence in the 1980s both divided the country along class lines, and ultimately did a lot of damage to working class Britain. Look also at France, where striking is a deeply-embedded cultural habit, and to which many now view it as a national malaise.
Debate - Headlines Workers need strikes to get a fair deal
What would the world be like without unions to stand up for their members? A sweatshop. You just need to look at the appaling conditions of workers in countries like China or Bangladesh to see what happens when workers don’t have mature labour legislation. We’re giving in to a toxic individualistic viewpoint if we equate the public good with what benefits company bosses and shareholders, simply because we’re annoyed that the Tube isn’t running for a day. Power isn’t naturally shared between owners and workers, it has to be negotiated, and when negotiations break down, strikes are an effective way, more so than petitions or placards, of reminding the bosses not to take their workforce for granted.
2
Workers can’t just choose another job
Supplying your labour isn’t like any other business, and labour markets don’t allow people to simply pick and choose what they do for a living. Workers have specific skills and relationships formed over the course of their careers to carry out what they do, and they can’t just get identical jobs elsewhere at the drop of a hat. So both in Britain and around the world, industry holds all the trump cards: the employer is usually the one with a degree of monopoly power. That’s why strikes - the threat of not carrying out your workplace ‘function’ - are a valid last resort for conflict resolution. Used sparingly and effectively, they act as a crucial countervailing power to the dominance of big business owners.
3
It’s even harder in the public sector
Even if the myth of a fluid jobs market without employer dominance were right in some parts of the economy, that is not where a lot of the strikes we’ll be seeing are coming from. Unions are especially important in the public sector, which is essentially just one single big employer which doesn’t have to respond to the demands of competing in a market. Therefore, the government will always be in a position of power when it comes to estimating what the correct wages should be. So unions need to act as a countervailing power and when negotiations fail, strikes are a useful last resort.
4
Strikes are useful in combating injustice
Throughout history, strikes have proved an effective method of protest for the weak joined together against the strong. The first recorded example of industrial action took place in ancient Egypt under Ramses III, when artisans working on a royal Necropolis downed tools and the Pharaoh felt threatened enough to raise their wages. In 1968, as recounted in the film Made in Dagenham, a strike of women workers at the Ford plant led to the 1970 Equal Pay Act. Another more recent triumph was in Poland, when Lech Walesa and Solidarity organised a revolt in the Gdansk shipyards which many credit with playing a significant role in the eventual defeat of Communism. Strikes can still play a hugely important role today: in China, where workers have very few rights, a series of strikes at Japanese factories that supply parts to carmaking companies like Toyota and Honda have forced bosses to respond to workers’ wage demands.
Workers can be exploited in countries with weak unions
5
Disagree
1
-
British workers have much stronger labour rights than their counterparts in the US. Robert Reich, Labor Secretary under Clinton, in his analysis of the US economy since World War II, has described how while economic activity always creates a surplus, since 1970, the share of this pie has been distributed so that workers receive less and less. That’s what happens in a country where the power of unions has been eroded, and it’s unfair. On the other hand, the example of Germany, where unions, though their grip on power has weakened over the last decade, have historically been very strong, shows that this pressure can lead to a strong economy. There, the Federation of German Trade Unions (DGB) represents some 6.25 million people, encompassing metal workers, leather workers, white-collar types and many government employees. They have been able to use multiemployer collective bargaining - where wages are set for the whole industry, leaving firms to compete for workers by offering superior working conditions, or safety guarantees - to consistently get a good deal.
In-Debate 11
i D In England during the 1400’s a man was allowed to beat his wife with a stick no thicker than his thumb. Giving rise to the expression ‘the rule of thumb’. It is rumored that the word GOLF originally stood ‘Gentlemen Only…Ladies Forbidden’. Fred and Wilma Flintstone were the first couple to be shown in bed together on prime time TV. The dot over the letter ‘i’ is called a tittle. It is impossible to lick your elbow. In a normal deck of playing cards each King represents a great king from history: Spades - King David; Hearts Charlemagne; Clubs -Alexander the Great; Diamonds - Julius Caesar.
In-Debate 12
Fantastic Facts 111,111,111 x 111,111,111 = 12,345,678,987,654,321 Bulletproof vests, laser printers, windshield wipers, and fire escapes were all were invented by women. The term ‘goodnight, sleep tight’ comes from Shakespeare’s time, when mattresses were secured on bed frames by ropes. When you pulled on the ropes the mattress tightened, making the bed firmer to sleep on. Every day more money is printed for Monopoly than from the U.S . Treasury. The Guinness Book of Records holds the record for being the book most stolen from public libraries. At least 75% of people who read this will try to lick their elbow!
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These are a selection of readers comments from last monthissue. Join the debate on Facebook, Twitter or e-mail us at Letstalk@in-debate.com and get your views featued.
