TudoRama
TudoRama explores the nature and practice of creativity in the arts, sciences, politics and above all in everyday life. Tudor Rickards is Emeritus Professor of Creativity and Organizational Change at the University of Manchester. Tudor studied chemistry and radiation chemistry at The University of Wales at Cardiff. Following post-doctoral research at New York Medical College, he returned to the UK to work in technical management before joining Manchester Business School. He has published numerous books and articles on creativity, sporting management and leadership, as well as fictional works involving the mythical University of Urmston. He has been influential in the de...
Mohammed Bin Salman. Review of ‘The man who would be King’
Send us a text
Mohammed Bin Salman. Review of ‘The man who would be King’
Tudor Rickards
The man who would be King is Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman, of Saudi Arabia. In his efforts to transform his country, his approach deserves comparisons with another globally influential leader, Chairman Xi Jingping of China.
The distinguished American political reporter Karen Elliott House has summarised her extensive study of the leader who is attempting to transform Saudi Arabia from an oil-rich traditional country into one with its unique culture, but accommodating western-style aspects assoc...
Assessing the creativity of AI generated music. I try the Suno system
Send us a text
Over the last few months,I have become involved in the generation of music produced with the help of artificial intelligence systems. The work has evolved from long-term contact and now Business collaborator Jonathan Levitt.
Johnathan is a Chess grand master, but my initial contact was coming across a book he wrote about the nature of humour. In case any of you would like to obtain a copy of the title is contemplating comedy by Jonathan Levitt.
More recently I came across his work applying AI systems to generate music a...
BBC 5 Live sometimes reminds me of the Haribo Ads
Send us a text
The Haribo ads have two adults pretending to be little children. The BBC5 live breakfast show also features two adults playing children’s games, breaking off from time to time to carry out an interview with a politician while attempting to be adults.
Bang to rights
Send us a text
Bang to rights
It has been a tense time in Tudor Towers, the new headquarters of TudoRama tunes.
I am setting down the disturbing events as I experienced them in the hope that they will be able to be used in my defence if needed.
My story begins on Sunday last. In some ways it was a typical day of efforts to meet the deadline of the international edition of TudoRama. This involved selecting a TudoRama teaser, and updating the daily news events.
The routine was interrupted...
A Glorious Victory
Send us a text
East Cheadle B is a fictional Chess club in a fictional league somewhere in the leafy suburbs of Cheshire. I may have drawn accidentally on experiences over the years as a member of clubs that took pleasure when they managed to pull off a rare victory against stronger opponents.
A Glorious Victory
I sing a song of a victory
Unmatched in the annals of our club’s history.
When you’ve heard the tale, you will agree
It was a glorious win by East Cheadle B
The Return of Manchester United
Send us a text
The Return of Manchester United
A message found bobbing in a bottle in the Irwin river. Believed to be the words of a terrace song.
Glory, glory Man United
Glory, glory Man United
Here we come already back on track
With Amorim as manager we’re coming back
Glory, glory Man United
Glory, glory Man United
Glory, glory Man United
With Amorim as manager we’re coming back
How I upset Catherine Jenkins, Max Boyce and Tom Jones in one afternoon
Send us a text
Of course I didn’t mean to. These are National iconic figures whose work adds to Welsh culture as one grounded in the musical arts.
The day of my disgrace started innocently enough as I prepared my weekly newsletter with its eclectic mix of politics, sport (mostly chess and tennis), and assorted personal gossip...
Calon Lan: A great Welsh song
Send us a text
Calon Lan: A great Welsh song
Written as a tribute to one of the great musical songs (arguably a hymn, but strong hints of a more ancient Celtic influence). In part, I wanted to see what an AI version will turn out like…
Seconds Out: Ode to Chess Boxing
Send us a text
Seconds Out
New chess verses written and spoken by Tudor Rickards
Queensbury chess is all the rage
Put the players in a cage
Hear the cry of Seconds Out
Win by a checkmate - or by a knockout
To Sophie Rose, from top to toes
Send us a text
Written and spoken by
Tudor Rickards
To Sophie Rose, from top to toes
Upon this special day.
With all our wishes
And love and kisses, this is what we say
The road ahead cannot be read,
How every much we hope or pray
Yours is the only future now,
and yours becomes the untrod way.
