By Paul Whiteley, Professor, Department of Government, University of Essex
Donald Trump has lost popularity in the past few months – but how much is his voting base being maintained by media support?
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By Yerzhan Tokbolat, Lecturer in Finance, Queen's University Belfast
Moldir Mukan, Visiting Researcher, Queen's University Belfast
The UK and the EU have agreed to hit Russia with a raft of new economic sanctions after hopes of a ceasefire with Ukraine came to nothing. One French minister commented that it is time to “suffocate” the Russian economy.
Since the country’s fullscale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, that economy has
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By Adam Taylor, Professor of Anatomy, Lancaster University
If you’re a fan of the TV show Yellowstone, you’ll know the deal – you earn your place on the ranch by being branded. On the show, this means having a red-hot iron pressed into your flesh, leaving a permanent scar of loyalty to Yellowstone Dutton Ranch and its patriarch, John Dutton.
In life imitating art, people are getting themselves branded, but instead of using heat, they are using freeze branding. The branding iron is cooled using dry ice, isopropyl alcohol or liquid nitrogen, and then pressed against the skin…
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By Tim Luckhurst, Principal of South College, Durham University
In threatening to walk away from efforts to end the war in Ukraine, the US president is ignoring crucial lessons about the consequences of appeasement.
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By Ronan McCarthy, Professor in Biomedical Sciences, Brunel University of London
Rubén de Dios, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Biotechnology, Brunel University of London
Plastic pollution is one of the defining environmental challenges of our time – and some of nature’s tiniest organisms may offer a surprising way out.
In recent years, microbiologists have discovered bacteria capable of breaking down various types of plastic, hinting at a more sustainable path forward.
These “plastic-eating” microbes could one day help shrink the mountains of waste clogging landfills and oceans. But they are not always a perfect fix.…
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By Jonathan Kasstan, Senior Lecturer in French and Linguistics, University of Westminster
Anna D. Havinga, Senior Lecturer in Sociolinguistics, University of Bristol
Michelle Sheehan, Professor of Linguistics in the School of English Literature, Language and Linguistics, Newcastle University
A 2023 YouGov poll found that only 21% of UK adults can hold a conversation in a language other than their mother tongue. About half of the other 79% regretted not engaging more with languages at school, and more than half of all those polled were interested in learning a new language.
By comparison, some 60% of EU citizens surveyed in 2022 reported good…
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By Charles J. Russo, Joseph Panzer Chair in Education and Research Professor of Law, University of Dayton
The saga over St. Isidore of Seville, which hoped to become the nation’s first religious charter school, has come to a surprising end – for now.
In April 2025, Supreme Court justices heard arguments in the case from Oklahoma, which dealt with how to interpret…
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By Danielle K. Brown, Professor of Journalism, Michigan State University
After protests over state violence, news coverage tends to focus on negative stories that can delegitimize dissent. Over time, that often yields to more nuance.
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By Matthew Pittman, Associate Professor of Advertising and Public Relations, University of Tennessee
It’s not unusual in the social media era for young people to become famous. But fame is complicated – especially when you’re still growing and forming your identity.
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By Bryan Keogh, Managing Editor
Corey Mitchell, Education Editor
Kalpana Jain, Senior Religion + Ethics Editor, Director of the Global Religion Journalism Initiative
A federal judge in Boston on May 23, 2025, temporarily blocked a Trump administration order that would have revoked Harvard University’s authorization to enroll international students.
The directive from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and resulting lawsuit from Harvard have escalated the ongoing conflict between the Trump administration…
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