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How could we expect Blair to have ignored a threat as obnoxious as Saddam Hussein who had committed so many atrocities against humanity and had terrorist links potentially in the UK?- Rachel Smit, Holburn Why do we always have to do what America does? Blair was Bush’s poodle and now Cameron is going to be Obama’s poodle. Our leaders are a joke!- Tom Catrall, Edgware Building a mosque at Ground is literally a ridiculous idea - it belittles the thousands of US and British troops fighting the war against terror in Iraq and Afghanistan. – James Wolfstein, Camden Saying that A mosque at Ground Zero is a victory for Bin Laden is preposterous. That is like equating Bin Laden with the whole of Islam. – Kevin Cheung, Surrey
Let's Talk The Church really needs to wake up and get its act together. How can the Pope be aware of the atrocities going and not only say nothing - but also financially cover these cases of abuse up!? – Alina Maltaf, Kilburn Why is everyone attacking only the Pope and the Church - what about all the crimes carried out in the name of religion against women in the Middle-East? Those aren’t even reported. – Miriam Goodman, NW1 Do we really want our little girls in awe of a woman who wears meat as a dress who is nothing short of an insecure attention seeker? Is this really who our role models are? - Rhea Patel, Wimbledon Who made the rules? Lady Gaga is a fantastic example of a truly empowered woman. Her music is great- who says that her behavior has to conform to our troubled social norms? – Leah Evans, Uxbridge
In-Debate 13
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Axe the X Factor Image: Rustyallie/Flickr
The X Factor, now in its seventh series, is a TV phenomenon. Created by Simon Cowell the format has been syndicated to 26 countries around the world, including Colombia, Indonesia and now America. Tens of thousands of would-be participants queue for hours to audition each year and after three yes’s, boot camp and the live shows, one winner remains to be awarded a record deal with Simon Cowell’s own label Syco and a six-figure advance.
+ Agree
The latest series has caused a lot of controversy with the accusation of using Auto-tune and the outcry over the treatment of X Factor hopeful Gamu. This is nothing new as there has always been enormous press coverage with sob stories and mini controversies every week, but beyond this tabloid fodder some have more serious concerns about the program – is it fake, patronising and socially harmful or is it harmless escapism, a bit of fun which brings the nation together in rooting for a favourite?
- Disagree
The whole thing is fake
The X Factor is an entertainment show
It humiliates people
…and the use of Auto-Tune is irrelevant
It ruins the UK music scene
The show uncovers genuine talent
The wannabes demonstrate ugly truths about Britain
It’s just a game - and the contestants know it
Its popularity is sad
This is pop – if you don’t like it, listen to something else Enjoying escapism doesn’t mean viewers’ ordinary lives are worthless
It's a little known fact that...
Simon Cowell has earned £120million from The X Factor, Britain’s Got Talent and other shows.
14,980 bottles of water were drunk over the audition tour and Bootcamp.
Simon Cowell was a runner on the Jack Nicholson classic The Shining.
Leona Lewis’s debut single sold over 50,000 downloads in just three minutes becoming the best-selling weekly download.
In 2007 Simon was offered £1million to become the face of Viagra.
The XFactor is veiwed by over ten million people, making it one of ITV1’s highest rating shows.
In-Debate 15
+
Axe the X Factor
1
The whole thing is fake
Agree
The revelation this August that X Factor producers had been using software to improve contestants’ voices proves that the show is not really a talent contest at all. Producers have promised not to use the Auto-Tune software any more, but as Neil McCormick argued in The Daily Telegraph the technology simply added “another layer of manipulation to a show that is already contrived to the point of near-outright fraudulence.” The whole thing is set up – the performers are chosen for their back-stories and their propensity for hysterics and tears rather than for their musical ability. The homes referred to as the judges’ houses are nothing of the sort – they are just houses hired for the show as Louis Walsh admitted in 2007. Clips are edited to contrive narrative and tension. Scenes are wrung for emotion. This would be fine on some program formats, but the X Factor as McCormick argues: “pretends towards transparency, and trades on the illusion of being a democratic contest that allows undiscovered talent to flourish.” Some even believe that the whole thing is set up from the beginning. We should all stop suspending our disbelief and realise we’re being had.
2
It humiliates people
Tens of thousands of people audition to get on X Factor every season. To get to the stage of being in front of the judges wannabes have to get through at least two auditions with X Factor researchers – most of whom have no musical background - as well as interviews about their lives and motivations. Given the number of people who apply, it is simply incredible that the people placed in front of the judges are the cream of the crop. It’s obvious that some people are allowed through in order to be humiliated in front of the judges, the TV cameras and the 2,000 strong live audience that watches the main auditions, while talented singers are rejected. As Neil McCormick writes: “There is only one reason to reject an accomplished singer in favour of a self-deluded no-hoper: because the comedic public humiliation of the worst applicants makes good television.”
3
It ruins the UK music scene
It is almost impossible for new pop acts to compete with the level of publicity gained by
16 In-Debate
participants in the X Factor, and it is thoroughly depressing that the Christmas number one single is almost inevitably sung by the winner of the series. So much so that Joe McElderry, the 2009 winner, was ousted from the top spot by people so angered by the X Factor’s dominance that they formed a successful internet campaign to put the track “Killing in the Name” by rap metal band Rage Against The Machine at the top instead. Unfortunatley, however, the X Factor winner will almost certainly be back at number one again this Christmas with some formulaic and forgettable love ballad – a victory for banal, over-produced pop pap, and a loss for real excitement and creativity in music.
4
The wannabes demonstrate ugly truths about Britain
It’s very depressing that despite the obvious cruelty of the show, so many people are desperate to appear on it – and are quite convinced that they should win. As Simon Hoggart argues in the Spectator, it is a paradigm of the worst aspects of British life: “Like so many people in our country today [the participants] combine a lack of self-awareness, a yearning to be famous and an unlimited sense of entitlement. Wanting celebrity is enough. The desire equals the deserving. They are owed it because they need it. ‘I want the whole world to know who I am. It would be priceless, like Mastercard,’ said one young woman, her life’s ambition defined by a TV commercial.” The worst of them, such as Chloe Mafia, who was allowed to remain on the show even after it was revealed that she was a prostitute – and had used her onscreen success to up her rates – are beyond parody. Giving them screen time can only coarsen our culture.
