WILL STONE fact-checks the colourful life of Ozzy Osbourne
Innovative thoughts on thinking about thinking
[Davidboyashi/Creative Commons] 
JAMES CROSSLEY applauds a lucid biography of the German radical preacher who reemerged as a hero in the GDR
Prizes all round: the Bard hands plaudits to the Miners Gala, OT&JC, Joe Solo, Black Sabbath’s frontman and the Lionesses
Star cartoonist JAMIE BRITTON is in awe of a graphic novel of epic proportions that explores class, religion and globalisation via the strange cultivation of Ginseng in the US Midwest
GUILLERMO THOMAS is intrigued by a history of the Middle East that demonstrates how promising post colonial beginnings were snuffed out by Western imperialist interests
MARIA DUARTE recommends the intricate study of a high-performance and highly dysfuntional German family
The Spread Mind: Why Consciousness and the World Are One
by Riccardo Manzotti
(O/R Books, £17)
EVEN readers familiar with key concepts in neuroscience and cognitive psychology are likely to find The Spread Mind a tricky read.
Not because Riccardo Manzotti is a poor communicator of complex material or that he lacks commitment to widening access to the science of consciousness but because the idea at the heart of his latest book is so profoundly subversive of scientific orthodoxy it demands careful reconsideration of experimental evidence and personal experience.
Experience is key to Manzotti’s theory of consciousness. Conscious experience is an aspect of nature, he suggests, and has no special status as a simulation or reconstruction of reality.
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ANDY HEDGECOCK admires a critique of the penetration of our lives by digital media, but is disappointed that the underlying cause is avoided
ANDREW HEDGECOCK relishes visual storytelling with no respect for genres, movements or styles
ANDY HEDGECOCK relishes two exhibitions that blur the boundaries between art and community engagement
