Why Hulu’s The Handmaid’s Tale failed as feminist television

| Insights & Views

Warning: this article contains spoilers for all seasons of The Handmaids Tale. Hulus television adaptation of Margaret Atwoods landmark 1985 feminist novel, The Handmaids Tale, has now come to an end. The series focused on...

UK funds controversial climate-cooling research

| Insights & Views

The UK governments Advanced Research and Invention Agency known as Aria recently announced it is funding 21 research teams to explore what it terms climate cooling. The money involved (56 million) isnt much in the grand...

How to design landscapes that enhance natural sounds and minimise noise pollution

| Insights & Views

Sounds are integral parts of any landscape. Think of the calls of grouse and curlew on the Pennine Moors. Wind sieving through reed beds in the Norfolk Broads. Church bells chiming out over the hustle and bustle of central...

Rashid Lombard: the photographer who documented both resistance and celebration in South Africa

| Insights & Views

The click of a camera shutter and the improvisation of a jazz saxophone may seem worlds apart. Yet, in the hands of South African photojournalist and cultural organiser Rashid Lombard, they became inseparable instruments...

A neuroscientist explains why it’s impossible for AI to ‘understand’ language

| Insights & Views

As meaning-makers, we use spoken or signed language to understand our experiences in the world around us. The emergence of generative artificial intelligence such as ChatGPT (using large language models) call into question...

How a postwar German literary classic helped eclipse painter Emil Nolde’s relationship to Nazism

| Insights & Views

Paintings by German artist Emil Nolde (1867-1956) were recently on display at the Musée Picasso in Paris as part of an exhibition on what the Nazis classified as degenerate art. At first glance, his works fit...

Kenya’s ride-hailing drivers say their jobs offer dignity despite the challenges

| Insights & Views

Many argue that gig work involves exploitation, as research and media coverage have highlighted. But that doesnt seem to deter ride hailing drivers on platforms like Uber and Bolt. In Kenya, in fact, many new drivers...