One of Elisa’s English language students said that “Britain is the country where everything is organized and buses are always on time”. Oh, how wrong she was. With the bus and rail strikers, the government accuses trade union leaders for “making the public transport unreliable”. But perhaps they should go on strike, because it can […]
You are not so great Britain. Chapter 7: British Universities. Are they really so good?
We invited professor Jan Čulík, lecturer in Czech from the school of modern languages and cultures at Glasgow University today. We decided to ask him if the British universities, so famous around the world for their teaching quality, are really as good as their places in the rankings show. Turns out, not everything is […]
Meanwhile in Cuckooland 225
The Christmas season started with a bang this winter. The bang was big and loud, and took place in the Police National Headquarters. Luckily nobody died, but the explosion caused significant damage to the building. Luckily despite there being through holes between two floors, there was no structural damage, but the cost of repair will […]
You are not so great, Britain. Chapter 6: Trucking hell!
Our guest today is Mat Ireland, driver, podcaster, and writer. We discuss the topic of the infrastructure for truckers in Britain. You can find Mat: – on youtube – on Facebook – the Truck and Driver podcast is here and you can find his book here Related posts: You are not so great Britain. Chapter […]
You are not so great Britain. Chapter 5: British bureaocracy.
This week Elisa and Tomasz discuss why British bureaucracy is so dysfunctional and what can be done to improve users’ experience in contact with the government, banks, and other institutions. To illustrate problems when talking to automatic voice recognition systems, we used a fragment of a clip from a TV show Burnistoun: https://youtu.be/HbDnxzrbxn4 Related posts: […]
You are not so great Britain. Chapter 4: Home, sweet home. Tiny, mouldy home.
Britons are pround of being one of the richest economy. But are standards of living really that great? We lived in a few countries between us, and we can’t remember topics like “mould”, “leaving rooms unheated to save money”, “single glazing windows” and “struggling to fit double bed into the bedroom” to be topics of […]
Meanwhile in Cuckooland 224
Despite the economic crisis, there is still some money to be done in Poland. And what money it is – it would easily help to beat not only Polish, but even Venezuelan rate of inflation. So how you do it? Related posts: Meanwhile in Cuckooland 217 Meanwhile in Cuckooland 215 Meanwhile in Cuckooland 212 Meanwhile […]
You are not so great, Britain. Chapter 3: Britain is a world-leading democracy. Or is it?
Britain is very proud of its democracy. You can often hear soundbites like “world-leading”, “well-established” or “historic”. Sure, Magna Carta and other things were good – for their time. But it’s the XXI century. Is Britain’s democracy suitable for the times we live in? Can it be even considered a modern democracy at all? Related […]
You are not so great, Britain. Chapter 2: Britain’s Rubbish.
Britain is a beautiful country. Old victorian towns, beautiful landscape, walkable city centres. Yet it is all spoiled by rubbish. Litter is everywhere, even despite the fact that bins are plentiful and easily accessible – from the main streets of big cities to the most remote areas of Scotland. Why is it, that Britain can’t […]
Welcome to my new Podcast: “You are not so Great, Britain!”
Some say one should not criticize another man’s beliefs. But what I can do? It’s not my fault that the conviction that the NHS is the best health system in the world and everybody is jealous of it is like a religion for many Britons. So if you are not afraid your religious beliefs might […]