Podcast: George Monbiot; How Did We Get Into This Mess ?

This podcast was recorded on 16th March 2016 at University of Edinburgh,for the Ragged University project by request. With thanks to Elaine and Tarlochan at Wordpower Books, and thanks to Stuart for being welcoming with technical support. Elaine from Wordpower Books, Scotland’s Independent and Radical Bookshop introduces the event they have produced in conjunction with the School of Social and Political Science at the University of Edinburgh.

The main lecture is George Monbiot who is launching his latest book – How Did We Get Into This Mess. The Twitter hashtag which was set up was #thismess.

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Podcast: A Memory of Blood; Livestreaming and the Fall of the Mongolian Empire by Donald Carrick

On the 29th October 2015, Donald Carrick gave the third of three talks on the life and legacies of Ghengis Khan.  Donald tells us: Stories are everything. Many stories are influenced by history, but could it be that history itself is shaped by stories, even fictional ones? Can we honestly say only fact matters in any historical narrative? Is the past set in stone or is it a fluid entity like the future? Read more…

Podcast: Welcome To The Midlife Revolution by Andy Fergusson

Andy Fergusson did a talk on the Mid-life revolution, as he puts it – and suggests that this is a positive place to be in your life where you are in a great place to make a difference on a number of matters. Mid-life can be stressful at the best  of times as our family circumstances, jobs and careers and our health/fitness all seem to be changing at the same time. Stress has two major contributing factors: firstly when we find it difficult to predict what’s going to happen next and secondly when we have insufficient influence over what is going to happen to us. We all think about what we are or should be doing through out our lives but not since our teenage years do so many changes seem to happen all at once.
The good news is that by “flipping” how we look at things we can turn these challenges into the sort of excitement we haven’t experienced in a long time. There are plenty of individuals out there who are having The (mid-life) Time of Their Lives … They’re having fun, doing meaningful, rewarding work and they’re contributing to building a brighter future for future generations. The future isn’t any less bright it’s just going to be different to how we thought it was going to be. We’re going to look at how you can join in the fun, whatever age you are. Read more…

Podcast: A Different Kind Of Humanity by Ciaran Healy

This is a recording of Ciaran Healy giving a talk on the philosophy he has developed. Ciaran spoke at the Ragged University event in Edinburgh on 10th July 2014.

A different kind of humanity covers a recap of lecture 1 in the serie; The fundamental mechanism underlying all amplified conflict; The sundering of cultural context through globalised communications; The untenable human – how humanity as it has been is no longer stable, or sustainable; Mysticism and the Eastern answer;The limits of militant peace; The painting and the palette – a metaphor for a new, high-impact humanity apart from divisive beliefs; and Flavour-based humanity. Read more…