The aim of this book is to a launch a polemic for the freedom of the press against all of the attempts to police, defile and sanitise journalism today. Once the media reported the news. Now it makes it. The phone-hacking scandal and the Leveson Inquiry into the "culture, practice and ethics" of the media has put the UK press under scrutiny and on trial as never before. There Is No Such Thing as a Free Press questions many of today's distorted but widely-held views of the media, and turns the assumptions underlying the current discussion on their head. The problem is not that the UK press...

We obsess about what our politicians are doing, but ignore that our companies are no longer investing, instead they are focusing on next quarter's profits in order to justify ever higher executive compensation. This is in turn accelerating the West s economic decline versus the East. While the short-term focus of business is becoming widely acknowledged, we are not doing enough to reverse this. Looking at the less known history of companies shows us the choices we can no longer afford to ignore. Some current reforms need to go further and some areas that need reform are currently being...

Today it is often said that we live in a 'rape culture'. Panicked headlines tell us that rape is on the increase and that the police are failing to deal with it. Our courts are said to be incapable of delivering justice in rape cases, with the rate of convictions remaining consistently low. Sexism and misogyny in wider society have created a culture in which rape is pervasive, under-reported and often ignored by an uncaring public. But these claims are built on myths and misunderstandings.

This book argues that the belief in a 'rape culture' is seriously distorting our discussion of...

Demarchy exploits the possibilities of modern communications to give new role to public discussion. It takes the initiative in formulating policy on each specific problem out of the hands of political parties and into the hands of those most strongly affected by that particular problem. John Burnheim explains why this needs to be done and how it can be done by voluntary initiative without constitutional change.

At first glance, issues like economic inequality, healthcare, climate change, and abortion seem unrelated. However, when thinking and talking about them, people reliably fall into two camps: conservative and liberal. What explains this divide? Why do conservatives and liberals hold the positions they do? And what is the conceptual nature of those who decide elections, commonly called the "political middle"?

The answers are profound. They have to do with how our minds and brains work. Political attitudes are the product of what cognitive scientists call Embodied Cognition --...