Briefing No. 39
What we’re reading
On the Greenwood Place Bedside Table
"Ultra-Processed People: Why Do We All Eat Stuff That Isn’t Food … and Why Can’t We Stop?" by Chris van Tulleken is an engrossing, fast-paced, and alarming, tour of the science of processing and the reality of foods that are no longer even faint echoes of the real food they mimic. Van Tulleken outlines what the evidence shows about the biology and psychology of eating in today’s world.
Not The End of The World
Dr Hannah Ritchie is an environmental data scientist and researcher at Our World in Data as well as the author of “Not the End of the World”. Ritchie’s TED Talk is a great primer for her book - sharing the data that illuminates a path towards a future that is good for both planet and people.
My Last 5p
In this beautiful radio programme, Matthew Syed explores how the effects of one seemingly small act of generosity can ripple outwards, creating a larger tapestry of consequences.
Gene Therapy for Deafness
Yiyi, profoundly deaf from birth, can hear her mother and dance to music due to a new type of gene therapy.
State of the Sector
New Philanthropy Capital's State of the Sector report is just out - exploring the views of charity leaders, charity users, and the public on where UK charities are. Key findings include:
- Charities prop up state services by £2.4bn a year
- Only 15% of the public think that charities are too political
- 59% of the public are not confident that charities are working where they’re most needed.
Sora
OpenAi's extraordinary text-to-video model Sora, can generate videos up to a minute long while maintaining visual quality and adherence to the user’s prompt. Be amazed.
And Finally… Blackstar
Eight years since David Bowie’s death, we revisited the blend of jazz, codes, brutality and drama that made up his final, brilliant album.
COMMUNITY UPDATES
Making The Invisible, Visible - Greenwood Place community member Andrew Bastawrous delivered his inaugural lecture following his appointment as a Professor at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine this month - discussing his life and career from a young boy with vision impairment to becoming an eye surgeon and the founder and CEO of Peek Vision. Watch the recording here.
UPCOMING EVENTS
The Pathways to Change programme is well underway. Sessions upcoming include an immersive masterclass in storytelling and a roundtable discussion on what it takes to end hunger. Do let us know if you’d like to learn more about the programme.
And…if you are going to the Skoll World Forum in April - we’d love to see you there! Greenwood Place will be there in force - convening events and curating the programme for our community.
HOW CAN WE HELP YOU?
Greenwood Place provides philanthropy support, advice and execution for a small group of strategic philanthropists. We take an entrepreneurial approach to tackling tough social and environmental problems. We work closely with our clients to find the places where they can make most difference, we support their learning and we partner with them to achieve real, lasting change.
The Greenwood is the place in Shakespeare's plays where characters go to grow, change and learn.