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153. The Man Who Invented The Internet (Tim Berners-Lee)

Tim Berners-Lee could be one of the richest men on the planet, why did he forfeit such large profits to make the world wide web a free and open space? How do we reclaim the internet from soci... Continue

The spin is all in the prism

'Gordon Brown's attempts to soften his image with a family pet for his young sons backfired yesterday as a canine spin operation went horribly wrong.  Downing Street had been planning to give the st... Continue

14 April 2009

A setback, not a crisis

The word crisis is the most overused in the media lexicon. In ten years with Tony Blair, I think I witnessed five full blown crises - Iraq, Kosovo, September 11, fuel protests and foot and mouth disea... Continue

13 April 2009

The real lessons from Damian McBride

These days I tend to find out news as much through interview bids as through listening to the radio or reading the papers. Sky or Radio Five Live are usually first, by email, with a phone call ten min... Continue

12 April 2009

Will English always be the dominant language?

In a Paris cab last week, an Algerian driver picked up on something I said and told me the French word 'hasard' (chance) came directly from Arabic. He had seen me on a TV programme the night before an... Continue

11 April 2009

On the pipes and what makes a Scot

Ok, ok, I give in (to my Twitter followers and Facebook friends) and will explain recent bagpipe tweets. Along the way I will muse (blog and vlog) on identity.  I've been up in Scotland making a fil... Continue

10 April 2009

John Prescott lazy? NO WAY

It's obviously becoming stand-up-for-oldies week. Yesterday David Frost on his 70th birthday. Today another veteran into his eighth decade on the planet in the form of John Prescott. John is of cours... Continue

9 April 2009

David Frost is seventy

The birthday dinner, which kept me from both the Champions League and The Speaker last night, was for broadcaster David Frost. Seventy.  Any suggestion the veteran broadcaster might be slowing down ... Continue

8 April 2009

The Speaker, BBC2, tonight and tomorrow 8pm

I'm out at a birthday dinner tonight, so will be spared the difficult choice between Champions League football and BBC 2's new reality TV/elimination-contest programme, The Speaker. Reality TV and el... Continue

7 April 2009

Alastair Campbell is a writer, communicator and strategist best known for his role as former British Prime Minister Tony Blair’s spokesman, press secretary and director of communications and strategy. Still active in politics and campaigns in Britain and overseas, he now splits his time between writing, speaking, broadcasting, charities and consultancy.