About the Book
An empowering, uplifting set of practical and transformative solutions for remaking society, inspired by the Reasons to be Cheerful podcast
'Enthralling. I was left with such an unusual feeling that I didn't at first realise what it was, and then I remembered- optimism. I hope everyone with the slightest interest in the way the world works will read it' PHILIP PULLMAN
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Good news- the solutions to our problems already exist.
Great news- a once-in-a-generation appetite for change means we can make them happen.
The challenges we face are daunting, but in Go Big Ed Miliband shows that the scale of what is possible is far greater. We are at a rare moment in history when people everywhere see the need for big change. Meanwhile, practical and proven ways exist for tackling everything from inequality to the climate crisis - if you know where to look and have the courage to think big.
Ed Miliband has captured imaginations with his award-winning hit podcast Reasons to be Cheerful, which discovers brilliant people all around the world who are successfully fixing problems, transforming communities and pioneering global movements. From a citizens' assembly in Mongolia to the UK's largest walking and cycling network in Greater Manchester, from flexible working in Finland to the campaign for the first halal Nando's in Cardiff, Go Big draws on the most imaginative and ambitious of these ideas to provide a vision for how to remake society.
The future is not yet written. It's our job to write it. Go Big shows us how.
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'Inspired and inspiring, Miliband calls upon us to rise to our challenges with courageous boldness' CHRISTIANA FIGUERES, Lead Negotiator of the UN Paris Climate Agreement
''Go big' should be the rallying cry of progressives around the world' RUTGER BREGMAN, author of Humankind
*A Guardian, Evening Standard and New Statesman Book to Look Out for in 2021*
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(*WARNING - Contains genuinely big ideas that may inspire* Solutions cover- Green New Deal - Affordable Housing - Universal Social Inheritance - A Care Economy - Reining In Big Tech - Citizens' Assemblies - Votes At 16 - A Devolution Revolution - Fossil Fuel Divestment - Community Wealth Building and many, many more)
About the Author :
In September 2017, Ed Miliband and his co-host Geoff Lloyd launched the Reasons to be Cheerful podcast to explore the ideas, people and movements solving the biggest challenges facing society, through interviews with smart thinkers and inspiring campaigners from around the world. It has since had over 11 million downloads across a diverse listenership and was awarded Podcast of the Year by the Broadcasting Press Guild in 2018.
Ed is the MP for Doncaster North and was Leader of the Labour Party from 2010 to 2015 and Climate Change Secretary from 2008 to 2010. In April 2020, he returned to the front bench to serve as Shadow Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy.
Review :
A new book by Mr Miliband is an important political event ... mounts a coherent challenge to orthodox views, encouraging his audience to think differently and laying the foundations of where the country needs to go ... Miliband is clear that we live in an age where it is movements of people, not politicians, that change the world
Full of ambitious ideas about how to solve gigantic social issues such as working life, childcare and climate change ... This flawed, funny Miliband sparkles with an Alan Partridge-like flourish through Go Big ... Miliband never sounds angry. He doesn't even seem to get annoyed when the Tories steal his ideas
At a time when our problems seem insurmountable and our disagreements intractable, Ed Miliband gives us reasons to be hopeful. This book makes a compelling case we need to hear: if we are willing to think big, politics can be a force for change and a force for good
There's a lot of good stuff in here ... flashes of insight ... neat observations ... it is hard to disagree with much of what [he says] ... charmingly self-deprecating
By turns bouncy, chatty and confidential, and above all relentlessly upbeat ... fully of ideas, nifty schemes for solving the climate crisis, sound stratagems for encouraging more and better housing, for revitalising public transport, for loosening the stranglehold of the market and a whole lot more besides
Go Big is enthralling. I had forgotten that such energy and imagination were possible in a book that concerns itself with contemporary problems of politics and public life. Ed Miliband writes with a vigour and lightness of touch that doesn't conceal or deny the seriousness of the problems or the intelligence of his suggestions for solving them. I was left with such an unusual feeling that I didn't at first realise what it was, and then I remembered: optimism. I hope everyone with the slightest interest in the way the world works will read it, and act on the lines he suggests
Engages with thinkers, often working at a local level, who propose radical solutions to a range of problems, from climate change to affordable housing
Such a wonderful, joyous guest ... everyone must rush out and buy GO BIG ... I really did find it such a hopeful book ... [written] with great wit and intelligence
Self-deprecating and relentlessly upbeat ... so darned likeable ... demonstrating a boldness and clarity ... Miliband is right: we have devalued our social goods ... There's no reason why the Tories ... can't nick some of the sensible ideas in [this book] and make them their own
Argues that the scale of the crises we face must define the scale of the solution ... Miliband is a listener ... and he draws inspiration wherever he can find it: Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Icelandic female strikers, Paul Stephenson and the Bristol bus boycott ... [provides] the outline ... of 'a renewed social contract' ... set out with likeable energy
Inspired and inspiring for all those for whom the future of Britain and of the world is important, Miliband calls upon us to rise to our challenges with clarity and conviction but above all with courageous boldness
If you think we can just keep tinkering around the edges, you're the one who lives in la-la land. 'Go big' should be the rallying cry of progressives around the world
A hopeful and inspirational book for our depressing times. Ed Miliband, a politician made more human, engaging and wry through surviving the bitterness of electoral defeat, provides example after example from around the globe - some more persuasive than others - of how progressive ideas can work in action. Yet put them all together and the result is this: a vision of a better, sunnier world in which we would all love to live. Great fun, a great programme and a great read
Engaging, powerful and funny, Ed Miliband's Go Big is an urgent call for democratic politics to rise up to the critical challenges of the 21st century. Bringing together research, personal experience and political vision, Miliband makes a compelling case for fundamental change. It is time to make the unthinkable thinkable, it is time to go big
Tinkering around the edges will not solve the problems facing Britain. As we emerge from the crisis, we must create a bold new settlement, based on economic security, fairness and prosperity. This timely and thought-provoking book will make important reading for everyone interested in shaping that future
A post-pandemic world requires policy-makers to stop clinging to ideology, challenge accepted norms and be bold in finding solutions to the big challenges of our time. Go Big advocates just that, questioning the left and right of politics. At times it makes for uncomfortable reading but I believe it is a brave, essential and timely intervention as policy-makers start to redefine new norms after an unprecedented period of instability. It made me think and rethink again and again
Jam-packed with creativity, Go Big's courageous vision will not only inspire a generation to tackle today's most fearsome global challenges but provide them with the essential tools to succeed
By looking around the world at the people fixing and transforming communities, Go Big offers real hope for the future, showing us not only that the challenges we face are huge but that the scale of what is possible is even greater
With wit and compassion, Ed Miliband's inspiring call-to-arms gives refreshingly long-term answers to the short-termism and paralysis in our current politics. Informative and exciting, playful but practical, it's a brilliant roadmap towards a necessary national reboot
A funny, modest, intellectually robust individual, serious about the range of policies needed for transformation. Miliband assures us this is not a manifesto. To my mind, it should be
