From heroes to hedgerows

Stories of transformation and hope

Author

Perspective Media
June 22, 2025

THIS WEEK’S DEEP DIVE
Jonny Wilkinson, reluctant messiah
BY BORIS STARLING

Wilkinson at a personal kicking practice session at the Toulon Rugby Club, France, 2013. ACTION PLUS SPORTS IMAGES / ALAMY STOCK PHOTO

Boris Starling profiles Jonny Wilkinson's journey from the suffocating pressure of England's 2003 World Cup hero to finding liberation and mental wellness in France. Through the lens of Raymond Chandler's detective archetype, he explores how Wilkinson transformed from an obsessive perfectionist who found only emptiness in victory to a man who redefined success, became an advocate for mental health and discovered that true freedom comes from letting go of the need for ultimate control.

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Hopeful histories

Peter Phelps argues that our obsession with historical disasters – from Roman carnage to medieval torture – blinds us to equally important stories of adaptation and survival. While acknowledging the genuine parallels between past collapses and today's crises, he suggests that history also offers hopeful examples of civilisations that successfully adapted to change, providing blueprints for resilience rather than just cautionary tales of ruin.

www.perspectivemedia.com/hopeful-histories

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Change can emerge peacefully and voluntarily, if only we can recalibrate our values as a society and map a more sustainable and equitable way forward

Hedge fund

Christopher Hart reveals how ancient hedge-laying techniques could transform Britain's degraded countryside into thriving wildlife corridors. Through a hands-on experiment with friends in Wiltshire, he demonstrates how traditional skills can revive "relict" hedgerows, potentially quadrupling insect numbers while capturing carbon and supporting biodiversity – proving that some of our oldest technologies offer the most promising solutions to modern environmental challenges.

www.perspectivemedia.com/hedge-fund

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Within three years, he had clocked an increase of insect abundance of 40 per cent, and an average of 6.7 more species of insect at each measurement site

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