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Its popularity is sad
The most recent episode of the X Factor attracted 16.2m viewers. Why are all those people spending their Saturday evenings watching it? Part of the answer must be escapism. Contestant after contestant pleads with the judges to allow them to continue on the program rather than going home to their banal lives – stacking shelves, cleaning cinemas, flipping burgers. If people were content, and able to see routes to success that didn’t involve a lottery win or a golden ticket from Simon Cowell, this sort of program would hold far less appeal.
Debate - Entertainment The X Factor is an entertainment show
No one – not viewers, performers or its makers – pretends that the show is a straightforward talent contest. As judge Louis Walsh puts it: “It’s a reality show, part Jerry Springer, it’s also kind of a fashion show, it’s a bit of everything.” The point is not to make the single finally released by the winner the best possible pop production. The object is to create an entertaining series full of characters and excitement which can be enjoyed by everyone . And on that assessment the X Factor is a triumph. No wonder its viewing figures didn’t dip when it was revealed that some contestants voices were being altered. “It’s all pantomime,” as Leona Lewis, The X Factor’s first big winner, has said. “Everyone knows that going into the show.”
…and the use of Auto-Tune is irrelevant
Virtually every pop star uses the Auto-Tune software to perfect their vocals these days – doing so on the X Factor is no different. And as Talkback Thames, which produces the show, said: “The judges make their decisions at the audition stage based on what they hear on the day, live in the arena. The footage and sound is then edited and dubbed into a finished programme, to deliver the most entertaining experience possible for viewers.” In any case, being a great star is about far more than just having a good set of lungs – it takes charisma, style, looks and – of course – that indefinable X-factor. That’s what the judges are looking for.
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The show uncovers genuine talent
Of course some of the people shown auditioning are hopeless. But many are truly great singers – and would never otherwise get an opportunity to demonstrate their talents to the public. This is particularly true of older or less attractive contestants, and those from out-of-the-way places, who are heard by millions of viewers after a lifetime of anonymity. Take Mary Byrne from the current series. She is 50, and has worked on the same checkout in Tesco for the past 12 years. But she has a beautiful singing voice. The same is true of all the previous winners – and without the show they would never have been heard. The X Factor gives them the chance to shine infront of millions and it can make their wildest dreams come true.
3
It’s just a game - and the contestants know it
Contestants weep and wail when they are ejected from the show, and perhaps it even seems to them that their life is at an end when it happens. But for most, their emotions will be similar to those of grown men crying over games of football. When a few days have passed, they will look back on events and see that they got their 15 minutes of fame. Yes it came to an end, but it was still worth doing.
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This is pop – if you don’t like it, listen to something else
It is nonsense to say the X Factor is squeezing out other kinds of music – dozens of pop acts reach success every year without the help of reality show programs. Of course, many are manufactured, but that is the nature of the industry – and the X Factor is only a symptom of that, not a cause. Ironically, Sony is the record label for both Rage Against The Machine and the X Factor winners, meaning that the company profited hugely as X Factor lovers and haters alike snapped up singles last Christmas.
Enjoying escapism doesn’t mean viewers’ ordinary lives are worthless
Disagree
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5
People have always enjoyed following the lives of strangers and fantasised about changing their own. Why should poorer people be content with their lot? Why shouldn’t they dream of a life of luxury and leisure? Criticism of such aspiration often comes from privileged people with good educations, relatively powerful jobs and wellcushioned bank accounts. It’s an attitude that smacks of Victorian obsession with knowing one’s place. Dreaming of bright lights doesn’t imply dissatisfaction with reality. Indeed, as German philosopher Ernst Bloch argued, it is human nature to seek to “become who we are” – and striving towards images of fulfilment. Even culturally worthless escapism can create an impetus for social change by allowing people to see how their lives could be better. Escapism can be useful as an “immature but honest substitute for revolution.”
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Entertainment
Debate
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Debate on the following page
Social media can't change the world Image: Spencer E Holtaway/Flickr
A lot of attention has been focused on social media recently with the release of Facebook’s autobiographical film The Social Network and details that sites Facebook and Twitter have combined audiences of over 550million members, which accounts to one in fourteen people on the planet! But while social networking websites have allowed millions of people worldwide to share information and communicate, many critics still doubt whether Facebook or Twitter can be used to bring about profound social change.
+ Agree
Social media critic and New Yorker writer Malcolm Gladwell, claims the impact social media has had on pro-democracy campaigns in Moldova and Iran has been much exaggerated. Clay Shirky - an authority on how networks shape culture – however, argues that social media can be used as a platform to challenge young minds into political action as was demonstrated in President Obama’s election campaign on Facebook in 2008. So who is right? Will the internet ever prove an adequate substitute for an old fashioned protest?
- Disagree
Sites like Facebook and Twitter are changing politics
Social media’s revolutionary success has been much exaggerated
Look at the money that social networking raises
Much of it is token at best
Just you wait. This technology is going to change the world Mass mobilisation needs mass media behind it The best organisations creatively marry
It's a little known fact that...
Facebook friendships just aren’t strong enough Social change requires hierarchies not networks Social networks are an ever changing fad
There are more than 500 million active Facebook users. People spend over 700 billion minutes per month on Facebook. More than 70 translations available on the site. Facebook is banned in Syria, China, Vietnam, and Iran.
