Virtual doorstep: journalists, social media and the victims of tragedy
May 27, 2017 04:50 am UTC| Insights & Views Politics
Some of the most powerful stories about the atrocity in Manchester have been told online: whether pictures of the missing, the videos taken in the aftermath or the hashtags such as #roomformanchester or #acityunited...
Are UK pollsters headed for another embarrassing election?
May 27, 2017 03:58 am UTC| Insights & Views Politics
Following the political surprises of 2015 and 2016, there has been much reflection and debate on the accuracy of the polls in the run-up to the impending snap-election of 2017. It is fair to say that, although perhaps...
Montana just elected Greg Gianforte, a man charged with assault, to Congress
May 26, 2017 14:48 pm UTC| Insights & Views Politics
Until just about 24 hours before the polls closed, the race for Montanas sole Congressional seat seemed to be focused on health care, Donald Trump and gun rights. Republican businessman Greg Gianforte appeared to be headed...
Meet the linguists: the new French government is packing some pretty intimidating skills
May 22, 2017 13:52 pm UTC| Insights & Views Politics
One of the most striking features of the recent French presidential elections and the subsequent nomination of a new prime minister and his cabinet has been the attention paid by the French media to the linguistic...
How World War I changed the weather for good
May 22, 2017 13:36 pm UTC| Insights & Views Politics
Culture has rarely tired of speaking about the weather. Pastoral poems detail the seasonal variations in weather ad nauseam, while the term pathetic fallacy is often taken to refer to a Romantic poets wilful translation of...
Beyond Brexit: ‘Global Britain’ looks to the emerging Anglosphere for new opportunities
May 22, 2017 13:33 pm UTC| Insights & Views Politics
What lies beyond Brexit? This is not just a question for the United Kingdom and the European Union, but also one that will reverberate around the world. One answer is the Anglosphere. Often spoken of as an...

Electioneering in the social media age
May 22, 2017 13:26 pm UTC| Insights & Views Technology Politics
Britain is engaged in a General Election contest and once again political parties are investing money, time and energy in their online presence. The Tories are ploughing cash into Instagram adverts and Labour is doing its...