Earlier this year, Michael Palin was introduced as the new President of the Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers)

There's an interesting article in the Independent newspaper today, which can be read by clicking the link.

A few interesting quotes on what Michael thinks about geography can be found in the article.

"For some reason, geography is not seen as a popular subject in school. It's seen as very unglamorous. Yet when I was at school, I can remember geography offering me the chance to get out and go on field trips and go on walks, and I loved maps, I loved atlases, I loved learning about other countries and places where things were different from our own – and that's all covered by geography."

Good to hear the interest in 'the Boss' too....

Ben Saunders is an Honorary Vice President of the Geographical Association.

Ben Saunders from Ben Saunders on Vimeo.

Follow Ben on Twitter @polarben is his account

A recent tweet by Ben lead me to "The Wilderness of Childhood" by Michael Chabon: an article from the NY Review of Books...

This contains an interesting exploration of the importance of place and exploration in children's lives: a theme that was also picked up in the Michael Palin interview.

All of this fits in completely with many of the projects that are currently underway at the Geographical Association, investigating local area using mapping, GIS and technology. These are certainly "interesting times" for geography.

To finish, a quote from the Michael Chabon article:

"Childhood is a branch of cartography"