In 2003, Harvard student Mark Zuckerberg created Facemash, which placed undergraduates side by side so viewers could rank which one was “hotter.” Mark Zuckerberg, the creator of Facebook is the world’s youngest billionaire, with a net worth of $4 billion (Forbes).
In-Debate 19
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Social media can't change the world
Social media’s revolutionary success has been much exaggerated
1
Agree
The examples of Iran and Moldova, two countries where over-eager social networking enthusiasts attributed the label the ‘Twitter Revolution’ to mass street protests, actually only shows the limit of social networking when it comes to creating meaningful political change. In Moldova, still grim and Communist two decades after the fall of the Berlin Wall, Twitter was initially heralded as the reason that tens of thousands of disaffected citizens took to the streets to protest against rigged elections in 2009. But this wasn’t the case. As one of Europe’s least technological backwaters, Moldova does not have many Twitter users at all and it transpired that the protests were most likely staged. Likewise in Iran, Golnaz Esfandiari wrote in Foreign Policy: “Western journalists who couldn’t reach people on the ground in Iran simply scrolled through English-language tweets with the tag ‘Iran election’...Through it all, no one seemed to wonder why people co-ordinating protests in Iran would be writing in any language other than Farsi.”
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Much of it is token at best
Social media has done many extraordinary things in its short history, from reuniting longlost friends to finding a bone marrow donor for a young woman suffering from leukemia. But when it comes to the business of saving the world it isn’t quite so easy. Malcolm Gladwell uses the example of the Facebook group set up by the Save Darfur Coalition. It has many thousands of members, but research showed that on average they’ve only donated nine cents apiece. Merely re-tweeting or clicking the like button on Facebook is a thoroughly empty gesture - no more effective than wearing a Che Guevara T-shirt. Celebrating social networking’s role in aiding activism is like celebrating the car that drove you to the protest.
3
Facebook friendships just aren’t strong enough
As Gladwell said in his controversial New Yorker article: “The platforms of social media are built around weak ties. Twitter is a way of following (or being followed by) people you may never
20 In-Debate
have met. Facebook is a tool for keeping up with acquaintances you would not otherwise stay in touch with.” The simple truth is that people are unlikely to take the high risks required for a successful protest movement unless they have strong personal connections to others involved in the campaign. Having these “strong ties” gives people the bravery to stand up against injustice; whether it’s starting a chant at a rally, throwing a brick at a policeman, sticking around for days at a sit-in or going on hunger strike.
4
Social change requires hierarchies not networks
A crucial distinction between traditional “boots on the ground” activism and its fledgling online cousin is that people organise themselves on the internet in a much more democratic way. Gladwell explains: “Facebook and the like are tools for building networks, which are the opposite in structure and character to hierarchies. Unlike hierarchies, with their rules and procedures, networks aren’t controlled by a single central authority. Decisions are made through consensus and the ties that bind people to the group are loose.” Hierarchies are much more likely to get people to stick their heads over the parapet – cult leader Jim Jones could never have persuaded 900 people to commit mass suicide if he’d shared his decision making process on Facebook.
5
Social networks are an ever changing fad
In the Internet’s short history there have already been an alarming number of websites that have faded out. Bebo was replaced by Myspace, and Myspace by Facebook. Steve Ballmer, the Microsoft CEO, argues that individual social networks such as Facebook risk being exposed as a “fad”. Mr Ballmer highlighted that Geocities, an online community that was bought for $3 billion by Yahoo! in 1999, “had most of what Facebook has.” But since then Geocities has passed out of favour. One organisation may build up a large network of people all gearing up to be heard, but soon the novelty of the site will wear off and the next fad will arrive forcing them to start from square one again. Good old fashioned physical change comes from true believers, it is a force that builds and builds, and doesn’t have to adapt to the changing ways of the internet.
Debate - Entertainment Sites like Facebook and Twitter are changing politics
The first great example of regime change being brought about by a status update may not yet have happened, but we mustn’t underestimate the power that this newfound interconnectivity gives us. Look at the success Barack Obama’s 2008 election team had in mobilising people to donate, join his campaign, turn up at rallies and fly to Florida to convince their grandparents to vote Democrat. Since then, the other side of the American political spectrum have got in on the act and now Tea Party candidates are canvassing on social media. And look at what happened after Burmese monks protested against the ruling military junta’s repression in 2007. The Facebook group ‘Support the Monks Protest in Burma’ had as many as 440,000 members and mobilised thousands to take to the streets around the world.
2
Look at the money that social networking raises
Fair enough, the fundraising response to the crisis in Darfur wasn’t mindblowing. But just look at what happened after the Haiti earthquake brought devastation to the poverty-stricken Caribbean island. After this, Wyclef Jean - a former member of the Fugees with Haitian connections - used Twitter to urge his followers (he has now over 1.6million) to donate $5 to the disaster relief fund. The message went viral and millions were raised in days. Not only that, but social networking sites like Twitter proved useful as ways of co-ordinating rescue and humanitarian missions on the ground.
Just you wait. This technology is going to change the world
3
The empowerment that social media’s interconnectivity is going to give us as the internet matures as a form of communication will be immense. There are already several cases of how text-messaging has influenced politics. In the Phillipines, text messages like: “Other students are already marching. Where are you?” saw President Joseph Estrada forced from office in 2001. It was a “coup de text,” he lamented. Text messages are also thought to have brought about a last minute surge in support that led to Roh Moo-Hyun’s surprise victory in South Korea.
