By Nathan Abrams, Professor of Film Studies, Bangor University
As plumes of steam rise and dissipate from the grates of New York in the opening frames of Taxi Driver, we see the unsettled brown eyes of Travis Bickle, played by Robert De Niro in a career-defining role.
The second of Martin Scorsese’s successful collaborations with De Niro, the pair went on to make another eight feature films. Scorsese was a new breed of director, pushing the boundaries of “New Hollywood” – an era that broke the rules of the studio system to produce something rawer, darker and willing to explore…
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By John McGarry, Senior Lecturer in Law, Leeds Beckett University
A trial would not be fair if a jury’s decision about a defendant’s guilt or innocence was influenced by material they saw online.
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By Néstor Banderas Navarro, Profesor de Didáctica de las Ciencias Sociales, Universitat de València
The Spanish civil war lasted from 1936 to 1939, and led to the repressive Francisco Franco dictatorship, which lasted until 1975. Today, 90 years after the war broke out, it remains a traumatic, controversial part of Spain’s collective memory, and still weighs heavily on ideological and political debates.
Teaching it is vital, not just to understand the country’s relatively recent past, but also to lay the foundation of understanding on which civic and democratic education can be built.
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By Brian Ingalls, Professor, Department of Applied Mathematics, University of Waterloo
Marc Aucoin, Professor of Chemical Engineering, University of Waterloo
Modern medicine has made significant advances in cancer treatments over the decades. But all cancer therapies still face one critical challenge: how to target cancers without damaging healthy cells.
Imperfect solutions lead to side-effects: surgery and radiation can damage nearby healthy tissue, while chemotherapy can indiscriminately target fast-growing cells, damaging healthy hair follicles and stomach lining.
An alternative approach involves recruiting a surprising ally: bacteria. Some species of bacteria cannot survive in the presence of oxygen. They live in low-oxygen…
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By Human Rights Watch
Click to expand Image A resident of the Ngongosila community in Malaita Province, Solomon Islands views Virtual Reality content during a demo session. © 2025 NowHere Media/Human Rights Watch (Berlin) – A new immersive documentary spotlighting the climate crisis in the Pacific nation of Solomon Islands will premiere at the Venice International Film Festival September 2–12, 2026, Human Rights Watch said today. Academy Award-nominated actor and human rights advocate Mark Ruffalo has joined forces with Human Rights Watch to narrate the extended reality experience, “Solwata.”The 25-minute…
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By Amnesty International
Responding to the reported arrest of five people in police raids on two independent bookstores in Hong Kong today, Amnesty International’s Deputy Regional Director Sarah Brooks said: “This year’s escalating attacks on Hong Kong’s independent bookstores hammer home the chilling reality of what the city has become: a place where you can be criminalized simply […] The post Hong Kong: Police raids on independent bookshops reported again in new blow to freedom of expression appeared first on Amnesty International. ]]>
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By Emma Schwak, PhD Reseacher in the Department of History, European University Institute
Influencer culture is not a thing of the past, and yet the movers and shakers of post-revolutionary France are proof that writing lifestyle columns and trending is a centuries-old pursuit.
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By Felicity Boardman, Professor in Medicine, Ethics and Society, University of Warwick
Corinna Clark, Assistant Professor (Research Focussed), Warwick Medical School, Health Sciences, University of Warwick
Jane Chudleigh, Senior Lecturer in Child Health, Florence Nightingale Faculty of Nursing, Midwifery & Palliative Care, King's College London
“I think you always believe it’s never going to happen to me.” That is how one parent described learning that their newborn baby had been identified as being at possible risk of a rare genetic condition through routine newborn screening.
Known as the newborn blood spot test, or heel prick test, this involves taking a small blood sample from a baby’s heel to check whether they may have one of several rare but serious conditions. These are conditions where early treatment can make a major difference.
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By C. Michael White, Distinguished Professor of Pharmacy Practice, University of Connecticut
At the beginning of July 2026, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the first gene therapy for young children with sickle cell disease.
While this is good news for children in the U.S. born with this illness, the FDA’s approval may also benefit
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By Jared Bahir Browsh, Assistant Teaching Professor of Critical Sports Studies, University of Colorado Boulder
A generation of kids who grew up watching “Double Dare” dreamed of picking a giant nose or riding down the sundae slide.
The children’s game show, which mixed trivia, physical challenges and an obstacle course, is credited with helping to spark Nickelodeon’s rise to become the top children’s cable network.
Many fans may not realize that the massively popular show was originally…
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