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Ken Worpole

@kgeorgew.bsky.social

40 Posts88 Follower96 Folgt
The BREAK—DOWN@the-breakdown.bsky.social · 3w ago

Cars have long been synonymous with speed, progress and individual freedom. Perhaps this is why cars are getting ever bigger and heavier, in a process that activists have termed “carspreading”. 🚙 ’Driving Progress’ by John Merrick

Driving Progress by John MerrickCars have long been synonymous with speed, progress and individual freedom. To drive a car is to grasp hold of the potentials of individual choice: to close oneself off from the swarming crowds; to take to the open road in a giant, gleaming can of steel; to drive headlong into the sunset, pursuing the future at dizzying speed; to pursue self-fulfillment at the expense of the collective. To drive, in short, is to be the archetypical capitalist self-actualiser: individualist and forward moving, forever in search of the new. Perhaps this is why cars are getting ever bigger and heavier, in a process that activists have termed “carspreading”. Since 2000, new cars have grown each year an average of 1.2cm longer, 0.5cm taller and 0.5cm wider. If this trend continues, it will see cities like London and Berlin lose around 10 per cent of all their parking spaces by 2040, while also resulting in around 400 extra pedestrian deaths per year (as cars expand, the surface area for collisions with non-drivers grows, as does the driver's blindspots).
History Workshop@historyworkshop.org.uk · 4mo ago

OTD in 1943, a pacifist settlement was founded on Frating Hill Farm. In this piece from the archives, Ken Worpole examines the lives of those who contributed to the project - including the future cabinet minister Shirley Williams.

Radical Object: Potato Planter at Frating Hall Farm

How did Russian anarchism, Teesside socialism and Jewish phenomenology find a home in rural Essex? Ken Worpole delves into the fragile archive of an influential pacifist settlement at Frating Hall farm.

historyworkshop.org.uk

Keiron Pim@keironpim.bsky.social · 6mo ago

TUNDE’S FILM (1973) really should be better known — it’s a gritty, authentic portrayal of East End life in the early ’70s created by 18-year-old actor, writer and co-director Tunde Ikoli. There’s much to love about it, not least this scene showing Tunde’s friends’ glorious dancing to Prince Buster!

John Merrick@johnmerrick.bsky.social · 7mo ago

A brilliant essay by @sammyfeldblum.bsky.social on what the unravelling of Thames Water tells us about privatisation, market failure and the place and politics of water in the climate crisis

The BREAK—DOWN@the-breakdown.bsky.social · 7mo ago

"There is a perversity to its very existence as an economic good: water falls from the sky, for free, and its daily availability is crucial to human survival, yet it is everywhere subject to the convolutions of political economy." @sammyfeldblum.bsky.social on Thames Water and the politics of water

Ken Worpole@kgeorgew.bsky.social · 7mo ago

John Berger, one of Europe’s most influential post-war writers and intellectuals, was born 100 years ago on 5 November 1926 in Stoke Newington, and happily the subject of many planned commemorative events in the UK and across Europe this year.

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Ian Christie@ianpchristie.bsky.social · 8mo ago

Books of 2025: The Meaning of Growth - Richard Douglas A Climate of Truth - Mike Berners-Lee Climate Injustice - Friederike Otto Brightening from the East - Ken Worpole Homework - Geoff Dyer Books of the half-decade : Late Soviet Britain - Abby Innes Twilight of Democracy - Anne Applebaum

Ken Worpole@kgeorgew.bsky.social · 8mo ago

'It was in July, 1922, a hot day, I bought a Bartholomew map of Essex, inch to the mile, coloured for elevation. The blue creeks, the wide expanses of green for marsh, all delighted me.' 'I knew that extraordinary sensation of being where I wanted to be...socketted in the universe.' Essex Marshes

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Ken Worpole@kgeorgew.bsky.social · 8mo ago

Surprised and delighted to be alongside Philip Hoare as writing one of the New Statesman’s ‘Books of the Year 2025’, chosen by Geoff Dyer. Dyer is kind and generous to us both, characterising Hoare’s writing as ‘ecstatic, kaleidoscopic and visionary’, and mine as consistently thoughtful and moving.’

Gerry Hassan@gerryhassan.bsky.social · 8mo ago

Jeremy Seabrook died one year ago today aged 85. One of the most original & pioneering voices for social justice, human rights & dignity in post-war Britain. He asked: “Why is it that the rich must become immeasurably more rich before the poor can become even fractionally less poor?”

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Dr William Tozer | RIBA ANZIA 📍@williamtozer.bsky.social · 10mo ago

‘Designing social housing for later life is too often reduced to a simple provision of service. Appleby Blue, however, is a provision of pure delight . . . high-quality spaces that are generous and thoughtful, blending function and community . . .’ www.theguardian.com/artanddesign...

Spa vibes with a grow-your-own-dinner option: Britain’s best new building is a revamped almshouse

With its shimmering ginkgo trees, tinkling pools and a rooftop garden, the Appleby Blue Almshouse housing complex for older people is a worthy winner of RIBA’s prestigious Stirling prize

theguardian.com

Ken Worpole@kgeorgew.bsky.social · 12mo ago

Just published, two inspiring collection of essays on the prospects for rural Britain in the future. Vol 1: Land, food & farming. Vol 2: Housing, planning & construction. From Assemble, Little Toller Books and the inestimable Common Ground. Fabulous photos by Kaye Song, designed by Polytechnic.

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