Twitter has only been going since late 2006, so it’s no surprise that it’s yet to dominate political discourse in Moldova. But when we reach the point at which more and more people are carrying smartphones around, and as many people can Tweet as can currently text, then we’ll see social media’s full potential.
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Mass mobilisation needs mass media behind it
With social networking the power to determine what events are newsworthy is no longer held by newspaper editors, television executives and radio producers. It’s held by anyone who can persuade others to read their comments or click on a link. Of course, you need people whose bravery can be recorded, but for their defiance to have the maximum political impact you need the millions around the globe who use Facebook and Twitter to disseminate the stories of their struggles and spur protesters on to keep taking risks. Effective activism requires both the woman wishing to throw herself in front of a horse and the eyewitnesses who’ll recount the tale. For decades, the situation in Kashmir has been glossed over by the Indian middle classes who have allowed themselves to be satisfied by the ‘blame Pakistan’ discourse found in the media. That was until recently, when Indians could follow people tweeting live from Srinagar and watch videos of riots on YouTube. These new methods of accessing information, Leo Mirani writes, meant that this year, even the Times of India, famously a source of ‘sunshine news,’ reported that “more civilians in Kashmir have been killed by India than by militants.”
Disagree
1
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The best organisations creatively marry networks and hierarchy
5
Even Twitter has its own system of hierarchies, as there will always be users whose celebrity gives them more followers and more clout. Look at how Stephen Fry’s tweets carry weight. Or at how Wyclef raised so much money for Haiti. And what does or doesn’t go onto a Facebook group is decided by its admins, so power is in fact held by a very small group. Having a loose, democratic power structure might mean there are organisational tensions, but it doesn’t necessarily stop things from getting done.
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Brain Food Live talks, events, debates and inspirational listings
Our listings section has been sourced from some of the leading institutions in London. We want to create a valuable resource for you, by consolidating and finecombing the best events throughout the month. These events are guaranteed to keep your brain ticking and your mind thinking. For more information on any event please visit the event providers website.
Business
Society / Politics
Phase Three of the Global Crisis
Cutting It: ‘Big Society’, social justice and the new austerity
LSE – 1st Nov, Old Theatre, 6.30-8pm, Free As countries adopt competitive exit strategies from the global crisis . Paul Mason economics editor of BBC Newsnight surveys the political economy of a flat recovery. He argues that mainstream economics have still refused to draw the lessons of asset price bubbles and situates the divergent recovery, east and west, within a long-wave explanation of the crisis.
The Future of UK Banking
LSE – 3rd Nov, Hong Kong Theatre, 6.30pm-8pm, Free António Horta-Osório the chief executive of Santander UK first joined as a non-Executive Director of Abbey in November 2004, becoming Chief Executive in August 2006. In 2008, his responsibilities extended following Abbey’s purchase of the Bradford & Bingley savings business and the acquisition of Alliance & Leicester and in June 2009 he was appointed as a non-Executive Director to the Court of The Bank of England.
The State of the World Economy
LSE – 4th Nov, Sheikh Zayed Theatre, 6.30pm-8pm, Free Olivier Blanchard the Economic Counsellor and Director of the Research Department at the IMF argues that a strong and sustained world recovery requires two rebalancing acts. Internal, with a shift, in advanced countries, from fiscal support to private demand. External, with an increase in net exports in deficit countries, notably the US, and a decrease in net exports in surplus countries, notably China.
Zero-Sum World: power and prosperity in the age of anxiety
LSE – 18th Nov, Hong Kong Theatre, 6.30pm-8pm, Free Gideon Rachman the chief foreign affairs commentator for the Financial Times marks the publication of his new book Zero-Sum World: Power and Prosperity in the Age of Anxiety, by arguing that the global economic crisis has changed the logic of international relations and ushered in a new and more dangerous era. This will be characterised by rising tensions between America and China and a failure to deal effectively with global problems such as climate change and nuclear proliferation.
The Post-Crisis Global Economy: are China and Emerging Markets eating our lunch?
Chatham House – 4th Nov, 8am-9.15am, Fee Paying Is this the emerging markets’ century? Will China rule the world? George Magnus, Senior Economic Adviser at UBS Investment Bank will discuss how the financial crisis and its aftermath has shocked the West into protracted behavioural change.
RSA – 4th Nov, WC2N 6EZ, 1pm-2pm Anna Coote the head of social policy at NEF and author of “Ten Questions about the Big Society” talks about the Coalition government who want to build a Big Society - but how do we ensure the idea is not just big, but also sustainable and fair?
Criminal cuts? The legal aid debate
Free Word Centre – 17th Nov, 7pm-8.30pm, £7.50/£5 In the run up to the general election, Labour announced plans to slash the legal aid budget and to introduce measures that would have led to the closure of 80 per cent of legal aid criminal defence firms. The new coalition government has announced its intention to put a stop to the creation of ‘needless’ new criminal offences, yet the question of how the Ministry of Justice is to manage budget cuts of £320 million has been left up in the air.
Lady Chatterley’s Lover: Fifty years on
LSE – 1st Nov, Sheikh Zayed Theatre, 6.30-8pm Free On 2nd November 1960 the jury at the Old Bailey acquitted Penguin Books of obscenity for publishing an uncensored version of D.H. Lawrence’s controversial novel. Geoffrey Robertson QC, founder of the largest human rights practice in the UK and a panel explore the impact of the trial on our current laws and assumptions on freedom of expression.
Are the New Conservatives conservative?
