Is this you? As a journalist, you can create a free Muck Rack account to customize your profile, list your contact preferences, and upload a portfolio of your best work.
Claim your profile
Articles by Nigel Cameron
A surgeon's reflections on God, intelligence, and being a good cell in the universe [PODCAST]
Subscribe to The Podcast by KevinMD. Watch on YouTube. Catch up on old episodes! Surgeon Fateh Entabi discusses his article “A surgeon’s take on God, intelligence, and cosmic responsibility.” Fateh reflects on how the complexity of the human body inspired him to think more broadly about intelligence, consciousness, and the idea of God—not as a distant creator, but as an evolving intelligence embedded in the universe itself.
The River That Swallowed the Ringwood Prehistoric Landscape: Geoarchaeological investigations in advance of the development of the A31, Hampshire, England
Record: found Abstract: found Article: found Author(s): , , , , AOC Archaeology Group, University of Southampton, University of Southampton, University College London Publication date Created: Publication date (Electronic): There is no author summary for this article yet. Authors can add summaries to their articles on ScienceOpen to make them more accessible to a non-specialist audience.
How DrKoop.com rose and fell: the untold story behind the Surgeon General’s startup
“I’ve had two major messages that I’ve tried to get out to the public all my professional life,” Koop proclaimed. “One is to take charge of your own health. The other is that there is no prescription I can give you that is more valuable than knowledge…. I’ve tried the non-profit world, and the non-profit world is not interested in supporting those messages on the Internet or in any other way.” Koop had first encountered actor and entrepreneur John F.
C. Everett Koop takes the lead, seeking specialty recognition
An excerpt from Dr. Koop: The Many Lives of the Surgeon General. “I was the salesman for pediatric surgery. I have the knack of talking to an audience and convincing [them] about what I’m saying is true.” – CEK The early 1950s witnessed an extraordinary burst of professional activity on the part of the young surgeon, still in his 30s, as the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) gave him his head on a series of issues.
C. Everett Koop meets the giants of pediatric surgery: Ladd and Gross
An excerpt from Dr. Koop: The Many Lives of the Surgeon General. In spring of 1946 the young Koop was sent to Boston for several months to spend time with the giants of the nascent field of pediatric surgery, William E. Ladd (1880–1967), and his trainee and successor Robert Gross (1905–1988). In his survey of the history of the discipline, Judson Randolph baldly states: “Surgery for infants and children in the United States began with Dr. William E.
C. Everett Koop’s fearless fight against the tobacco industry
An excerpt from Dr. Koop: The Many Lives of the Surgeon General. “I have learned that, when an idea’s time has come—and it is on your watch—you must seize the moment.” – CEK, Glasgow speech It would take C. Everett Koop, M.D., Sc.D., just an hour—one very well-prepared hour—to overturn nine months of obloquy and ridicule.
How Africa is converting China
Several years ago, I spent a significant amount of time in East Africa, researching the involvement of local Christian denominations in politics.
Who is Abiy Ahmed?
This piece was originally published at the beginning of September. Abiy Ahmed has just been announced as the winner of the 2019 Nobel Peace Prize. If you haven’t paid much attention to Ethiopia, the second largest country in Africa, you should.
Give this man a Nobel Peace Prize
If you haven’t paid much attention to Ethiopia, the second largest country in Africa, you should. This nation of over 100 million people is poised to make major changes in the next few years: given current circumstances, it could either experience an unprecedented period of democracy and economic growth, or explode into ethnic tensions that could tear the nation apart like the former Yugoslavia in the 1990s.
How Jane Austen makes fools of her fans
Credit: Chris J Ratcliffe-Pool/Getty Images Groupthink How Jane Austen makes fools of her fans We might as well put Jilly Cooper on our £10 note According to legend, St George, a Roman knight, freed a Libyan town from the cruel attentions of a sea-dragon by killing it. And any public figure who has since dared face-down fierce vested interests or kill off harmful prevailing orthodoxies has similarly been branded a ‘dragon slayer’.
