Video: Interview with Zeitgeist creator Peter Joseph (2008)

An unedited Interview recorded @ Luminopolis London 2008 Se1 club

http://www.zeitgeistmovie.com/

Documentary: Witness - Greece: Protesting the protesters

This unusual take on the Greek protests centres on a small group of 'anti-activists' who think the austerity measures undertaken by the government are in fact a good thing for the crisis-ridden Greek economy. We follow Fotis and his friends in their Liberal Party as they mount their own campaign, while around them the masses gather on the streets for the huge protests that regularly rock the capital.

Documentary: Status Anxiety

Alain de Botton, born in 1969, is a Swiss writer, television presenter, and entrepreneur, resident in the UK. His books and television programmes discuss various contemporary subjects and themes in a philosophical style, emphasising philosophy's relevance to everyday life.

This is a wonderful documentary about an almost universal anxiety that rarely gets mentioned directly: an anxiety about what others think of us; about whether we're judged a success or a failure, a winner or a loser.

We care about our status for a simple reason: because most people tend to

Documentary: Inside Job (2010)

"Inside Job" provides a comprihensive analysis of the global financial crisis of 2008, which at a cost of over $20 trillion, caused millions of people to lose their jobs and homes in the worst reccesion since the Great Depression, and nearly resulted in a global financial collapse. Through exhastive research and extensive interviews with key financial insiders, journalists, politicians and academics, the film traces the rise of a rogue industry which has corrupted politics, academia and regulations.

Article: One in a (Sunday) Million

Original Article written for Passive Observers by Petros Iliadis - April 4, 2011, 16:20

By first looking at him, he would not strike you as anything inordinate, he however, happens to be one of the most frightening new faces in poker. Particularly if you're on the other side of a big pot from it. The face belongs to Alexis Zervos, or Johnny Dr@m@. At a time when Greece suffers from great lack of productivity, he is a deified tournament hero, feared cash-game icon and quite possibly one of the best and most upcoming all-around poker players on the planet. He's grown from known and respected to famous and feared, and he reaps the rewards of that status, on the table and off.

Having studied Economics at LSE and Finance at UCL, Alexis was most likely to become a trader in a financial institution, however, life, had different plans for him. Alexis started playing poker at the age of 10, but he was later introduced to No Limit Texas Hold'em playing Sit n Go's at UK based websites. At the time he started playing he was really into a show called Entourage, where one of the main characters was named Johnny Drama. Without having second thoughts, Alexis decided to use that as his nickname, having no idea how that tag would follow him in future. "I always liked choosing online names from movies and shows. I remember that one of my other nicknames used to be Vincent Vega (from Pulp Fiction)", he says.

Having cashed more than $400,000, success came with recognition for Alexis, when

Speech: Jared Diamond - Why societies collapse

Why do societies fail? With lessons from the Norse of Iron Age Greenland, deforested Easter Island and present-day Montana, Jared Diamond talks about the signs that collapse is near, and how -- if we see it in time -- we can prevent it.

About Jared Diamond

A globally renowned scholar and author, Jared Diamond finds answers to the massive "Why?"s in so-vast-you-don't-notice patterns in history. His bestselling and Pulitzer-winning book Guns, Germs and Steel looks at the reasons history turned out the way it did -- why European societies conquered the rest of the world instead of the other way around. 

His latest book, Collapse, asks

Story: Please mind the (communication) gap

Original Article written for Passive Observers by Petros Iliadis - April 2, 2011, 16:20


While experiencing the traffic peak of my daily routine, passing by Kings Cross tube station, I was reading a report analyzing how overcrowding on the Tube and our environment in general, can, and actually is affecting our behaviour.

The report was referring to that “shocking levels” of overcrowding that meant some passengers developed a ruthless “dog-eat-dog” mentality when boarding trains. I can imagine we have all been there.

My first thought was, I can understand why people can’t cope with it and retreat into themselves and away from their normal behaviour. Mass transit is a necessity in a city like London, I thought. I instantly looked myself reflecting at the window, the very first think that came in my mind were the lyrics of the song “Stuck in the middle with you”, but this time I did not have a “special someone” in mind.

There I am therefore, in a wagon that exceeds its capacity, noticing all these people around me. Suddenly the coach decreases speed and finally stops at Euston station. From my place I can hardly see a pregnant woman at her mid 30s, struggling to get in. She finally makes it and