LSE – 26th Nov, Sheikh Zayed Theatre, 6.30-8pm, Free Daniel Finkelstein the executive editor and chief leader writer at The Times and Roger Scruton the resident researcher at the American Enterprise Institute discuss whether the newly reinvigorated Tories describe themselves as liberal, progressive, and even radical. But these ideas have long been an anathema to conservative thinkers. Are the new Conservatives really conservative?
Oxfam Debate - Climate Countdown: will global leaders help save the planet or must we do it without them?
Kings Place - 1st November, Hall One, 7pm, £9.50 With COP16 round the corner, has the UNFCCC had its day? What has really changed since global leaders failed to secure a climate deal at Copenhagen? Join the discussion with Greg Barker MP, Minister for Climate Change, Michael Jacobs, former special adviser to Gordon Brown, Matthew Lockwood, Associate Director, Institute for Public Policy Research, Kirsty Hughes, Head of Advocacy, Oxfam GB Jonathon Porritt, Founder Director of Forum for the Future.
In-Debate 23
Where to dine in Madrid? It’s no debate... Insider guides to over 200 destinations, online and always up-to-date www.globalista.co.uk
The Sophisticated Traveller’s Ultimate Online Guide
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Mind Fuel Live talks, events, debates and inspirational listings
Science Robotics in Surgery – State of the Art
Imperial College – 3rd Nov, One day Seminar, 9.30am-5pm, Surgical robots find increasing uses as surgeons demand more accuracy but with smaller incisions. First generation robots were large machines based on industrial arms and second generation robots are hand-sized. Micro-scale technology is being more and more theses days in surgical procedures. This one-day seminar features leading researchers in the UK and Europe including Professor Brian Davies and Dr Ferdinando Rodriguez y Baena, discussing their latest work and opening up the world of robots in surgery.
Stop worrying - radiation is good for you The Royal Society of Medicine – 8th Nov, 6pm-7.30pm People worry about radiation. Our attitudes are coloured by fifty years of cold war threats of mutually assured nuclear destruction and by our natural dread concerning any silent, unseen killer. This talk will attempt to provide what is lacking in many discussions of radiation - a sense of perspective. It will review changes in attitude to radiation over the years and look at the ways in which radiation professionals, and society, deal with protection issues in the 21st century.
Exchanges at the Frontier: Gwen Adshead
Wellcome Collection – 6th Nov, 11am-12.30pm, Free ‘Exchanges at the Frontier’ returns to Wellcome Collection this autumn with a second series in partnership with the BBC World Service, hosting some of the biggest names in world science. Join A C Grayling in talk with Gwen Adshead; a consultant forensic psychotherapist who oversees some of society’s most problematic personalities, attempting to understand psychotic behaviour and find ways of treating it. She also has a degree in ethics and an interest in the relationship between doctors and their patients.
137: Carl Jung, Wolfgang Pauli and the pursuit of a scientific obsession
The Royal Society – 26th Nov, 1pm-2pm, Free Professor Arthur Miller, University College London explains that in 1923 an obsession with the numbers 3, 4 and 137 sparked a strange friendship between the physicist Wolfgang Pauli and the psychoanalyst Carl Jung - a unique meeting of minds. Which is the primal number that seems to hint at the origins of the universe?
Tolstoy: A Russian Life
British Library – 9th Nov, 6.30pm-8pm, £7.50/£5 Tolstoy’s War and Peace and Anna Karenin” are considered two of the greatest novels ever written. Here at the 100th anniversary of his death is a fresh perspective on his extraordinary life and times. For her exceptional new biography Rosamund Bartlett has drawn extensively on the many fascinating new sources which have been published about Tolstoy since the collapse of Communism and portrays one of the most compelling, maddening, brilliant and contrary people who has ever lived.
Rosemary Butcher in conversation with Stephanie Rosenthal Southbank Centre - 26th November, 7pm, £5 Choreographer Rosemary Butcher talks to Move: Choreographing You curator Stephanie Rosenthal about reinventing Allan Kaprow’s 18 Happenings in 6 Parts at Southbank Centre.
Yvonne Rainer in conversation with Chantal Pontbriand
Southbank Centre - 28th Nov, 2pm, £5 American dancer, choreographer and filmmaker, Yvonne Rainer, discusses her work with art critic and curator Chantal Pontbriand.
Matthew Williamson: Talking Fashion
V&A - 2nd Nov, Lecture Theatre, 7pm-8pm, £8/£6 Matthew Williamson is one of the most successful British designers in the fashion industry today. He discusses his career with the Sunday Times Fashion writer, Colin McDowell in an event that marks the publication of an eponymous book from Rizzoli. In collaboration with The Sunday Times.
Nigel Coates: In Conversation
V&A - 9th Nov, Hochhauser Auditorium 7pm-8pm, £8/£6 Nigel Coates is one of Britain’s most original thinkers on architecture, interior and product design. A subversive spirit, he has pioneered new ideas about narrative and socio-cultural engagement in architecture. He talks about his career with the director of the Whitechapel Gallery.
Art / Literature Ann Christopher in conversation
Kings Place – 22nd Nov, St Pancras, 6:30pm, £6.50 Ann Christopher is a well known Royal Academician whose elegant and intricate sculptures seem to evade gravity to rise gracefully into space. Christopher takes her inspiration from a wide range of sources including both ancient standing stones as well as soaring skyscrapers on an urban skyline.
