The Idler (1993)
''The Idler'' is a bi-monthly magazine, devoted to its ethos of 'idling'. Founded in 1993 by Tom Hodgkinson and Gavin Pretor-Pinney, the publication's intention is to improve public perception of idling. The magazine combines the aesthetics of 1990s slacker culture and pre–Industrial Revolution idealism. The title comes from a series of essays by Samuel Johnson, published in 1758–59. Ethos On the practice of idling, Tom Hodgkinson writes: History ''The Idler'' was launched in 1993 when its editor, Tom Hodgkinson, was 25. The title came from a series of essays by Samuel Johnson. In it, Johnson wrote on such subjects as sleep and sloth and said: "Every man is, or hopes to be, an idler." The new ''Idler'' took this 18th-century sensibility and combined it with radical philosophies of the 1990s. Issue One featured a profile of Johnson and an interview with psychonaut Terence McKenna. The ''Idler'' has since enjoyed a number of incarnations. In the 1990s it was pu ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Tom Hodgkinson
Tom Hodgkinson (born 1968) is a British writer and the editor of '' The Idler'' magazine, which he established in 1993 with his friend Gavin Pretor-Pinney. His philosophy, in his published books and articles, is of a relaxed approach to life, enjoying it as it comes rather than toiling for an imagined better future. '' The Idler'' was named after a series of essays written by Dr Johnson from 1758 to 1760. Biography Tom Hodgkinson was born in Newcastle, England. He is the brother of journalist and author Will Hodgkinson; their father is the science and medical writer Neville Hodgkinson and their mother is the prolific non-fiction writer and journalist Liz Hodgkinson. Hodgkinson was educated at Westminster School and Jesus College, Cambridge, during which time he played the bass guitar in the Stupids-influenced thrash band Chopper. He lived in North Devon until 2013. He currently lives in London. In the early 1990s, he worked at a Rough Trade Records shop in London, wher ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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National Health Service
The National Health Service (NHS) is the term for the publicly funded health care, publicly funded healthcare systems of the United Kingdom: the National Health Service (England), NHS Scotland, NHS Wales, and Health and Social Care (Northern Ireland) which was created separately and is often referred to locally as "the NHS". The original three systems were established in 1948 (NHS Wales/GIG Cymru was founded in 1969) as part of major social reforms following the Second World War. The founding principles were that services should be comprehensive, universal and free at the point of delivery. Each service provides a comprehensive range of health services, provided without charge for residents of the United Kingdom apart from dental treatment and optical care. In England, NHS patients have to pay prescription charges; some, such as those aged over 60, or those on certain state benefits, are exempt. Taken together, the four services in 2015–16 employed around 1.6 million people ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Chris Donald
Chris Donald (born 25 April 1960) is the founder of, and one of the principal contributors to, the British comic magazine '' Viz''. Biography Donald was born in Newcastle, England. He attended West Jesmond Primary School, and then Heaton Comprehensive School, where he failed his A-levels. The forerunner of ''Viz'' was a series of small comic booklets, titled "The Fat Crusader", drawn on the back of Esso Blue invoice pads and secretly circulated around classrooms at Heaton School – first amongst pupils, and later penetrating the staff room – between 1976 and 1978. In October 1978, having failed to achieve sufficient qualifications to continue his education, Donald began work as a clerical officer at the DHSS central office in Longbenton, Newcastle. Donald, together with his brother Simon and a schoolfriend Jim Brownlow, set up ''Viz'' in December 1979 from a bedroom in Jesmond, Newcastle. He was editor (or head of the "editorial cabinet") for many years but retired ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Situationist International
The Situationist International (SI) was an international organization of social revolutionaries made up of avant-garde artists, intellectuals, and political theorists. It was prominent in Europe from its formation in 1957 to its dissolution in 1972. The intellectual foundations of the Situationist International were derived primarily from libertarian Marxism and the avant-garde art movements of the early 20th century, particularly Dada and Surrealism. Overall, situationist theory represented an attempt to synthesize this diverse field of theoretical disciplines into a modern and comprehensive critique of mid-20th century advanced capitalism. Essential to situationist theory was the concept of the spectacle, a unified critique of advanced capitalism of which a primary concern was the progressively increasing tendency towards the expression and mediation of social relations through images. The situationists believed that the shift from individual expression through di ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Raoul Vaneigem
Raoul Vaneigem (; ; ; born 21 March 1934) is a Belgian writer known for his 1967 book ''The Revolution of Everyday Life''. Biography Vaneigem was born in Lessines (in Hainaut Province, Hainaut, Belgium) and studied romance philology at the Free University of Brussels (1834–1969), Free University of Brussels from 1952 to 1956. He was a member of the Situationist International from 1961 to 1970. Vaneigem and Guy Debord were two of the principal theorists of the Situationist movement. Vaneigem's slogans frequently made it onto the walls of Paris during the May 1968 uprisings. His most famous book, and the one that contains the most famous slogans, is ''The Revolution of Everyday Life''. In it, he challenged what he called "passive nihilism", a passive acceptance of the absurdities of modernism which he considered "an overture to conformism". According to the website ''nothingness.org'', The voice of Raoul Vaneigem was one of the strongest of the Situationists. Counterpoised to ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Joanna Blythman
