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Articles by Colin Tudge
Fellow creatures: the new GCSE in natural history
Britain is about to launch a new GCSE in natural history – which some will doubtless greet with indifference while others will write it off as another soft option, to rank alongside media studies and textiles. Indeed as Mary Colwell now tells us in British Wildlife (May 2025, pp 391-393) she first started promoting the idea of such a GCSE back in 2011, but unnamed Tory MPs objected.
The madness of King Donald: part three
Concluding the series. Read Part One here and Part Two here Gandhi and Nehru were politicians but King and Tutu were both clerics – King a Baptist minister, Tutu an Anglican archbishop; and in practice, these past several thousand years, clerics and other spiritual leaders have been humanity’s most consistent and influential shapers of morality.
The madness of King Donald: part two
Part one discussed Donald Trump’s many broken promises, his contrast with Martin Luther King, and the folly of competitive tribalism. Continued.. I have suggested many a time and oft that the goal of humanity should be to create convivial societies, and personal fulfilment, within a flourishing biosphere. Then humanity and our fellow creatures might continue to occupy this Earth for millions of years to come, and very agreeably. The sunlit uplands indeed.
The madness of King Donald: part one
Though the US is now directly involved in the conflicts of the Middle East, the roots of the troubles lie deep in history, far pre-dating the US itself. Beyond doubt, though, the Far Right mindset and the neoliberal economy that America in general and Donald Trump in particular have brought to bear on the world’s affairs add fuel to the flames – and are threatening to kill us all.
Three empires: did Orwell see this coming?
George Orwell wrote 1984 in 1948 when memories of World War II and Hitler were still fresh – indeed the full extent of Nazi atrocities was only just coming to light – and Stalin was still firmly ensconced in Moscow as head of the enormous, multi-headed USSR. Orwell’s novel is commonly seen as an attack on dictatorships in general, whether of the Right or the Left – and indeed it is. But it is more specific than that.
Why Don’t Starmer and Reeves try socialism? Part 2
In part one I asked: What socialism needs, and what Labour therefore needs, and what we all need, is an economy that works and is people- and wildlife-friendly but is not imposed from above in dictatorial fashion. Is there such a thing? Of course there is.
Why don’t Starmer and Reeves try socialism?
The Labour Party as it now stands means Tory with a more benign exterior — and it has rapidly become deeply unpopular. Perhaps Labour would serve the country and the world far better – and attract far more support—if it returned to its socialist, moral roots. The word “Socialism” seems to frighten people. It even frightens the present Labour Party.
We need good agriculture more than ever
Small farms and farmers are disappearing at an alarming rate – and yet they are vital. A prime task for humanity is to re-establish agriculture as the focus of all our endeavours and to raise the status of farmers. The only people who are truly treasured and rewarded in modern progressive Britain are those who deal in money.
The biology of compassion: why survival’s not just a matter of competition
To what extent can the insights of modern biology throw light on matters of morality, and hence on politics and economics? In a nutshell, I want to argue that humanity has been led astray these past few thousand years, and particularly over the last two centuries, by the intellectuals and prophets of the western world who have shaped the modern Zeitgeist and hence brought the whole world, human and non-human, to the brink of disaster.
Labour, the Tories, and the natural world
The first thing we should ask of any political party and would-be government is that it should state its Goal. What are they – or indeed we, people at large – trying to achieve and why? What is their — or our — vision? What kind of world are we trying to create? What do we really think matters? Or as the Cambridge literary critic F R Leavis put the matter in The Great Tradition in 1948: “What for — what ultimately for?
Why are governments so bad? Part 2
In part 1 the author argued that “Seriously awful governments” should be ranked alongside global warming, mass extinction, conflict and economic inequality that now threaten all our lives and those of our fellow creatures. In part 2 he focuses on education.
Why are governments so bad? Part 1
“Seriously awful governments” should be ranked alongside global warming, mass extinction, conflict and economic inequality that now threaten all our lives and those of our fellow creatures. Almost all countries suffer from oppressive, cruel, and destructive leadership some of the time. Some have suffered most of the time. In particular, world history is dominated by people who by normal standards — the standards by which most of us live — are monsters.
Morality, reality and policy - Part 2
In part 1 Colin Tudge reminded us that economic strategies worldwide take precious little account of the world’s real problems. He said politicians lack seriousness and often have a very limited agenda. In part 2 he develops the theme further and holds out the hope that things can improve. In the recent autumn statement Chancellor Jeremy Hunt offered some sweeteners but continued to embrace economic neoliberalism.
Morality, Reality and Policy - part 1
Even at this late hour, we – humanity – might still realistically hope to prevent the world’s final descent from catastrophe into meltdown – provided we took the real problems seriously enough and really were prepared to do, in Rishi Sunak’s bulldog phrase, “whatever it takes” to turn things around. But of course we don’t do either of these things.
Colin Tudge, Author at West England Bylines
Colin Tudge Colin Tudge is a biologist by education and a writer by trade; ex of New Scientist, Farmer’s Weekly, BBC Radio 3; co-founder of the Oxford Real Farming Conference; and author of about 18 books inc The Variety of Life, The Secret Life of Trees, The Secret Life of Birds and several on food and farming.
Of HS2 and GMOs - Colin Tudge's Great Re-Think
Rishi Sunak has been desperately trying to explain to a bewildered nation and his own party and perhaps to himself why HS2 was a brilliant initiative when the government of which he was a part gave it its full support (levelling up etc) and now it isn’t (covid, Putin, global warming. If he’d waited a bit he could have added Gaza to the list of putatively unforeseeable events that are beyond anyone’s control and turn the best-laid schemes agley).