Stop worrying - radiation is good for you. 3rd Nov Imperial College
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Inspiration Live talks, events, debates and inspirational listings
Inspirational Eureka Live
Wellcome Collection – 4th Nov, 7.30pm-8.30pm, Free Wellcome Collection and the ‘Times’ invite you to join a panel of experts to discuss the inaugural Eureka 100 - a list of the most important 100 people in British science today. The panel will also debate the government’s October Spending Review and its implications for research, education and funding. Come armed with questions for what promises to be a lively event.
5x15 Stories
5x15 - 15th Nov, The Tabernacle, 6.45pm, £20/£15 Alain de Botton philosophises Valerie Grove discusses love in the life Hilary Spurling tells us about Pearl Buck’s years in China Simon Singh argues the case for libel reform Michela Wrong recounts the story of corruption and a Kenyan whistleblower http://www.5x15stories.com/
A Lecture by Álvaro García Linera, Vice President of Bolivia
LSE – 11th Nov, 6.30-8pm, Free but ticket required Latin America International Affairs Programme is pleased to announce a lecture by Bolivia’s vice president Álvaro García Linera as part of its 2010-11 International Peace and Security in Latin America events series.
Wallace & Gromit Present a World of Invention
British Library – 2nd Nov, 6.30pm-8pm, £6/£4 Join presenters and experts from forthcoming BBC series Wallace & Gromit present: A World of Invention: a light-hearted and humorous look at real-life contraptions, gadgets and inventions from around the world that have influenced Wallace’s illustrious inventing career and which aims to inspire a whole new generation of inventors.
Just a Minute
British Library – 22nd Nov, 7.30pm-9.15pm, Free Chaired by Nicholas Parsons, four witty and loquacious panelists including Paul Merton, try to speak for 60 seconds without hesitation, repetition or deviation. A feat much, much more difficult than it sounds.
Editor's pick Question Time for Entrepreneurs
British Library – 17th Nov, 6.15pm-9.00pm, £10/£7.50 As the centrepiece of this year’s Global Entrepreneurship Week, this special evening provides a rare opportunity to question four of Britain’s top entrepreneurs on the key opportunities and issues to be faced when launching and growing a business in the current economic climate. Speakers include: Deborah Meaden, Dragons’ Den investor, and entrepreneur Cath Kidston, founder of Cath Kidston.
An Evening with The Guardian’s Cult Columnists
Kings Place – 8th Nov, Hall One, 7pm, £9.50 Charlie Brooker, journalist, comic writer and broadcaster Tanya Gold, columnist and feature writer Zoe Williams, columnist Ben Goldacre, writer, broadcaster and medical doctor. Come and join them for an evening of sparky debate and caustic comment.
Time Out Live’s Laugh Out Loud
Bloomsbury Theatre – 2nd Nov, 7.30pm, £20/£15 Time Out Live presents another extraordinary night of award-winning comedy and variety headlined by Sheffield singer/songwriter and star of BBC Radio 4’s ‘The Shuttleworths’ John Shuttleworth, supported by the fabulously filthy Scott Capurro, ‘Mock the Week’ star Zoe Lyons, gloriously silly hospital radio DJ Ivan Brackenbury and our resident MC, Chortle’s best compere 2010 Jarred Christmas.
Voices of Rap and Hip Hop
British Library – 26th Nov, 6.30pm-8pm, £10/£7.50 Rap and hip hop are among the most influential cultural forms of recent times. The art of verbal flow over beats that shot to prominence in late 1970s US cities has gone on to global popularity and a presence in every language. Rap includes some of the most complex wordplay and incorporates hard-hitting social and political issues, often making Hip Hop clearest voice of the dispossessed. Join KRS ONE, one of the legendary voices of Hip Hop, together with some of the sharpest UK artists, Akala and Lowkey for a discussion of how words impact at street level.
If you would like to be featured in our listings section please call 0207 221 1177 or e-mail letstalk@in-debate.com
Five Speakers - Fifteen Minutes Each www.5x15stories.com
For more information on any of the listed events please contact the event providers.
In-Debate 27
London Treats
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By Helena Fleur
EATKoffman's at the Berkeley The legendary French chef, Pierre Koffmann, has returned to The Berkeley in Knightsbridge to provide Londoners with a truly exceptional dining experience. The menu offers seasonal food inspired by Koffmann’s Gascon heritage and includes signature dishes such as scallops with squid ink and the incomparable pistachio soufflé with pistachio ice cream . The kitchen is open to view to add great visual theatre to this superb and elegant restaurant.
www.the-berkeley.co.uk/koffmanns or call 0207 235 1010 for reservations.
DRINKSketch Based on Conduit Street in Mayfair, Sketch has long been one of London’s most desired eating and drinking spots. Its original and quirky décor, delicious food and the best toilets in town (trust us), have ensured that it always has a great atmosphere. DJs play an eclectic mix of party tunes in The Parlour and East Bar and it boasts one of London’s most impressive art collections. It has become one of the most distinctive drinking spaces in London with expertly blended signature cocktails.
www.sketch.uk.com or call 0207 659 4500 for reservations.
SLEEPFlemings Mayfair Nestled on Half Moon Street and occupying 6 interconnecting Georgian Townhouses, Flemings Mayfair, must be one of London’s best kept secrets. This beautiful boutique hotel was founded by Robert Fleming in 1851 and remains privately owned to this day, retaining its friendly family run atmosphere. A favourite with celebrities looking for some down time, it is perfect for a relaxing weekend, indulgent afternoon tea including Primrose Bakery Cupcakes or a chance to take part in one of their Haute Couture Cocktail Experience.