Joanna Blythman (born 1956) is a British investigative food journalist and writer and a commentator on the British food chain who has covered subjects including salmon farming, supermarkets, intensive pineapple production, bird flu and the causes of obesity. Blythman was born in Springburn in Glasgow, the daughter of lecturer in Education, Marion Blythman and socialist campaigner and Scottish republican songwriter Morris Blythman. As of 2006, Blythman has won five Glenfiddich Awards for her writing, including a Glenfiddich Special Award for her first book, ''The Food We Eat'', and the Glenfiddich Food Book of the Year Award in 2005 for ''Shopped'', as well as a Caroline Walker Media Award for ''Improving the Nation's Health by Means of Good Food'', and a Guild of Food Writers Award for ''The Food We Eat''. In 2004, she won one of BBC Radio 4's Food and Farming Awards, the Derek Cooper Award. In 2007 she was awarded the Good Housekeeping award for Outstanding Contribution t ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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The Sunday Times (UK)
''The Sunday Times'' is a British Sunday newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News UK (formerly News International), which is owned by News Corp. Times Newspapers also publishes ''The Times''. The two papers, founded separately and independently, have been under the same ownership since 1966. They were bought by News International in 1981. In March 2020, ''The Sunday Times'' had a circulation of 647,622, exceeding that of its main rivals, ''The Sunday Telegraph'' and ''The Observer'', combined. While some other national newspapers moved to a tabloid format in the early 2000s, ''The Sunday Times'' retained the larger broadsheet format and has said that it intends to continue to do so. As of December 2019, it sold 75% more copies than its sister paper, ''The Times'', which is published from Monday to Saturday. The pap ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Tony Barrell (journalist)
Tony Barrell is a British journalist, known for his humour and his exploration of the unusual and the unexplained. He is the author of the 2017 book ''The Beatles on the Roof''. Barrell has also written many major features for the '' Sunday Times'', and has contributed to ''The Times'', '' The Idler'', and ''Cornucopia'' magazine, among other publications. He has frequently written about celebrities, as well as people with fringe interests and beliefs such as cult members, alien abductees and battle re-enactors. He was born in Crawley in West Sussex. Barrell has interviewed actors such as Gillian Anderson and Johnny Depp, comedians such as Vic Reeves, Paul Whitehouse, Matt Lucas and David Walliams, artists such as Sir Peter Blake, Marc Quinn, Keith Tyson and Rolf Harris, and musicians and bands such as Jimmy Page, Dido, Joan Baez, Ronnie Wood, Andy Summers, Donovan, Celine Dion, Mike Oldfield, Sandie Shaw, Garbage, Dixie Chicks, the Finn Brothers, The Beautif ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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ABC (band)
ABC are an English pop band which originated in Sheffield in 1980, evolving from the earlier ensemble Vice Versa. They are best known as pioneers of the new wave and sophisti-pop movements, blending synth-pop with orchestral and jazz influences. The band achieved mainstream success with their debut album, ''The Lexicon of Love'' (1982), which featured the hit singles "The Look of Love" and "Poison Arrow" and reached number one on the UK Albums Chart. Fronted by Martin Fry, the band's only constant member, the band's classic formation featured Fry as the lead vocalist, Mark White on guitar and keyboards, Stephen Singleton on saxophone, and David Palmer on drums. ABC achieved ten UK and five US top 40 hit singles from 1981 to 1990. Their 1982 debut studio album, '' The Lexicon of Love'', was a UK number one. Their early-1980s success in the US saw them associated with the Second British Invasion. ABC continued to release music throughout the 1980s, with notable albums such a ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Fiona Russell Powell
Fiona Russell Powell (born 2 April 1962) is a British journalist. She is best known for her series of interviews throughout the 1980s in '' The Face'' magazine. For a brief period in the mid-1980s, she performed as a member of pop group ABC in videos and onstage to support their cartoon-synth album '' How to Be a ... Zillionaire!'' (1985). She was credited originally as "Fiona" in early recordings of material for this album, but eventually performed under the stage name "Eden". Early life and career Growing up in Dore, Sheffield, she had known ABC from their early days as an electronic three-piece called Vice Versa. In 1982, aged 20, she began writing for '' The Face'' as a features writer, concentrating mostly on music and became known for her irreverent mickey-taking interviews with leading pop stars of the day. ABC After the success of ABC's debut album ''The Lexicon of Love'' and the disappointing reception to their follow up ''Beauty Stab'', ABC's Martin Fry and Mark ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Damien Hirst
Damien Steven Hirst (; né Brennan; born 7 June 1965) is an English artist and art collector. He was one of the Young British Artists (YBAs) who dominated the art scene in the UK during the 1990s. He is reportedly the United Kingdom's richest living artist, with his wealth estimated at US$384 million in the 2020 ''Sunday Times'' Rich List.Richard Brooks,It's the fame I crave, says Damien Hirst, The Times, 28 March 2010 During the 1990s his career was closely linked with the collector Charles Saatchi, but increasing frictions came to a head in 2003 and the relationship ended. Death is a central theme in Hirst's works. He became famous for a series of artworks in which dead animals (including a shark, a sheep, and a cow) are preserved, sometimes having been dissected, in formaldehyde. The best-known of these is '' The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living'', a tiger shark immersed in formaldehyde in a clear display case. In September 2008, Hirst mad ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Louis Theroux
Louis Sebastian Theroux (; born 20 May 1970) is a British and American documentarian, journalist, broadcaster, and author. He has received three British Academy Television Awards and a Royal Television Society Television Award. After graduating from Magdalen College, Oxford, Theroux moved to the United States and worked as a journalist for ''Metro Silicon Valley'' and '' Spy''. He moved into television as the presenter of offbeat segments on Michael Moore's '' TV Nation'' series. Theroux is known for his numerous documentaries with the BBC, beginning with '' Louis Theroux's Weird Weekends'' (1998–2000), followed by '' When Louis Met...'' (2000–2002) and 50 BBC Two specials (2003–present). His work includes studies of unusual and taboo subcultures, crime and the justice system, and celebrities. The majority of his documentaries are set in the United States, but he has also studied cultures in South Africa, Israel, Nigeria, and the UK. ''The New Yorker'' described Therou ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |