By Xu Peng, Postdoctoral Researcher at the Centre for the Study of Illicit Economies, Violence and Development, SOAS, University of London
South-east Asia has become the “ground zero” for the global online scamming industry, according to the UN, costing victims billions of US dollars each year. Scam operations are run by Chinese crime syndicates from fortified compounds in countries like Myanmar, which has been embroiled in a nationwide armed conflict since 2021.
The size of the scam industry has led to sustained security crackdowns in recent years. This has included a number…
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By Dominic O'Key, Leverhulme Early Career Fellow, Sheffield Animal Studies Research Centre, University of Sheffield
Denise Baden, Professor of Sustainable Practice, University of Southampton
Maria Kett, Professor of Humanitarianism and Social Inclusion, UCL
Mary Johnstone-Louis, Senior Fellow in Management Practice, University of Oxford
Nathan Lewis Bramald, PhD Candidate, English Literature, University of Liverpool
Rosie Robison, Professor of Social Sustainability, Anglia Ruskin University
Sam Illingworth, Professor of Creative Pedagogies, Edinburgh Napier University
Stephanie Palmer, Senior Lecturer, School of Arts & Humanities, Nottingham Trent University
From dinosaur extinctions to a Himalyan memoir, climate science and creative writing experts review some of the best new and upcoming titles to look out for in 2026.
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By Dave Cook, PhD Candidate in Anthropology, UCL
Olga Hannonen, Researcher, PhD, University of Eastern Finland
One of the first modern coworking spaces, C-Base in Berlin, was launched 30 years ago by a group of computer engineers as a “hacker space” in which to share their tech and techniques. Similarly, many of the people we first encountered in our anthropological research into the emerging world of digital nomadism in the mid-2010s were hackers and computer coders.
Nearly a decade later, we returned…
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By Hussein Boon, Principal Lecturer, Music, University of Westminster
Voice cloning technology platforms like ElevenLabs allow anyone to replicate a voice using just a few seconds of audio, for a small fee. These technologies are reshaping cultural and artistic expression.
In 2023, Canadian musician Grimes released a clone of her voice, saying that “it’s cool to be fused with a machine”. Similarly, American composer Holly Herndon launched Holly+ in 2021 as a voice tool that sings back music using a “distinctive…
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By Julie Meril Gardner, PhD candidate in literature, Nottingham Trent University
Writing does not take us away from the difficult and the painful. If we write with courage and with integrity, it can take us to the very heart of it.
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By Manal Mohammed, Senior Lecturer, Medical Microbiology, University of Westminster
Poor sanitation, stress and disrupted diets can reshape gut bacteria in refugees, showing how social conditions can leave lasting biological effects.
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By Christopher J. Finlay, Professor in Political Theory, Durham University
One of the main lessons of Arendt’s Origins of Totalitarianism is that we must actively think in the now, and try to grasp new realities on their own terms.
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By Adrianna Zabrzewska, Senior Research Fellow (Postdoc), Edinburgh Napier University
Toxic masculinity doesn’t stop at marginalising women and LGBTQ+ people. It harms straight men by discouraging emotional expression, tenderness, and connection.
As the TV show Adolescence demonstrated, the troubling anxiety and rage surrounding what it means to “be a man” can arise early in life. What Adolescence also reminds us, though, is that framing boys as potential threats is not the way to go.
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By Bird
"We’re not short of knowledge or courage in Africa. We’re short of recognition. Storytelling can fix that. It can close the gap between visibility and value."
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By Sandra Lai, Postdoctoral Researcher, Ethiopian Wolf Conservation Programme, University of Oxford
What’s the value of one animal? When a wild animal is found badly injured, the most humane option is often euthanasia to prevent further suffering. That’s what usually happens, and often for good reason. Even when the resources to rescue one animal are available, a rehabilitated animal brought back into the wild might be rejected by its group, or struggle to find food or escape predators. If it does survive, it may fail to reproduce, and leave no lasting mark on the population.
But every so often a single case comes along where one animal becomes evidence that intervention can do more…
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