Can leaders ever reform prisons without playing politics? Four things Andy Burnham could do
Lauren Hurley / No 10 Downing Street, CC BY-NC-ND The UK’s prime minister, Andy Burnham, is facing his first major test with the public over the upcoming early release of thousands of prisoners. These plans are part of the Sentencing Act 2026, passed by Keir Starmer’s government in response to an independent review of sentencing. […]
India’s cockroach movement: how satire became political power as youth protest forced change
As I strolled around the Jantar Mantar astronomical observatory in Delhi on July 28, the atmosphere was finally calm. Jantar Mantar had been the focus of the recent “cockroach” protests, in which tens of thousands took to the streets to push for education reforms in India. While police and riot control vans remained, life was […]
AI is flooding the online book market with poor translations – here’s how to spot them
Anton Dzhumelia/Shutterstock If you’re buying literature in translation online, buyer beware. You may unknowingly be buying low-quality AI-assisted translations presented as the work of a professional. Certain online retailers are being used to flood the book market with AI-assisted “translations”. Amazon is one such example, though the company seems to be aware of the problem […]
AI is making disinformation harder to spot – but we’ve found a new way to catch it
Do you ever see comments on social media that seem way off topic, but still manage to wrench the discussion around to divisive political debate? A discussion about the cost of living suddenly becomes an argument about immigration. A conversation about the war in Ukraine turns into claims about government corruption. It can feel jarring […]
The Shards transforms Bret Easton Ellis’s 1980s LA nightmare into a warning for the present
Ryan Murphy, director of the controversial Netflix true-crime Monster Anthology (2022-), and Bret Easton Ellis, literary provocateur and author of American Psycho (1991), seem the perfect match. Sure enough, Murphy’s new TV adaptation of Ellis’s 2023 novel, The Shards, for Disney+ is an exhilarating mix of teen drama, serial killer nail-biter and homoerotic cat-and-mouse thriller. […]
ADHD diagnoses and prescriptions have increased globally across all age groups, our review shows
The greatest jump in ADHD diagnoses was seen in children. Studio Romantic/ Shutterstock Diagnoses for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) have increased in many countries across all age groups, our latest review has found. We have also shown that prescriptions for ADHD treatments have seen similar increases across all age groups. Our latest review, published […]
Does more vitamin D in pregnancy make children smarter?
VH-studio/Shutterstock Vitamins in pregnancy are usually discussed in terms of a baby’s health at birth. But could the amount of vitamin D taken during pregnancy also influence how a child’s brain works many years later? A recent Danish study suggests that it might. Children whose mothers received a higher dose of vitamin D during late […]
The psychology of overconfidence: why excessive self-belief is often a successful strategy in life
Nicoleta Ionescu/Shutterstock People are overconfident, on the whole. Most of us believe we are more intelligent, more skilful or better drivers than the average person. But we can’t all be right. Such beliefs are not harmless. Overconfidence – and the self-deception that drives this excessive self-belief – can contribute to extreme risk-taking, failed businesses, disastrous […]
Museums face growing cyber threats but security remains an afterthought
Up to 1,500 items were identified as missing or stolen from the British Museum following a review of its collection in 2023. Flik47/Shutterstock In the last few years, some of the UK’s biggest cultural institutions have experienced major threats to their security. A report by the public accounts committee (PAC) has warned that such incidents […]
Dash for Ceuta adds heat to Europe’s migration debate
At a time when the debate over migration is drawing a great deal of heat, Spain has stood out in Europe for its liberal stance. Six months ago, the government of Pedro Sánchez opened up a pathway to legal residency for hundreds of thousands of undocumented migrants. So, when tens of thousands of migrants crossed […]