Don't be afraid of the digital dustbin
Whoops! It was with the bland words “we apologise for the inconvenience” that the once mighty social network MySpace announced that in the course of a botched “server migration” they accidentally lost every bit of content uploaded to the site before 2016. That’s 50 million songs by 14 million artists (some of them, news reports solemnly warn us, including early work by the “MySpace Generation” of artists such as Lily Allen and Arctic Monkeys) as well as countless videos and photographs.
Are you truly unfakeable?
Technology Are you truly unfakeable? The waters of AI are rising, so too is the risk of abuse “If one could devise a successful chess machine, one would seem to have penetrated to the core of human intellectual endeavour.” So claimed an influential 1958 paper about the future of AI. Then in 1997, Chess Grandmaster Garry Kasparov lost to the IBM’s Deep Blue. Needless to say, the core of human intellectual endeavour remained unpenetrated.
#Apple CSR #Strategy - #Risk risk risk
#Apple CSR #Strategy – #Risk risk risk Posted by Nigel Cameron on May 30, 2012 · Leave a Comment Triple Pundit has just published a strong critique of Apple’s approach to corporate social responsibility. The leadership point is especially telling (see my post earlier today), but in general what this sharp series of points suggests to me is that with the passing of the baton a fresh approach is being explored that has yet to find its feet.
Has a Chinese chancer won the gene-editing race?
Has a Chinese chancer won the gene-editing race? Dr He's needless publicity stunt has exacerbated fears about unethical behaviour Human genome editing was always going to happen, eventually. And it was probably going to happen first in China, where there is far less stigma around the idea. The Chinese word for “eugenics”, yousheng, has entirely positive connotations; not smoking while pregnant, for example, is considered yousheng.
Beware the sorcerers of Silicon Valley
“Sister dearest, you and all the gods and your sweet self will surely testify how much against my will I arm myself with this dark technology of magic.” Magic is a belief in short cuts. Whether it is turning lead into gold, making beautiful women fall in love with you, or transforming lepers into Olympic athletes, magic promises an instant route to where we want to go – quick as a flash, abracadabra.
On Twitter, I too become an arse
On Twitter, I too become an arse Social media sucks us into a vortex of contestation. Is it possible to resist? It was on BBC Radio 4’s ‘Any Questions’ last month that a woman from the Lincolnshire audience asked the panel what they were going to do for ‘Scroll Free September’. I hadn’t ever heard of it, but the idea was pretty simple: take a month off from social media. No Twitter, no Facebook and the like. Could I cope with a digital fast? I could certainly give it a whirl.
So you think you're open-minded...
Humans are not fully rational creatures. We see the world through a collection of biases and rules-of-thumb which, in systematic and predictable ways, make us believe things that are simply wrong. They incite us to cling to arguments which support our beliefs, and reject arguments that don’t support them, in the face of contradictory evidence.
How man and machine can work in harmony
Technology How man and machine can work in harmony When even Elon Musk - normally a champion of the human ability to improve its condition... When even Elon Musk – normally a champion of the human ability to improve its condition through material progress – backs the robots, we know we’re in trouble. But barely a year ago, back in 2017, he became fear-monger-in-chief of the artificial-intelligence apocalypse.
Big tech is getting fat on corporate welfare
Elon Musk in Nevada after announcing his plan to build a Tesla Gigafactor in the State. Credit: Max Whittaker/Getty Images Big tech is getting fat on corporate welfare Amazon’s Jeff Bezos is the richest man on the planet – and he’s out with a begging bowl. Bezos has asked 238 North American cities if they could help out funding his next big Amazon office.
Activist journalism is feeding us fake news
News & media Activist journalism is feeding us fake news Journalism as a trade is assailed from many sides. In the autocracies of the world it... Journalism as a trade is assailed from many sides. In the autocracies of the world it faces a familiar challenge: top-down censorship with the threat of incarceration and even death for going against the ruling party.
Brexit voters weren't duped by propaganda
Share Brexit voters weren’t duped by propaganda Dawkins was at it again over the weekend. The professor, while strolling around Westminster at the... 4 mins 26 June 2018 Dawkins was at it again over the weekend. The professor, while strolling around Westminster at the heart of the ‘People’s Vote’ (aka ‘Stop Brexit’) march, took the time to opine via Twitter: “Yes of COURSE there are people who voted Leave for reasons other than xenophobic bigotry or fading imperial jingoism. I’ve met at least four.
