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Just watched the BBC Arena showing of Martin Scorsese’s documentary on the 50 year history of the New York Review of Books. Utterly engaging–and reminded me of how much I have enjoyed long-form writing in American magazines over the decades.

Probably the first was Ramparts, long since gone, then Rolling Stone. The latter still does great stories, including the latest one on the “climate of denial” by Al Gore.

Later came the likes of Atlantic Monthly and Wired, whose 50-page, no ads profile of Bill Gates during the US Department of Justice inquiry into Microsoft was one of the most extraordinary articles I ever read on business.

With social media diverting audiences and shortening attention spans, I can only hope that the New York Review of Books goes on after the founding group pass on–and that future generations of editors like Robert Silver emerge to carry forward the good fight.

A taste of the Raj, with salt collector rim

Birthday card and candles

Had a delayed birthday today, with Elaine, Gaia and Hania. G and H brewed up a fruit-based cocktail that apparently livened up the Raj times, with salt crystals around the rims of the glasses. Couldn’t help remembering Gandhi’s extraordinary march to the sea, where he boiled salt water in protest against the British salt tax. Delicious, though.

Sat them down later to watch again the Grammy’s celebration of the fiftieth anniversary of the first appearance of The Beatles on the Ed Sullivan Show, The Night That Changed America, with Paul’s rendition of Happy Birthday being a highlight in the circumstances.

A focus group, snapped in passing

No place for a vegetarian

Cover stories

Up very early to be driven across to Cheshunt, in Hertfordshire, for a meeting of the Tesco Scale for Good Advisory Board. Great that Amy (Birchall) was able to make it, too. Fascinating off-the-record day, including presentations on issues around food security and the management of supply chain risks.

Then back to London for a dinner at Aubaine, Dover Street, with five people interested in the future of economics: John Fullerton of the Capital Institute, Eric Lonergan of M&G Investments’ Macro Investment Business, Kate Raworth (who came up with the notion of Doughnut Economics), Joss Tantram of Terrafiniti, and Markus Zils of Returnity Partners (who used to run McKinsey’s Circular Economy practice). A fascinating discussion, which left we wanting (a lot) more. Am pondering a push into the bubbling-under world of Breakthrough Economics.

Every so often an initiative comes along where you think, “I wish I had thought of that!”

When I think of the environmental issues that most concern me, one is the rapid growth of the great gyres of plastic waste and debris that are choking the world ocean. And now there is the Plastic Disclosure Project. I have no idea what impact it will have, but it’s potentially an exciting new element in the disclosure firmament.

PDP points out that: roughly 33% of plastic is for single use, then thrown away; approximately 85% of total global plastic used is not recycled; plastic negatively impacts over 700 species of animals and birds; and plastics can hang around in the environment for hundreds of years. Among other things, PDP will encourage the annual disclosure of plastic footprints and management strategies; encourage efficiencies in plastic use, reuse and recycling; and broaden awareness of plastic investment risks and opportunities

The  project is being developed by the Hong Kong and California-based Ocean Recovery Alliance. This focuses on bringing innovation, technologies, creativity and collaborations together to address some of the challenges that face the ocean and our broader environment. Two preventative solutions to the plastic waste issues are the PDP and Global Alert, both of which were announced at the 2010 Clinton Global Initiative in New York.

A new report on the natural capital cost of plastic in the consumer goods industry (a joint program with UNEP and Trucost) is available – and its findings are getting coverage in the business media.

I, for one, will be watching this space with great interest.

I confess I raised an eyebrow when I first heard that Jochen Zeitz, my co-author on the new book due out in September, was on the Board of Harley-Davidson – and is responsible for sustainability issues. But reading Time‘s account of the company’s evolving LiveWire battery-powered bike had me rethinking. It’ll be interesting to see how riders take to whining rather than throbbing, but has to be a step in the right direction