...
The decline and fall of Boris Johnson
Send us a text
Written and spoken by Tudor Rickards from articles in The Week, The Economist, and a Case study from Henley Business School.
The rise and fall of Prime Minister Boris Johnson in 2022, and the subsequent disastrous loss from power of the Conservative Government in 2024 have become one of the most widely-studied cases of political decline in recent years.
Refs
Bungee Jumping Boogie
Send us a text
Written and rather badly spoken by Tudor Rickards
possessor of two left hands and a wandering mind.
Lyrics planned for conversion into song by Grandmaster Jon
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fNM44t7mcBw
Bungee Jumping Boogie scrapes the rust from off your feet
Diving like a multicoloured human parakeet
Better than a roller-coaster, happy birthday treat
Your death-defying Present is the envy of the street
You crazy kid?
I’m crazy
It was a mistake your honour
Send us a text
Defendant's statement
TV Licensing authority v Professor Bumble
It was a mistake your honour.
A genuine mistake.
All my friends warn me that my trusting nature may sometimes even tip over into gullibility.
I have already lost most of my savings to people claiming to be in possession of a large sum of money in my name, which they will be able to release for a modest proportion of the fortune.
Donald, me and the BBC
Send us a text
The BBC has pulled off a journalistic coup, with a radio interview given by President Trump to the BBC’s Senior correspondent in America, Gary O’Donoghue.
For me, it had a special resonance with the time during which I examined the relationship between the BBC and the leader of the then British government, Boris Johnson.
That was to become the material published as Boris me and the BBC, which in turn suggested the title of this audiotape, Donald me and the BBC.
I have tried to treat the...
Could I have worked with Norman Tebbitt?
Send us a text
Could I have worked with Norman Tebbitt?
An Everyday Creativity audiotape written and spoken by TR
The question was asked by the diversity activist Simon Fanshawe shortly after the death was announced of the former conservative politician Norman Tebbitt, in July 2025
The Diversity By Design project develops a practical approach to developing cultures which are sensitive to diversity in ways which make conflicts more easily managed.
CaveMan Rap: The True Story
Send us a text
CaveMan Rap: The True Story
Tudor Rickards
Inspired by Jonathan Levitt and his team of silicon helpers
Way back before the wheel was there
Everything in the world was square
Then Caveman invented Caveman Rap
With a Caveman Tap and a Caveman Clap
He got too old for fishing and trapping
So he invented Caveman Rapping
With a click of a stick and his knuckles cracking
That’s how he invented Cave Man rapping
How to write a poem about Netanyahu
Send us a text
A recent article in a serious current affairs journal challenged its readers to send in any suggestion for a rhyme for Netanyahu. I took up the challenge but unfortunately failed to record the name of the journal.
Anyway, here are my efforts and a little background, a sort of bluffers guide to writing rhyming verse
(I won’t go so far as to describe it as poetry).
My first scribbled efforts demonstrated to me that rhyming with Netanyahu in English is far from easy. Here they are from my old...
This is Our Globe
Send us a text
This is our Globe
Tudor Rickards
A previously unpublished poem which seems suitable for turning into something special with more than a little help from my IT savvy friends ...
WRITTEN FOR TWO VOICES
THE ROUND EARTHER
THE FLATEARTHER
I IMAGINE THE EFFECT TO BE LIKE THE CROWD SINGING ‘ABIDE WITH ME’ AT THE CUP FINAL:
THIS IS OUR GlOBE
THE ROUNDEARTHER
The Earth is round, I’ll have a bet with you
What do you say? You know...
Rainbow words. How they are contributing to dangers to our civilisation
Send us a text
Rainbow words. How they are contributing to dangers to our civilisation
A post on the X platform recently set me thinking about its contents. It read:
Here in the UK it’s dawning on many of us that rainbow words like tolerance, diversity and inclusion have been exploited to trick us into acting as stewards of our own destruction, and that if we were a bit more prejudiced and racist we’d have a safer and more civilised country.
Post on X by @patcondell, 19/6/2025
True Start Coffee. A customer review
Send us a text
I review the product and packaging from the True Start coffee company.
I complete this review while finishing a cup of coffee from ingredients provided by the True Start coffee company.
