A 1930s’ movement wanted to merge the US, Canada and Greenland. Here’s why it has modern resonances

| Insights & Views

A movement that wanted to merge North America into one nation and extend its borders as far as the Panama Canal might sound incredibly familiar. But this group, called the technocracy movement, was a group of 1930s...

Medieval Venice shows us the good art can do in times of crisis

| Insights & Views

In an increasingly polarised world, the arts and humanities play a key role in sustaining democracy. They foster critical thinking, open dialogue, emotional intelligence and understanding across different perspectives, all...

Killers with severe mental health issues are perceived as monsters - here’s why that’s a terrible failure of academics like me

| Insights & Views

According to an investigation by Hundred Families, a charity that supports and advocates for families affected by mental health homicides, each year an average of 65 mentally ill people carry out killings. Between...

Why morning blue light therapy could improve sleep and daily activity in older adults

| Insights & Views

What if a simple change in your morning light exposure could help you sleep better? Our sleep patterns change across our lifespan, and, as we get older, we tend to have difficulty getting a good nights sleep and feeling...

Trump’s executive order to dismantle the Education Department was inspired by the Heritage Foundation’s decades-long disapproval of the agency

| Insights & Views

The Heritage Foundation flag flies over its building on July 30, 2024, in Washington, D.C. Andrew Harnik/Getty Images President Donald Trump issued an executive order on March 20, 2025, that calls for closing the U.S....

Nigeria offers free caesareans to save mothers’ lives – but it’s not enough

| Insights & Views

Nigerias government launched an initiative in 2024 offering free emergency caesarean sections to poor and vulnerable women, in a plan to bring down the high number of mothers dying in childbirth. Aduragbemi Banke-Thomas, a...

African safaris and colonial nightmares: a visit to artist Roger Ballen’s latest show

| Insights & Views

Born in the US, Roger Ballen, the internationally renowned photographer, has lived in South Africa since the 1970s. He gained a cult following for his grotesque, surreal images of white poverty, captured on the rural...