By Gibson Ncube, Senior Lecturer, Stellenbosch University
The film Rafiki is a charming love story that plays out in urban Kenya. It follows two teenage girls whose close friendship slowly turns into first love. Directed by rising filmmaker Wanuri Kahiu, it was celebrated as groundbreaking by critics and at festivals when it was released in 2018. But back home in Kenya, where homosexuality is criminal, the film was banned.
On 23 January 2026, after a lengthy…
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By Gemma Ware, Host, The Conversation Weekly Podcast, The Conversation
Amin Naeni, an expert on digital authoritarianism, tracks how Iran built the capability to shutdown the internet. Listen on The Conversation Weekly podcast.
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By Rikke Lie Halberg, PhD Candidate in History, Lund University
When Nazi Germany began its occupation of Denmark in April 1940, Greenland suddenly found itself cut off from its colonial power and thrust into the centre of North Atlantic wartime strategy. The US took control of Greenland temporarily, establishing bases and defence perimeters there to prevent Germany from using the island.
More than 80 years later, Donald Trump invoked that moment at the World Economic Forum in Davos. In his speech…
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By Sanam Mahoozi, Research Associate, City St George's, University of London
Iran is enduring one of the darkest periods in its modern history. Protests that erupted in late December initially over economic hardship have clearly transformed into a nationwide rejection of the Islamic Republic and a call for regime change.
Thousands of people have been killed by Iranian security forces, with human rights organisations saying…
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By Brett Robertson, Associate Professor and Associate Director of the Hazards Vulnerability and Resilience Institute, University of South Carolina
Winter storms create many hazards, from slick ice to freezing temperatures. People often underestimate how quickly conditions can become life-threatening
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By Ashleigh Logan-McFarlane, Lecturer in Marketing, Edinburgh Napier University
The ease and global reach of social media posts make them a fitting way to divulge secrets about a commercial dynasty – particularly when your parents are David and Victoria Beckham. In the days after Brooklyn Beckham took to Instagram to say he had cut ties with his A-list family, reactions from the world’s social media users took on a life of their own.
The Beckhams’ PR machine was largely silent on the matter, despite the size of the business empire. If sold, Brand Beckham’s combined businesses are worth an estimated £500…
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By Eef Hogervorst, Professor of Biological Psychology, Loughborough University
We may not need to completely overhaul our lives to live healthier for longer, according to a large UK-based study. This is welcome news, particularly as many people will already have abandoned their New Year’s resolutions.
The recent study followed around 590,000 people in the UK, with an average age of 64, over an eight-year period. The researchers confirmed earlier…
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By Alisha Ali, Associate Professor, Department of Service Sector Management, Sheffield Hallam University
Lisa Wyld, Professor of Hospitality Innovation and Leadership, Buckinghamshire New University
Maria Gebbels, Associate professor in hospitality, University of Greenwich
The future of work is being rewritten by artificial intelligence (AI) – but technology competence alone will not be enough to empower the workforce of the future. While AI has massive potential to improve efficiency, accuracy and productivity in the workplace, it’s less clear how it will evolve to foster the person-centred concerns that all businesses face.
The human-centred skills found in the hospitality sector (empathy, creativity, adaptability, kindness, resilience and cultural intelligence)…
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By Teresa Silverthorn, Postdoctoral Research Associate, University of Liverpool
Jonathan Ritson, Research Fellow, Geography, University of Manchester
Mike Peacock, Lecturer in Biogeochemical Cycles, School of Environmental Sciences, University of Liverpool
Ditches and canals are the underdog of the freshwater world. These human-made waterways are often forgotten, devalued and perceived negatively – think “dull as ditchwater”. But these unsung heroes have a hidden potential for climate change mitigation, if they’re managed correctly.
We know that ditches and canals have a large global extent, covering at least 5.3 million hectares — about 22% of the UK’s total land area. However, no one has yet mapped all global ditch and canal networks robustly, so it’s potentially more.
These waterways are also hotspots of greenhouse gas…
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By Oliver Kaplan, Associate Professor of International Studies, University of Denver
Americans are learning and doing the kind of work that civilians in war zones worldwide have done for decades: dealing with threats by organizing to help protect their neighbors and communities.
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