Why Mariana Mazzucato is wrong about the 'entrepreneurial state'
Why Mariana Mazzucato is wrong about the ‘entrepreneurial state’ The world is facing a number of very grave threats – climate change, air and ocean pollution, organised crime, cyber-threats, antibiotic resistance, pandemics, cancer, dementia, road deaths, persistent poverty and so on – all of which demand some form of intervention and leadership by the state. What is at issue is the way in which the state should intervene.
Can Britain build an innovation economy?
In an era of increasing globalisation being competitive is key. And in the UK – with the potential negative trade impact of leaving the EU – this is more important than ever. Though the economy continues to grow, productivity is once again falling – with the level only just about where it was before the financial crisis of a decade ago. Germany remains some 30% more productive than the UK; France and the US some 25%.
The French 'internet' - when state innovation goes wrong - UnHerd
The French ‘internet’ – when state innovation goes wrong The internet doesn’t have a flag, but if it did the black-and-gold flag of anarcho-capitalism would seem appropriate. The internet isn’t an entirely unregulated space, of course. The long arm of the law can reach into the furthest recesses of the dark web (if it can be bothered). But if anywhere comes close to the borderless, buccaneering, voluntarist ideals of pure libertarianism, it is cyberspace.
'The Inner Level', inequality and why sad is the new hip
‘The Inner Level’, inequality and why sad is the new hip Any half-awake observer of human affairs will have noticed that everyone is being a bit weird at the moment. Not simply weird, but angry, depressed, stressed, jumpy, sensitive, withdrawn, lonely, insecure, constantly checking their phone. Rappers such as Drake and Stormzy have turned all downbeat and introspective. Your dad is unaccountably furious about what’s happening in student unions. Richard Madeley shouted at Gavin Williamson.
Review: "The People vs Tech", the threat at the heart of the internet
Review: “The People vs Tech”, the threat at the heart of the internet In The People vs Tech – a timely and pacey read, weighing in at just 224 pages – Bartlett, head of the Centre for the Analysis of Social Media at the London-based think tank Demos, sets out six pillars of democracy, and how the internet and artificial intelligence threatens each of them.
Weekly podcast: what's the point of Prime Minister's Questions?
This week Ayesha Hazarika is joined by Miranda Green, Financial Times deputy comment editor, and Tom Hamilton, former advisor to Ed Miliband, to discuss their under-reported stories from across the week. Miranda raises the issue of rail nationalisation and why the public mood has changed over the decades, while Tom highlights the recent vote in Parliament against holding ‘Leveson part 2’.
From the cutting room floor: Marco Rubio's warning about war with China
For her latest audio documentary, “Taking on China: how the West can save free trade”, Juliet Samuel met and quizzed Florida Senator Marco Rubio. The two discussed China’s rule breaking and foul play, Trump’s trade war, and the distinct possibility of a future real war… Here is the full, uncut interview.
The cracks appearing in the digital economy's foundations
The cracks appearing in the digital economy’s foundations Recent months have seen a welter of embarrassing failures at big Silicon Valley companies. In early March, a design firm reported that Chinese counterfeiters had been selling knockoffs of its product through Amazon, and lambasted the retailer for lax enforcement. Two weeks later, it was discovered that Google’s YouTube Kids app, touted as a safer destination than the main site, was displaying disturbing conspiracy videos to children.
Weekly podcast: Could Nicaragua become the next Venezuela?
This week, Ayesha Hazarika is joined by Institute for Economic Affairs News Editor, Kate Andrews, and journalist and author of ‘Hired’, James Bloodworth, to discuss their under-reported stories, as well as their heroes and villains of the week. (You can listen to James discuss his book on low wage Britain with Tim Montgomerie in an earlier podcast.) James highlighted the recent protests in Nicaragua, resulting in the deaths of 26 people. Could Nicaragua become the next Venezuela?
