By Nicole Martin, Lecturer in Politics, University of Manchester
Ralph Scott, Leverhulme Early Career Fellow in Politics, University of Bristol
Roland Kappe, Lecturer in Political Economy, UCL
Across Europe, education has become one of the biggest dividing lines in politics, and educational qualifications are now one of the best predictors of vote choice in Britain. This is particularly the case for new parties that compete more on cultural issues, including Reform and the Greens, who attract voters from different ends of the educational spectrum.
In the most recent UK general election in July 2024, 18% of voters with no formal qualifications voted for Reform – two and half times as many as among…
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By Anna Walker, Senior Arts + Culture Editor, The Conversation
From our Oscars wish list to a novel created in the shadow of war, fill your weekend with these cultural picks.
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By Stefan Wolff, Professor of International Security, University of Birmingham
Marina Gorbatiuc, Researcher in the Center of Political Research and International Relations, Moldova State University
When Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the prospects for Moldova did not look good. But four years have now passed and, despite a relentless Russian campaign to destabilise the country, Moldova has survived and made significant progress.
It has, for example, progressed on its path to EU membership. Moldova transitioned from applicant to candidate…
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By Human Rights Watch
Click to expand Image The F1 Grand Prix at Jeddah Corniche Circuit in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, April 20, 2025. © 2025 Qian Jun/Paddocker via AP Photo (Paris) – Formula One (F1) and its governing federation, the Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA), should address the risk of governments using upcoming 2026 Grand Prix events to whitewash human rights abuses, Human Rights Watch said today. The Formula 1 Grand Prix season in 2026 includes races in 22 countries, including in Bahrain, China, Saudi Arabia, and the United States.Human Rights Watch and other groups have documented…
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By Ann Marie Creaven, Associate Professor, Psychology, University of Limerick
Chloe Boyle, Assistant Professor, Department of Psychology, University of Limerick
Srebrenka Letina, Assistant Professor, Social Networks
The people in our lives can protect our health – but new research suggests that those who consistently cause us stress may actually be ageing us faster.
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By Laura O'Flanagan, PhD Candidate, School of English, Dublin City University
Director Silvio Soldini’s wartime drama The Tasters is a gripping and deeply affecting film. Inspired by the testimony of Margot Wölk, who claimed in 2012 that she had been forced to taste Adolf Hitler’s food during the second world war, the film examines survival and moral compromise among those caught inside the machinery of the Nazi regime.
The film is adapted from Rosella Postorino’s 2018 historical fiction novel The Women At Hitler’s Table…
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By Alison Taft, Course Director of Creative Writing, Leeds Beckett University
Ailish Kate Brassil, PhD Candidate, University College Cork
Angela Dunstan, Reader in English Literature and Visual Culture | International Lead for the School of the Arts, Queen Mary University of London
Christina Hennemann, PhD Student Creative Writing / Abortion Poetics, University of Limerick
Clodagh Philippa Guerin, PhD Candidate in Refugee World Literature, University of Limerick
Edel Semple, Lecturer in Shakespeare Studies, University College Cork
Faye Lynch, PhD candidate in the Department of English Literature, University of Liverpool
Sarah Olive, Senior Lecturer in Literature, Aston University
Stephanie Palmer, Senior Lecturer, School of Arts & Humanities, Nottingham Trent University
Wen-chin Ouyang, Professor of Arabic and Comparative Literature, SOAS, University of London
For Mother’s Day, we asked ten of our academic experts to tell us who they think is the worst mother in literature. From serious villains to children’s book baddies, these mothers subvert every maternal instinct.
1. Mummy, Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman (2017)
Isolated, broken and wedded to routine, 30-year-old Eleanor avoids mirrors, not due to the physical scars she bears, but because she sees “too much of Mummy’s face there”.
Readers meet “Mummy” only…
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By Jen Harvie, Professor of Contemporary Theatre and Performance, Queen Mary University of London
Edward Venn, Professor of Music, University of Leeds
Jennifer Daniel, Senior Lecturer in Musical Theatre, Edge Hill University
Kiera Vaclavik, Professor of Children's Literature & Childhood Culture, Queen Mary University of London
Is opera dying? Do people care? What does it need to survive? Where will new audiences come from? Our experts assess the state of opera in the UK.
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By Beth Johnson, Professor of Television & Media Studies, University of Leeds
The eight-part remake attempts to revive the glossy melodrama of the 1980s bonkbuster while reframing its heroine for a contemporary audience.
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By Richard Youngs, Professor of International and European Politics, University of Warwick
The US military operation against Iran has demonstrated in the most dramatic terms the need for EU autonomy in global affairs. Responding to the situation, European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen has called for a new EU foreign policy to guide the bloc towards “European independence”.
But it is not enough for the EU simply to set itself against the Trump administration. It also needs to resolve a muddled “illiberal liberalism” that afflicts the way it has begun to pursue European autonomy. The EU can’t currently seem to decide whether it seeks independence…
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