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To understand what sport is - perhaps, should be - consider the story of Spanish runner Ivan Fernandez Anaya, who still receives attention for a race he lost back in December 2012.
El Pais explained how Anaya was in second place, some distance behind race leader Abel Mutai. As they entered the finishing straight, he saw the Kenyan mistakenly pull up about 10 metres before the finish, thinking he'd already crossed the line. Anaya quickly caught up with him, but instead of exploiting Mutai's mistake to speed past and claim victory, he stayed behind and, using gestures, guided the Kenyan to the line and let him cross first.
"A Message for Mankind” brings together Charlie Chaplin’s famous speech from The Great Dictator and scenes of humanity’s most tragic and most hopeful moments in recent history, spanning everything from space exploration to street protests.
I have listened to and would recommend the following podcasts (2015-2018 recommendations to follow):
2014
Stardust once more...thank you and rest in peace.
The Economist mapped Bowie's ever-changing style.
See also:
Aurora Borealis glows in the sky above the Achavanich Stones in Caithness, Scotland, on the 9th January 2014.
The always eloquent Patrick Stewart excels himself in this passionate and moving response to a question about domestic abuse.
In Todmorden, Yorkshire, vegetables and herbs grow almost everywhere, even in the cemetery and outside the police station. Everywhere you turn edible plants abound. In this talk given at TED London Salon, Pam Warhurst explained why and how she and others created Incredible Edible, a revolution not only in the way the town eats, but also in the way they think about public space, and which is inspiring other communites around the UK and increasingly, around the world.
Having already read Daniel Tammet's Born on a Blue Day, it is interesting to now watch and listen to him too, as his linguistic, numerical and visual synesthesia mean that his perception of words, numbers and colours weave together into a new way of understanding the world.
...who appear to be turning increasingly frequently away from chasing hard bucks and towards making a positive difference in others' lives around the world.
At the RSA in late 2010, Martha Nussbaum discussed ways in which the attitudes, values and practices of 21st century enlightenment could help more of us lead the good life in the good society.
Iain McGilchrist, a former fellow of All Souls College, Oxford, talked about his book The Divided Brain at the RSA in late 2010.
David McCandless helps people overcome information overload by encouraging us to use our eyes more in order to visualise and design the patterns that matter.
As such, David is continuing in a long tradition of using diagrams to describe things that transcend the written word. A single image can convey the simple underlying pattern hidden by words or equations: draw the right picture and you can literally transform the way we see the world.
... which we can nearly all grow and use more imaginatively, whether we have a park or a window box.
As Jekka McVicar and her team remind us, happy by-products of a love of herbs can include bumblebees buzzing busily on the lavender.
"A wrong decision isn't forever; it can be reversed. The losses from a delayed decision are forever; they can never be retrieved" - JK Galbraith
, beyond the cynicism and the power games, that we all share...
"These party leaders may day-dream of glory, but at night they dream of sons and daughters they can no longer hold" - Judith O'Reilly
Ben Schott, author of Schott's Miscellanies and Almanacs, recently reviewed 2009 and looked ahead to 2010 at the RSA. Highlights included:
Halcyon recently had the privilege of visiting the orphanages and street projects run by FACE in Cairo.
