By Kate Flaherty, Senior Lecturer (English and Drama), Australian National University
Amy Walters, PhD candidate, English Literature, Australian National University
In her eighth novel Hamnet, Maggie O’Farrell imagines the short life and tragic death of Shakespeare’s only son, aged 11, in 1596. Although it is not known how Hamnet died, O’Farrell attributes his death to the plague. She creates a visceral and affecting portrait of his swift decline and the powerlessness of those around him, particularly his mother, to save him.
A critical and commercial success, the novel’s popularity was aided by its connection…
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By Shelley Galpin, Lecturer in Culture, Media and Creative Industries, King's College London
Thomas Hardy’s final novel, Jude the Obscure (1895), was ahead of its time in more ways that one. Upon its publication, it provoked controversy with its explicit criticism of organised religion and traditional marriage, leading to book burnings and public criticism.
Hardy attributed the public criticism to his retirement from novel writing. He had already courted controversy in the…
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By Rabia Charef, Senior Research Associate in Circular Economy & Digitalisation, Lancaster University
Solar power has a dark side: panels are still built to be thrown away, and we risk creating a mountain of waste that locks away valuable minerals.
The world already faces up to 250 million tonnes of solar waste by 2050, as panels installed during the solar boom of the 2000s and 2010s reach the end of their service life.
These panels were not designed to be repaired, refurbished, or disassembled. Indeed, current recycling…
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By Ammar Maleki, Assistant Professor, Public Law and Governance, Tilburg University
Pooyan Tamimi Arab, Associate Professor of Secular and Religious Studies, Utrecht University
Iranians have shown a willingness to pay a devastating price for political change, as protest has consistently been met by the Islamic Republic with violence and mass killing. The death toll since Iranians took to the streets on December 28 has reportedly passed 500, with more than 10,000 arrested. Incoming reports put the casualty count much higher.
A clear majority of Iranians do not want…
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By Jennifer Saul, Chair in Social and Political Philosophy of Language, University of Waterloo
Tim Kenyon, Professor, Faculty of Humanities, Brock University
Obvious lies aren’t necessarily failed lies. They can confuse, distract, excite and intimidate a range of audiences. They can also be believed, no matter how obviously false they seem.
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By Robert Chernomas, Professor Of Economics, University of Manitoba
Ian Hudson, Professor, Department of Economics, University of Manitoba
Trump is the predictable result of the deteriorating economic conditions in the U.S. since the 1980s and the political machinations that brought those economic conditions about.
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By Barbara K Seeber, Professor, English Language & Literature, Brock University
Season 2 of Netflix’s A Man on the Inside finds Charles Nieuwendyk, private investigator and retired engineering professor (played by Ted Danson), undercover at Wheeler College.
The mission: recover the college president’s laptop. This might not seem juicy, but said laptop contains sensitive information about a $400 million donation by a tech multibillionaire, Brad…
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By Max Bowden, PhD Candidate, impact and influence of the Grateful Dead, University of Essex
Bob Weir, co-founder of the Grateful Dead, has died aged 78. His family announced the death on Instagram on Saturday, telling fans that he “transitioned peacefully, surrounded by loved ones, after courageously beating cancer as only Bobby could. Unfortunately, he succumbed to underlying lung issues”.
Weir was born in 1947 and grew…
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By Lukas Slothuus, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, School of Global Studies, University of Sussex
The US is sabre-rattling over Greenland once again. The vast island’s natural resources are back on the agenda, a year after then-US national security advisor Michael Waltz announced: “This is about critical minerals. This is about natural resources.”
Greenland is endowed with both fossil fuels and critical raw materials. It possesses at least 25 of the 34 raw materials considered…
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By Dan Plumley, Principal Lecturer in Sport Finance, Sheffield Hallam University
Leon Davis, Senior Lecturer in Management, University of Chester
At its peak in the 1990s and 2000s, Manchester United was the reference point in professional club football around the globe. It set the commercial agenda, dominated the game domestically and projected power far beyond the pitch. That era now feels distant – not because ambition has faded, but because competence in execution has.
Manchester United’s latest chapter, the sacking of manager Ruben…
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