Inside Porton Down: what I learned during three years at the UK’s most secretive chemical weapons laboratory

| Insights & Views

When I first arrived at the top secret Porton Down laboratory, I was aware of very little about its activities. I knew it was the UKs chemical defence research centre and that over the years it had conducted tests with...

Trump’s art of the deal horrifies Ukraine and its allies

| Insights & Views

Browse through Donald Trumps ghostwritten memoir, The Art of the Deal, and youll come across an aphorism which will go some way to explaining the US presidents approach to negotiating. Having established that he would do...

How to handle difficult conversations in your early career, from salary negotiation to solving conflict

| Insights & Views

Many professionals struggle with difficult conversations in the workplace, particularly when emotions run high. Your first performance review, for example, was probably uncomfortable. Heres why. What makes these...

AI-generated influencers: A new wave of cultural exploitation

| Insights & Views

You probably know what an influencer is people with large, highly engaged social media followings who have the power to sway beliefs and purchasing decisions. But you might not have yet heard of virtual influencers. ...

Friday essay: as the legacy media have dumbed down, The New Yorker has dumbed up

| Insights & Views

Like many, I entered The New Yorker through the cartoon door. The first cartoon I loved, and remember to this day, featured a New Yorker staple two guys sitting in a bar with one saying to the other: I wish just once...

From satire to serious journalism – how The New Yorker has shaped a century of thought

| Insights & Views

You may briefly regret the environmental impact of all that paper, but once its unwrapped its a source of anticipation. You check out the cover, read Shouts and Murmurs, and flip through the cartoons. You might even tackle...

Schools still assume students have a mum and dad who are together. This can leave separated parents ‘completely out of it’

| Insights & Views

In 1987, UK researchers lamented how schools were organised around the assumption that the nuclear family is the norm. Families who did not fit this model were either ignored (tactfully) or categorised as abnormal. Several...