How the online mob is inflamed by the 'digitators'
How the online mob is inflamed by the ‘digitators’ I’ve been thinking about an article written recently by our editor here at UnHerd, Tim Montgomerie. In it, he coined a new word: hegemonia. I’d like to propose one of my own: digitators. They’re the ones who turn the online mob really ugly. They, along with the mob, have a long and inglorious history in real life, but this is their virtual iteration. What we call ‘mobocracy’ is derived from the Latin ‘mobile vulgus’, meaning the fickle crowd.
Weekly podcast: Has surveillance technology gone too far?
This week, Charlotte Pickles is joined by journalist and feminist activist Julie Bindel, and UnHerd’s Peter Franklin, to discuss their underreported stories as well as their heroes and villains. Julie highlighted the lack of mainstream media interest in the sexual assault conviction of professional footballer Izzy Akinade, and named “Karl”, former police officer turned pimp, as her villain.
Join the team! UnHerd is recruiting an Assistant Editor
UnHerd is looking for an Assistant Editor. You will be a key part of our small team, helping run the daily operation. Your primary responsibility will be to commission, edit and publish written work, but you will also be expected to contribute to our audio-visual output, as well as working on the UnHerd newsletter.
The trials of flat hunting in London
“Generation rent” is now a staple phrase in the housing lexicon – barely a week goes by without a news story about the plight of hard-pressed millennials priced-out of home ownership. Just over a decade ago, around a quarter of 25-34 year olds lived in private rental accommodation, by 2015-16 that had increased to 46%. The doubling in size of the private rented sector since 2002 has, in no small part, been driven by young people.
Social media. What are we to do?
Social media. What are we to do? We take our smartphones for granted, as they effortlessly deliver computing power that is – astonishingly – already far greater than the “super-computers” of a generation back. With barely a second thought we share personal news and opinion and photos with networks of friends and followers.
This post is not about the porn star, Stormy Daniels...
Photo of Stormy Daniels from Exxxotica event in 2013. Via PA Images. I’m not sure Mehdi Hasan and I agree on a great deal (except abortion!). We come from completely opposite ends of the political spectrum but I completely applaud the premise of his new podcast – Deconstructed – launched at the end of last week with an interview with Bernie Sanders. (Not a bad launch guest).
Companies that pay the lowest taxes create the fewest jobs
When businesses pay lower taxes they have more money available for investment, and that means more jobs, right? That’s certainly the argument put forward by advocates of corporate tax rate cuts.
From the cutting room floor: Jack Jenkins on Christian Nationalism
Jack Jenkins, of Religion News Service, is one of America’s rising stars in religion reporting. He has extensively analysed the narrative and rhetoric among Trump-supporting white evangelicals, as well as scrutinising the President’s own words, and developed a detailed understanding of Christian Nationalism: the way that many evangelicals have appropriated American exceptionalism to create a belief that the US is ‘chosen’ by God and ‘set apart’ for his purposes.
Lessons from Italy's election, part five: The non-populist parties must adapt or die
The motif of monkeys who “hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil” is often used to depict a person or group that walls itself off from reality. European “ins” have been like those monkeys with regards to populist parties and impulses for quite some time. If Italy needs saving from the populist parties that swept this month’s elections, Italy’s “in” parties must drop this approach and begin to truly address the problems their country faces. First among these is migration.
Weekly podcast: The Cambridge Analytica scandal, the gender pay gap and a world-ending asteroid
Weekly podcast: The Cambridge Analytica scandal, the gender pay gap and a world-ending asteroid In this week’s podcast, I was joined by UnHerd technology editor Nigel Cameron and playwright and commentator Bonnie Greer. Each of us brought along a recent story we felt had gone under-reported by the mainstream media. Stories include, the wider issue of big data amongst the Cambridge Analytica scandal, the gender pay gap and a world-ending asteroid.
The wealthy should pay more tax – so tax their property properly - UnHerd
Council tax is a farce – the UK’s “property tax” only weakly relates to property values. Based on valuations that are 27 years out of date, top-band property owners have much lower tax rates than those in cheaper homes. On average those living in £100,000 homes pay around five times the tax rate of those living in £1 million mansions. And a fifteen-minute walk in South London can take you from a £2.1 million flat with a £700 council tax bill to a £400,000 flat with a council tax bill 66% higher.
