While running an errand this evening, I found 10 Euros on the shop’s floor. Two thoughts crossed my mind. “Wow! That’s lucky. You normally only find small change.” “Who lost it?” After getting my stuff, I stood in line at the cashier’s counter, where a man was frantically searching his…

If you have watched this space in the past two years, you would have noted an odd silence. Odd even for my lazy and haphazard approach to regular updates, opinion pieces and the occasional long form item. On the Internet and in today’s world, two years is a lot of…

Round Table “Is there anything we may learn from the Global Middle Ages that may help us tackle Climate Change?” at the IMC 2021, 5th to 8th of July 2021 — Human-made Climate Change is an undeniable consequence and a fact of the Anthropocene — a dire threat to the biosphere of this planet. Yet opposite this threat, people are seeking alternative ways and means of life — more eco-friendly, less focused on consumption and the expenditure of resources.

A Call for Papers for Sessions planned at the International Medieval Congress in Leeds, 5th to 8th of July 2021 — In 536 CE, extreme weather events across the world disrupted human, animal and plant life to extremes. Whether caused by volcanic eruption, meteorite impact or any other cause — the drop in temperature, now called the “Late Antique Little Ice Age”, made an impact in both human memory as well…

Deadline Extended! In the course of history, rivers could be anything: cultural landscapes like the Rhine. They can be lifelines of entire countries such as the Nile in Egypt or the Thames in England. Sometimes rivers also become landmarks of history. Sometimes they formed borders between two or more (dominion)…

Part III of the “If I were to run shop…” Series — Everybody asks me to start with “Why”? At every turn of the road, this question is terribly en vogue. You have to have purpose in everything you do. Marketers tell me that people don’t buy products, they buy purpose, they follow purpose. Everybody strives to have a purpose. And what…

The Lack of Space — If you think of the countryside, there is usually one association that most of us share: Space. Lots of Space. Plenty of it. And it’s not just the space between buildings. It’s the space between villages, the space between towns, the sheer distance between one place to the next. …

A Big Idea for 2019 — “What are your predictions for 2019?” That question in an email by LinkedIn caught me a bit off guard. …

Part II of the “If I were to run shop…” series — Recently I wrote a small piece on how I would run things if I were to run shop. Since then I have been thinking a lot about the idea of running shop and had some great discussions on the topic. Here are some more thoughts on working hours. Just a…