New: modern folk tales from top scientists, economists, ecologists & activists
Knock Twice: is a new collection of 25 modern folk tales for troubling times by a group of leading scientists, economists, environmentalists and policy experts and activists.
Realising the limits of facts and policy alone to change the world, an innovative group of leading experts on many of the most critical issues facing us – from climate change to inequality and corrupt corporations- has written folk tales for our troubling times. Faustian financial pacts mix with magical apps and a natural world in uproar for a radically different and creative take on the mess we’ve got ourselves into, and how we might imagine our way out.
Knock twice is available here:
Knock twice, the paperback available from the Real Press
Knock twice, the ebook available from the Real Press
Knock twice, the Kindle edition and paperback
Knock Twice includes contributions from:
– a world leading authority on climate change and geophysical hazards
– the head of a UN inquiry into designing a sustainable financial system
– one of India’s most prominent economists
– the former head of a Cabinet Office inquiry
– several top environmental and social activists
“Stories are one of the most ancient and most effective ways of making sense of the world… When we try to live a good life in a world we seem to be simultaneously destroying, there is nothing more valuable or worth encouraging.” wrote Philip Pullman, on the first collection in this series, There was a knock at the door.
Knock twice takes the bewildering modern world and shakes its absurdity. Folk tales throughout history explore the extremes of human experience and help us make sense of them. With dazzling and original twists this new collection of modern folk tales explores everything from mobile phones to the refugee crisis, celebrity, climate change and the banks. Uniquely, the contributors are not just story tellers, but leading, independent authorities on the earth sciences, the environment, finance, economics, inequality, social policy and more. From tales of deeply questionable corporations, to mysterious phone apps and a natural world fighting back, Knock twice unleashes creative minds to run riot over problems that seem unsolvable in the impoverished arena of daily politics. These are modern folk tales for troubling times because we’re unlikely to get a better world without using our imaginations. Knock twice, open the covers and see what happens…
Knock Twice: 25 modern folk tales for troubling times
Cover illustration by Annes Stevens.
The God App – Nick Robins
Little England Gothic – Suki Ferguson
Joe and the wail – Sarah Woods
Bluebeard and Partners – Anthea Lawson
The Three Sisters – Leslie Van Gelder
Incoming – Bill McGuire
The witch’s cat – Sarah Deco
Puss – David Boyle
Chitrangada – Jayati Ghosh
Long Shot – Andrew Simms
The Drowning of Doggerland – Jules Pretty
The flower that made monkeys screech at night – Chris Nichols
The Baba Yaga’s mission – Sarah Deco
Of gods and men – Geoff Mead
The Spell – James Marriott
Tales I tell my grandchildren – Marion Molteno
Fletcher and Steve – Katherine Trebeck
There are alternatives – Ed Mayo
The days of the wolf trial – Hamish Fyfe
Promise – Anna Jonsson
Hinterland – Corrina Cordon
Those were dreams. These are plans – David Cross
The fox and the buzzard – Deborah Rim Moiso
The knock – Andrew Simms