Podcast: time to tackle the energy oligopoly
The "Big Six" provide 80% of domestic energy. Credit: Andrew Milligan/PA Archive/PA Images As part of #consumerVproducer week at UnHerd, we’ve taken a closer look a one of the most concentrated consumer markets of all – energy. Despite some increase in competition over the last few years, the “Big Six” still dominate, accounting for 80% of domestic energy provision. Why is that bad for consumers? Because their prices are on average higher and their service worse.
Weekly podcast: Is Corbyn being too soft on Russia?
In this week’s podcast, I was joined by political journalists, Jane Merrick and Andrew Gimson to discuss events from across the week. We all suggested a story we felt had gone under-reported, including the recent attacks on Muslim MPs, the beginning of Merkel’s fourth term as German Chancellor and the Spring Statement. And then we turned to the event of the week: the political response to the poisoning of Sergei Skripal.
UnHerd Head-to-Head: Is it time to end austerity?
UnHerd Head-to-Head: Is it time to end austerity? In our first UnHerd Head-to-Head, two high-profile economists debate whether it’s time to end austerity. Vicky Pryce, board member at the Centre for Economics and Business Research, and former joint head of the UK Government Economic Service, made the case against austerity. Liam Halligan, regular UnHerd contributor, Sunday Telegraph economics columnist and CNN panellist, argued for continued restraint.
Why you can't rely on the news media to understand... disability
Why you can’t rely on the news media to understand… disability This is the fourth in a series of articles looking at people, places, institutions or subject areas that the news media does not serve well. Once the series is complete, we’ll be polling UnHerd subscribers – asking which UnHerd author they most agree with. Twenty five years ago, I entered the twilight world of parents with children with special needs.
Nine reasons capitalism needs a rethink
The case for a sustainable and inclusive economic model is made persuasively in Rethinking Capitalism – a series of essays by leading academics and economists edited by Michael Jacobs and Marian Mazzucato. Yesterday, I talked to Michael about where capitalism has gone wrong. We covered everything from short-termism to cronyisation, inequality to productivity, trade unions to state innovation – and we also considered how it might be fixed.
Blog Posts Archive - UnHerd
Experiencing a Zero Gravity jet, near Florida, in 2007. PA Images. As we have pointed out here before, it takes a lot to shift Donald Trump’s politics from top billing in the Washington Post. But Stephen Hawking died today. Even with the Pennsylvania special election down to the wire, the Post knew there was more important news. By far the world’s most famous scientist, Hawking simply dazzled. His brilliance as a physicist/cosmologist. His startling capacity to speak simply.
Italy versus the EU establishment: now who’s being irresponsible?
Italy versus the EU establishment: now who’s being irresponsible? As an Englishman with relatives in various European countries, I’ve always been puzzled by the UK’s lack of interest in its neighbours’ politics. It’s true that fewer people in Britain identify as European than in any other EU country; however, even fewer Britons identify as American, and that doesn’t stop the British media from following US politics in extravagant detail.
The most insightful writing on the forms of poverty that blight our times
James Bloodworth's new book on life at the bottom in today's Britain. on how ten years of post-crash austerity have impacted different groups in different parts of the world. stat-and-fact-rich briefing on how ten years of post-crash austerity have impacted different groups in different parts of the world. A three-part examination of one of the most interesting political uprisings since the crash – the rise of Podemos in Spain. Here’s part one.
Back in the US(A)SR?
Life expectancy in America has now declined for the second year in a row. The reason? A significant increase in suicide, deaths related to opioid addiction and other “deaths of despair”. During the Cold War, Americans used to note that life expectancy in the Soviet Union was declining while that in the USA was rising. The fact that much of the USSR’s drop was due to deaths from alcoholism and other “deaths of despair” showed that freedom “worked” while communism didn’t.
Show More
loading
Actions
Is this you?
As a journalist, you can create a free Muck Rack account to customize your profile, list your contact preferences, and upload a portfolio of your best work.Get in touch with Nigel
Contact Nigel, search articles and posts on X, monitor coverage, and track replies from one place.
Learn more about Muck Rack