By Ros Williams, Senior Lecturer in Digital Media and Society, University of Sheffield
For Reform parliamentary candidate and former academic Matt Goodwin: “Englishness is an ethnicity that is deeply rooted in a people that can trace their roots back over generations.” By contrast, he argues, liberal progressives believe “anybody can be English as long as they sign a piece of paper and identify with Englishness.”
This is not a novel definition, and for some, it may be completely uncontroversial. It’s not surprising that some people living in England can trace their ancestors back many generations.
But attempting to define a particular “ethnicity” is also an…
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By Harold Lovell, Senior Lecturer, Glaciology, University of Portsmouth
Chris Stokes, Professor in the Department of Geography, Durham University
It’s difficult to forget standing in front of a glacier that is advancing towards you, towering ice pillars constantly cracking as they inch forward. The motion is too slow to see in real time, but obvious from one day to the next.
One of us (Harold) experienced this during fieldwork in 2012 at Nathorstbreen on the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard, which was moving forwards more than 10 metres per day.
Encounters like this are rare. Most of the world’s glaciers are retreating…
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By Ian Williams, Professor of Applied Environmental Science, University of Southampton
I grew up on the beaches of Pembrokeshire in south-west Wales. Visits to Tenby were my family’s summer ritual: sand between our toes, paddling in rockpools, strawberry syrup on ice cream.
But 30 years ago, I vividly remember walking along Tenby’s North Beach with my mother and grandmother. No crowds. No laughter. Just the hush of waves sliding over dark, tar‑smudged sand. The holiday postcards had gone grey.
At about 8pm on February 15 1996, the Sea Empress oil tanker missed her tug escort into…
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By Benedict Carpenter van Barthold, Lecturer, School of Art & Design, Nottingham Trent University
This is the challenge of the Kahlo legacy: the more ubiquitous her image becomes, the more its original and liberating meaning risks being flattened.
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By Katie Pruszynski, PhD Candidate, Department of Politics and International Relations, University of Sheffield
Despite the release of millions of documents, a growing number of people on each side of US politics believe a cover-up is taking place.
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By Taylor McKee, Assistant Professor, Sport Management, Brock University
Janelle Joseph, Assistant Professor, Critical Studies of Race & Indigeneity, University of Toronto
Lucas Rotondo, Master's Student in Applied Health Sciences, Brock University
As the 2026 Winter Olympics approach, Indigenous athletes reveal why using the Olympics to perform Canadian sovereignty is never simple.
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By Jennifer Mathers, Senior Lecturer in International Politics, Aberystwyth University
Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky, is under intense pressure from the US to take his country to the polls as early as this spring. Donald Trump is demanding elections as a condition for American security guarantees for Ukraine against any future Russian invasion.
Zelensky has faced persistent calls from Russian president, Vladimir Putin, and at times from Trump as well, to hold an election. His term expired in 2024, but the country’s constitution forbids…
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By Sangita Swechcha
Sangita Swechcha of Global Voices interviewed Mani Lohani about his long career in writing and television journalism, his impact on Nepali poetry and fiction, and themes that shape his work.
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By Jane Steventon, Course Leader, BA (Hons) Screenwriting; Deputy Course Leader & Senior Lecturer, BA (Hons) Film Production, University of Portsmouth
Water covers over 70% of our planet, so it’s no wonder that it flows through our storytelling. Biblical rain offered divine judgement either in the form of a blessing and rewards, or retribution and vengeance. In Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, Feste the fool issued the melancholic refrain: “For the rain it raineth every day.” It reminded the audience of the persistence of suffering in life.
Filmmakers worldwide have revered the visual beauty and the metaphorical value of rain on screen, letting it augment…
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By Michael Woods, Professor of Human Geography, Aberystwyth University
Charles Musselwhite, Professor of Psychology, Aberystwyth University
Political parties are lining up to talk about where they stand on the 20mph urban speed limit in the Welsh election campaign.
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