Reading for Battle
Battle Readings is a regularly updated compilation of articles, essays, and opinion pieces relevant to the themes of the Battle of Ideas.
Choose a theme from the listing on the left to narrow your search, or view all readings.
Recent Readings
Climate change: EU rebrands green energy campaign
"The UK has enjoyed massive growth in the green economy with 110,000 green jobs. Climate change policies also help us reduce our imports of fossil fuels and help to give us the lead in smart technologies as resources become more scarce."
Roger Harrabin, BBC News, 8 October 2012
"The UK has enjoyed massive growth in the green economy with 110,000 green jobs. Climate change policies also help us reduce our imports of fossil fuels and help to give us the lead in smart technologies as resources become more scarce."
Roger Harrabin, BBC News, 8 October 2012
What's really driving the Left's loathing of free schools
In the modern Left’s worldview, if the state isn’t permanently on standby with its ready-made list of values, bucketloads of welfare cash, parenting advice and whatnot, then ordinary people will starve, go mad, turn racist and end up as fodder for fascism.
Brendan O'Neill, Daily Telegraph, 8 October 2012
In the modern Left’s worldview, if the state isn’t permanently on standby with its ready-made list of values, bucketloads of welfare cash, parenting advice and whatnot, then ordinary people will starve, go mad, turn racist and end up as fodder for fascism.
Brendan O'Neill, Daily Telegraph, 8 October 2012
At last: the Classic Brit Awards exposed as a sickening crime against classical music
The truth is that there is simply no need to go down the Classic Brit route. What you are in effect saying with this monstrous spectacle is that Joe Public is too uncultured, too dense, too stupid to deal with an unedited, beautifully played Chopin mazurka, Mendelssohn concerto or Beethoven sonata.
James Rhodes, Daily Telegraph, 8 October 2012
The truth is that there is simply no need to go down the Classic Brit route. What you are in effect saying with this monstrous spectacle is that Joe Public is too uncultured, too dense, too stupid to deal with an unedited, beautifully played Chopin mazurka, Mendelssohn concerto or Beethoven sonata.
James Rhodes, Daily Telegraph, 8 October 2012
UK: Storm over Health Secretary’s support for 12-week abortion time limit
The government has ‘no plans’ to bring in new laws governing when women can legally have an abortion, Prime Minister David Cameron has said, following Jeremy Hunt’s comments in the run-up to the Conservative party conference.
Abortion Review, 8 October 2012
The government has ‘no plans’ to bring in new laws governing when women can legally have an abortion, Prime Minister David Cameron has said, following Jeremy Hunt’s comments in the run-up to the Conservative party conference.
Abortion Review, 8 October 2012
Osborne signals shale gas tax breaks
The Treasury is consulting on a “generous new tax regime” for the emerging shale gas industry so that the UK is not left out of the worldwide dash for gas, George Osborne told the Tory conference.
Jim Pickard, Sylvia Pfeifer and Pilita Clark, Financial Times, 8 October 2012
The Treasury is consulting on a “generous new tax regime” for the emerging shale gas industry so that the UK is not left out of the worldwide dash for gas, George Osborne told the Tory conference.
Jim Pickard, Sylvia Pfeifer and Pilita Clark, Financial Times, 8 October 2012
The Disappearance of Public Intellectuals
Since the 1970s, we have witnessed the forces of market fundamentalism strip education of its public values, critical content, and civic responsibilities as part of its broader goal of creating new subjects wedded to consumerism, risk-free relationships, and the destruction of the social state.
Henry A Giroux, Counterpunch, 8 October 2012
Since the 1970s, we have witnessed the forces of market fundamentalism strip education of its public values, critical content, and civic responsibilities as part of its broader goal of creating new subjects wedded to consumerism, risk-free relationships, and the destruction of the social state.
Henry A Giroux, Counterpunch, 8 October 2012
The state’s skewed line on moral issues makes me worried about giving it automatic ownership of our bodies after death
Under presumed consent I am not confident the state would feel a duty to treat a corpse with reverence after death or use it solely to help others live
Francis Phillips, Catholic Herald, 8 October 2012
Under presumed consent I am not confident the state would feel a duty to treat a corpse with reverence after death or use it solely to help others live
Francis Phillips, Catholic Herald, 8 October 2012
British innovation is not dead. But it needs public investment to flourish
The potential of innovation to transform lives is as great as ever. Politicians should see that economic recovery depends on it
Stian Westlake, Guardian, 7 October 2012
The potential of innovation to transform lives is as great as ever. Politicians should see that economic recovery depends on it
Stian Westlake, Guardian, 7 October 2012
Bach Is Still Revving Up Engine of Musical Innovation
"This is a book about the music of Bach and the ways it has been reinvented in our time"
Anthony Tommasini, New York Times, 7 October 2012
"This is a book about the music of Bach and the ways it has been reinvented in our time"
Anthony Tommasini, New York Times, 7 October 2012
Great literature should stay on all reading lists
A knowledge of Chaucer, Shakespeare and tales of Greece and Rome is necessary to understand our own culture
Hannah Betts, Guardian, 7 October 2012
A knowledge of Chaucer, Shakespeare and tales of Greece and Rome is necessary to understand our own culture
Hannah Betts, Guardian, 7 October 2012
Designer people: is technology making us less human?
"The Battle of Ideas is a weekend like no other. I found the 2011 festival immensely stimulating. It gave me a great deal to think about, and a whole new list of books to read - from Virgil to Vygotsky. On to greater battles in 2012!"
Ken Macleod, award-winning science fiction writer; author, The Restoration Game and Intrusion
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