Miracle at the Tennis Club
Send us a text
I bring the news of a miracle that took place at the tennis club which has figured from time to time in these podcasts.
Doctor Glycol, who has also featured from time to time has conceded that something very strange has taken place although from his strictly scientific viewpoint miracles are no more than unscientific representations of scientific phenomena.
I will let my audience decide whether they agree with Dr. Glycol.
The sad case of Laura Lupin
Send us a text
The sad case of Laura Lupin
This little story feels so bizarre I’m prepared to admit that it may be fake news…
Laura recently posted her contribution to The Times newspaper on the X website .
It reads as follows.
I earned more than £120,000 as an accountant my husband earns less £95,000. We are a high income household but only on paper we’re basically your typical Henry couple it stands for high earners, not rich yet and it’s a term now used by financial institutions to describe pe...
Wit and Wisdom Early June 2025
Send us a text
Wit and wisdom, Early June 2025
The halfway post
BREAKING: Donald Trump is reportedly demanding the FBI compile a list of everyone who uses the #TACO hashtag referencing "Trump Always Chickens Out."
Doc
Just heard that the government is banning Roman numerals!!
Not on my watch!
Me
Nice one, Doc. IV or IIII ?
They came at dawn. My nightmare begins
Send us a text
I awake to the rumbling of a large vehicle pulling up outside my front drive. My bedside alarm says 5.30am.
Had my cover been blown?
I had been expecting something every day for months since my messages to one address remain unanswered.
My pretence of ignoring visible security measures in a neighbourhood of otherwise securely-barricaded houses had always been no more than a hopeful option.
I retreat into the bathroom and out of my bed clothes. I dress in the sports kit I had set out for my...
The bromance of the year is over. Donald and Elon part bigly
Send us a text
Bigger than Hollywood. Bigger than Bollywood. The romance between the most powerful political leader in the world and the richest man in the world crashed and burned in the space of a few days.
Closest friends have always whispered that it was always a matter of time before, in the words of the song, they would have to call the whole thing off.
Why? The gossip sheets of Washington DC are putting it down to a clash of two of the strongest egos the world has ever known.
Are you a supermarket shelf-searcher
Send us a text
"We all know someone who avoids the items on the front shelf in supermarkets”. This proposition was put forward recently by a friend of mine who writes under the pseudonym of Shoab Molvi.
Shoab“ specialises in quirky puns of the kind which appeals to those with whom he shares his sense of humour.
Writing on one of his favourite outlets, namely X formally known as Twitter, he offered the insight with a photograph of one such shelf-searcher almost dislodging the items at the front of the shelf in search of the fresh...
Eco’s fourteen features of fascism
Send us a text
Eco’s fourteen features of fascism
In a much-quoted article in the New York Review of Books, in 1995, the philosopher and novelist Umberto Eco reflects on his direct experience of fascism.
Eco typically refuses refuses patronise his readers, which can make him difficult to follow. In one of his own books he advised readers not to bother unless they were prepared to work hard at it.
In this review, he approaches the notion of Fascism with a relatively few references. But he does explain one t...
TACO. An example of the dynamics of meme formation
Send us a text
TACO stands for "Trump Always Chickens Out," a mischievous phrase coined by Financial Times columnist Robert Armstrong in an opinion piece on May 2, 2025.
He was referring to Trump's pattern of announcing steep tariffs only to backpedal in the face of market turmoil.
Wit and Wisdom Late May 2025
Send us a text
Apologies for even more flubs than usual
TR
Stay up-to-date with all of Tudor's podcasts, blogs and current affairs commentary by signing up to our newsletter! Email everydaycreativityuk@gmail.com to sign up!Gary Lineker’s departure from the BBC: The uneasy relationship between sport and politics
Send us a text
Gary Lineker’s departure from the BBC: The uneasy relationship between sport and politics.
The uneasy relationship between sport and politics is demonstrated by the case of Gary Lineker, a former international football star who became the BBC’s highest paid sports journalist.
Linacre’s engaging style contributed to a high profile career after his retirement from football, which included widespread media visibility including a lucrative advertising contract with a crisps company...
What’s more boring than watching paint dry? Answer: Attending the AGM of a Chess league.
Send us a text
What’s more boring than watching paint dry? Answer: Attending the AGM of a Chess league.
