Antibiotic resistance is a growing problem, but solutions do exist – expert Q&A
Julien-images-videos-93/Shutterstock.com Bacteria that are resistant to antibiotics are linked to millions of deaths a year – a number set to grow dramatically. From hospital wards to farms, resistance is being driven by how, and how often, we use antibiotics. Dr Sam Willcocks, director of the Antimicrobial Innovations Centre at Brunel University London, answers key questions […]
Manchester – the city powering Andy Burnham, the UK’s incoming prime minister
Three months ago, Andy Burnham’s desk was filled with the business of running Greater Manchester. Buses. Housing. Policing. This mayoral region in the north of England is home to 3 million people and Burnham, a former minister in the Labour governments of Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, has been its mayor for nearly a decade. […]
New climate film triggers debate – here’s how to make those conversations constructive
Rawpixel.com/Shutterstock A new independent film called the People’s Emergency Briefing has been screened more than 1,400 times across the country in recent months. The 50-minute documentary, hosted by TV presenter and environmentalist Chris Packham, reviews and critiques the UK’s handling of the climate and nature crisis. After screenings, prompts given by the local screening host […]
First House: a visceral story about the collapse of a ‘perfect’ life and the imagining of a new one
Set in a suburban America, Avni Doshi’s new novel centres around an unnamed protagonist who thinks her world and her sense of self are stable. She knows herself and all that is to come in her life. She’s followed the pre-determined path of being a wife and a mother. She believes she has a marriage […]
How the trend for turning front gardens into driveways is adding to night-time heat
Thousands of front gardens have been paved over. 1000 Words/Shutterstock Warm sticky nights are becoming more and more common in the UK. Climate change is raising temperatures, but one factor that adds to that is often ignored. Walk down a city street and you see what would have been front gardens a decade or so […]
Andy Burnham promised to change Greater Manchester. Almost ten years on, how did he do?
Almost ten years ago – just weeks before he was elected as Greater Manchester’s first metro-mayor – I sat down with Andy Burnham and interviewed him for The Conversation. Back then he was making the transition from Westminster cabinet minister to regional politician, swapping the shadow front bench for a role that most people at […]
Could Count Binface actually win?
Pollsters recently asked a sample of adults in Britain who they would prefer to win the byelection in Clacton. The rather surprising answers showed that 33% favoured “comedy” candidate Count Binface, compared to just 21% who would back Reform UK leader Nigel Farage. The resignation earlier this month of Farage as MP for the Essex […]
Has the World Cup been a soft power failure for the US?
Hosting the Men’s Fifa World Cup is supposed to be one of the biggest soft power wins a country can score. When Germany hosted the tournament in 2006, it did so under the official slogan “a time to make friends”. It sought to transform its global reputation for being serious and reserved, presenting itself as […]
Melatonin may help ease chronic muscle and joint pain, new study suggests
Skorzewiak/Shutterstock.com Melatonin is best known for helping us sleep. But a new study suggests it might have another surprising use: easing muscle and joint pain. Produced naturally by the pineal gland in the brain at night, melatonin helps regulate the body’s sleep-wake cycle. That’s why this hormone is widely used as a treatment for insomnia […]
England defeat: maybe football’s never ‘coming home’
Another tournament, another agonising chapter in English football’s long catalogue of glorious disappointments. England were dumped out of the World Cup by Argentina following a capitulation that will echo through the annals of English footballing folklore. Having taken the lead just shy of the hour mark, this one really stung. But the irony is that […]