Arabella Douglas On Intimacy With Nature And Its Relationship With Indigenous Entrepreneurship — Impact Boom | Social Impact Blog & Podcast | Global Changemaker Community | Social Innovation, Enterprise, Design
Arabella Douglas is a Minyungbul Bundjalung woman, and a visionary leader, here and on the world stage. She leads a TO group Currie Country with grace and grit, imagination, and intellect. A food activist, lawyer, economist, and scholar, Arabella harnesses the power of food to drive social, economic and environmental change. She is a nation builder who understands First Nation sciences are indispensable for any effective response to our combined climate, environmental, social, and economic crisis.
How to reduce conflict and build effective workplace communication to reach your goals, with Antoni Lacinai
So many problems within a workplace can be traced back to one issue: communication. Leaders who can master this skill are the ones who reach their goals, develop better teams, and steer their organizations towards greater success. Our guest this week is one of the top experts in helping leaders become better communicators. Antoni Lacinai is an international keynote speaker and workplace communication expert, at the cross point of conscious leadership, customer focus, and employee engagement.
Resurgence • Article - Eat to Live
Regenesis is a good and seductive read, but its overall thesis is a diversion, leading us on false trails, throwing out very promising babies with the bathwater, and failing to identify or get to grips with the world’s deep, underlying problems: those of governance, economics and, above all, mindset. Like today’s politicians, Monbiot is all too keen on gimmicky techno-fixes.
Review of “The Great Re-Think: A 21st Century Renaissance” – Kent Bylines
by Colin Tudge Colin Tudge speaking at the Oxford Food Symposium in 2017. Photo by Andrew Davidson, CC BY-SA 4.0 Share EmailTwitterFacebook This book is by a former farming correspondent for the New Scientist. He is also the founder of the Oxford Real Farming conference and the College for Real Farming. However, the book is not just about agriculture, but ranges far more widely in relation to our global problems of Climate Change.
10 of the best popular science books as chosen by authors and writers
By George Monbiot , Colin Tudge , Pragya Agarwal , Jonathan Drori , Emily Shuckburgh , Cassandra Coburn , Jojo Mehta , Jim Down , Camilla Pang and Richard Walker A fantastic science book can wow you, entertain you and change the way you think, all over the course of a few hundred pages. It can also act as a source of inspiration. We have asked 10 brilliant science writers and authors to pick their favourites, many of which were influenced earlier in their careers by their choices.
The Great Re-Think: A 21st Century Renaissance
Winner! – Network Book Prize 2020 – The 2020 Network Book Prize for the most significant book published by a Member during the year has been awarded to Colin Tudge for his book The Great Re-Think: A 21st Century Renaissance.
Resurgence • Article - Fenced In
Issue 324 January/February 2021 Resilience Ecologist Fenced In by Colin Tudge Cover: Artwork by Leah Duncan www.leahduncan.com @leahduncan Issue availability Order the current issue now Issue available as PDF Reprint permissions To reform farming, we have to look at the bigger picture, writes Colin Tudge.
No Radicals Please. We're British
By Colin Tudge, originally published by Oxford Real Farming Conference August 21, 2020 Colin Tudge finds Part One of the Government’s newly published National Food Strategy well-meaning but misguided. This government-sponsored report, published in July 2020, is the first of three that are intended both “to support this country through the turbulence caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, and to prepare for the end of the EU exit transition period on 31 December 2020”.
There is Another Way
To forestall the global collapse that now is well in train requires a total rethink. Fortunately some excellent thinkers, doers and activists are on the case, as evidenced now by Food Sovereignty, Agroecology and Biocultural Diversity, edited by Michel Pimbert, director of Coventry University’s Centre for Agroecology, Water and Resilience. In particular, says Pimbert, we need to take seriously the traditional knowledge that is still manifest in Indigenous societies worldwide.
Get the Word of the Day - fossick | Dictionary.com
Origin of fossick The verb fossick is confined pretty much to Australia and New Zealand. As with many regional and dialect words, its etymology is unclear: the verb seems to be a regional British term fussock, fursick meaning “to fuss, fidget, bustle.” In Australia and New Zealand fossick originally meant to hunt for gold or other precious metals or precious stones by digging with a knife or by studying the ground for overlooked fragments.
How much should food cost?
Nothing illustrates the weirdness, injustice, and unpleasantness of the present economy more clearly than the misdirected attempts of government to reduce the price of food. All seem to accept that to reduce food prices is good and necessary, and that it represents ‘progress’. Certainly it is necessary to ensure that everyone can afford good food, but this does not necessarily mean that we should seek to make it cheaper.
The Best Books on Plants
The Emerald Planet by D J Beerling. This is a book by somebody who studies plant fossils and their role in life on earth. I reviewed this when it came out and here’s what I wrote: ‘Botanists carry a chip on their shoulders. Their relationship with the zoocentric world is like that of a perplexed parent of a sullen teenager who refuses to acknowledge that his very existence depends upon them. We don’t acknowledge the importance of plants.
Boek | Ida - Colin Tudge
Ida Colin Tudge Samenvatting Wie kent haar niet? Eind mei openden de kranten over de hele wereld met het verhaal van dit 47 miljoen jaar oude fossiele mensaapje. Ida, vernoemd naar de dochter van de ontdekker, is een vondst die alles kan veranderen van wat we weten over de oorsprong van de primaten. Volgens de ontdekkers/onderzoekers Jørn Hurum en Jens Franzen staat Ida namelijk dichter bij de stam van de mens dan enige andere primaat.
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