This audio record of one such experience has two purposes. It is a summary of my attendance at the annual general meeting of Stockport chess league which took place on Wednesday, the 14th of May It is also an attempt at catharsis on my part of the experience.
I may have exaggerated some points in the hope of retaining your attention.
Wit and Wisdom April 2025
Send us a text
Doc continues his punning streak…
I taught my four year old son how to use the word abundance in a sentence. He said: Thanks Dad that really means a lot!
I’ve been meaning to mention this often-repeated tweet which seems designed to convince very dim people how they may be able to conceal their dimness.
"My friends think I'm a crypto genius, (I'm not) it's because I read WAGMI’s weekly newsletter (and they have no idea it exists)" - Every Crypto Degen
Republicans against Trump
Tu...
Battle of the bins
Send us a text
Is it me, or is the collection of bins beyond the capabilities of a householder like myself?
For several weeks, I had noticed that my green bin was not collected on the designated day, which happens to be Thursdays.
To be precise, I mean emptied of the garden and household waste it contained.
Donald Opens Alcatraz Trump Tower
Send us a text
The press waited in expectation for the latest announcement from Donald Trump. They had been promised sensational news which would be the biggest news even of this administration.
The fortunate reporters who had passed the loyalty test permitting them access to breaking news waited agog. Had the invasion of Canada begun? Had Israeli prime minister Netanyahu sealed the agreement that Gaza would be renamed the American eastern territories? Had Donald’s nomination for Pope gained growing acceptance by the Cardinals?
Cricketer and Philosopher Geoffrey Boycott wins Nobel Prize
Send us a text
The April 1 announcement came as no surprise to the many supporters of the philosopher and cricketer Sir Geoffrey Boycott whose work has been much admired in intellectual circles for many years.
The announcement cited his contribution to economics in general, and to his conceptualisation of the corridor of uncertainty.
The corridor of uncertainty is a term now popularised by Boycott and his supporters. It is based on his discovery that in cricket as in life, dangers can be warned off by playing a literal or metaphorical straight bat to...
What’s my line? Tennis tantrums down the ages.
Send us a text
At one level, tennis has a squeaky clean reputation with images of strawberries and cream at Wimbledon, smartly dressed officials and players following the written and unwritten rules of the game.
However, there is a dark side to tennis. Every so often a bad boy or a bad girl erupts on the court and into the media.
Perhaps the most celebrated was John you can’t be serious McEnroe.
But it’s also worth remembering Gregor Dimitrov, who was disqualified from the final of a match after smashing three racke...
Consciousness revisited. Book Review of Being you, by Anil Seth
Send us a text
Seth, Anil. Being you: A new science of consciousness. Penguin, 2021.
The nature of human creativity has been increasingly recognised as a route to understanding artificial intelligence, and the mimicry of human behaviours by the emerging chatbot systems.
Consequently, Being You, by the distinguished neuroscientist Professor Anil Seth, arrives at a significant time. As I read it, I became increasingly aware of the way in which it might contribute to the debate on Artificial Intelligence and its significance for our understanding of creativity and what I have termed everyday creativity.
Wit and Wisdom, April 2025
Send us a text
We continue the era of American liberation from exploitation by the rest of the world. I will try to squeeze other news and perhaps some with a little wit and wisdom …
The story so far. President Trump’s announcement of his plan to MAGA produces a substantial negative effect on stock markets and criticism from economists in an unusual show of agreement.
...
The Nipper-nipping Chess Robot
Send us a text
The headlines are striking. ‘Chess robot grabs and breaks finger of seven year old opponent’
The vicious act of nipper nipping took place in a demonstration event in Moscow. It seems that the robot had been programmed in turn-taking. Its human opponent moves a piece from one chess board square to another. The robot differentiates legal and illegal chess moves.
If the move is legal, the robot activates its move-making sequences, plucking up an opponent’s piece if its move involves a capture, then moving his own piece...
Defining a woman
Send us a text
Defining a woman. The legal case challenging the terms ‘woman’ and ‘sex’ in the equality legislation (2010)
April 17 2025
The case was brought by Women For Scotland, a gender critical organisation, against ministers of the Scottish Parliament. The case eventually reached the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom, whose ruling was announced this week.
