The False Baseline: Broadcast Television
There was a period when television reached almost everyone, at the same time, in the same way, and did so with a consistency that now feels difficult to replicate. Programmes aired at fixed points in…
The False Baseline: High Streets
The image most people have of the high street is not abstract. It is specific, and it is familiar. A busy town centre on a Saturday. Footfall concentrated between late morning and mid-afternoon. Shops open,…
The False Baseline: Swallows and Sealed Eaves
There are fewer swallows than there used to be. This is not a matter of perception or nostalgia. The data reflects it, and the causes are reasonably well understood. Changes in agriculture have reduced insect…