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www.flemings-mayfair.co.uk or call 0207 499 1817 for reservations
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IQ2 Events
Intelligence Squared (IQ2) has become London’s premier debate forum and are renowned for arranging intellectual boxing matches between some of greatest minds around. Their debates are exciting, engaging and current. Tickets cost £25 and each event promises to be a fantastic night out.
Live Talks Photography will always be a lesser medium than paint Special event: Mon, Nov 1st, Phillips de Pury, SW1P 1BB, 7pm
Has the dexterity of the hand and the imagination of the eye and brain been replaced by the finger’s click on the camera shutter? This debate will question the nature of art in a digital age and whether we should accept photography now as the medium that matters.
The most groundbreaking contemporary art is from the East Special event: Thurs, Nov 11th, Saatchi Gallery, SW3 4SQ, 7.30pm
Does the recent, international popularity of contemporary Asian art reflect its groundbreaking character, or is it merely reflective of globalisation and transnationalism? In collaboration with Asian Art in London, this debate will question Europe’s position in the international art market, against growing Eastern influences.
P. J. O’Rourke: The funniest man in America Special event: Mon, Nov 22nd, Cadagon Hall, SW1X 9DQ, 7pm
America’s funniest political satirist speaks about the necessary evil of politics and politicians. P.J. O’Rourke will be sharing his sobering and amusing thoughts on the financial crisis, climate change, terrorism, the Marxist class struggle and his most recent book: Don’t Vote – It Just Encourages the Bastards.
Live Debates Stop bashing Christians! Britain has become an anti-Christian country
Debate: Wed, 3rd Nov, Royal Geographical Society, 6.45pm Speakers for: Lord Carey, Peter Hitchens, Howard Jacobson Speakers against: Matthew Parris, Claire Rayner, Dom Antony Sutch Chair: Jonathan Freedland. If you’re a Sikh in Britain you don’t have to wear a motorcycle helmet. If you’re a Muslim woman, you can wrap your head in a scarf. But daren’t assert your faith or customs as a Christian. Are Christians protesting too much? Or are they right in saying that they already receive special treatment?
Don’t Eat Animals
Debate: Thurs, 9th Dec, Kensington Town Hall, 6.45pm Speakers for: Abbas Daneshvari, Heather Mills, Peter Singer Speakers against: Julian Baggini Robin Dunbar Paul Levy Chair: Sir Simon Jenkins Author, columnist on the Guardian and Evening Standard, and chairman of the National Trust. Steak and kidney pie. The Sunday roast. No one with a streak of compassion, no one who calls themselves human could then stretch out their hand, plonk the slaughter in their shopping basket and feel they were doing right. Or could they?
*All events start at 6.45pm with doors opening at 6pm, unless otherwise stated. For more information or to book tickets please visit www.intelligencesquared.com/events
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Structure for open-air sports (5) Respond to a stimulus (5) Beat hard (3) Country in which 33 miners were trapped (5) More glacial (5) In a murderous frenzy (7) Vital body fluid (5) Joan ___, soprano who died in October (10) Rapid bustling commotion (3) Relating to speech (4) Archaeological site (3) King of beasts (4) Tree with sharp thorns (6) Ancient city destroyed with Sodom (8) North Korean heir apparent, Kim ___-un (4) Not either (3) Alternating between discouragement and encouragement (4-2) 33 Country, site of the Ajka toxic waste spill catastrophe (7) 34 Every seven days (6)
News Crossword No.2
16
17 18
23 25 26 28 29
Fictional character in the Arabian Nights (3,4) Run competitively (4) Islamic ruler (4) Measure of land (4) The ___ Question, 2010 Man Booker Prize for Fiction winner (7) Sebastian Vettel drives for this Formula 1 team (3,4) Shipwrecked (7) Commercial exchange (5) Biblical twin of Jacob (4) ___ Burke, R&B singer who died at Schiphol airport in October (7) Conferred as an award, without the usual requirements or functions (8) Indian princes or kings (6) Commonwealth Games gold medalwinner Tom Daley’s sport (6) Influence by gentle urging (6) Nickname for a policeman (3) Torment (5) Burden of responsibility (4) Wild gathering involving excessive drinking and promiscuity (4)
*For solutions to this month’s Crossword just email us at letstalk@in-debate.com
In-Debate 30
Sudoku 5
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No.4 Hard
No.3 Easy
1 5 4 and9we will8send 3 2 7to you!6 3 6 5to this2month’s 4 Sudoku 9 just 7 email 8 us at1letstalk@in-debate.com *For solutions them straight
4
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Win a pair of Limited 2 8 1 3 7 6 4 9 5 Edition Ian Poulter’s, IJP 7 2 9 6 3 4 1 5 8 Design trousers! 8
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Golfer Ian Poulter, member of the winning Ryder 5 is offering 4 9 the2chance 8 6to win 7 a pair 3 of Cup 1 team, limited edition trousers from his own clothing line 5 4 2 7 6 3 8 1 9 IJP Design. IJP Design 9 7has3just 8launched 1 5its 7th 2 collection 6 4 for Autumn/Winter 2010 and is going from strength to strength 6 as1 a sophisticated 8 4 9 and 2 trendy 5 men’s 3 7label for on and off the golf course.
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IN!
To enter the prize draw to win a pair of trousers of your choice from the collection (RRP up to £99.95) just email letstalk@in-debate.com with you name and address!
To see the pick of trousers and for more information: www.ijpdesign.com *Closing date for competition entries is the 19th November. Draw will take place on the 22nd November.
In-Debate 31
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