Culture
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Instagram ban for Love Island’s Molly-Mae
Are influencers undermining democracy? Molly-Mae is the latest to be censured for dishonest Instagram posts, yet more and more young people are turning to celebrities for information.
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Controversial film Joker set for bumper Baftas
Is Joker immoral? Now poised for ample awards, the deeply troubling 2019 film immediately inflamed debate over its depiction of extreme violence and worries about copycat behaviour.
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Flying reindeer and hallucinations in Lapland
Do we need to know where our myths come from? As Christmas Day approaches, we examine the mysterious origins of that much-beloved, white-bearded, reindeer-flying, gift-giver: Santa Claus.
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Record as five black women win beauty crowns
Is this progress? Five black women now hold all the world’s top beauty titles, a development which is being hailed despite the troubled histories and controversial values of pageants.
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Don’t lie about Christmas, warn psychologists
Should we stop telling children the Christmas myth is true? Santa Claus, the chimney and the reindeer: it is the story we all grew up with. But some experts argue these lies can be harmful.
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Baby Yoda takes the internet by storm
Is cuteness a science? The ancient, alien sage has been reborn as an infant in a new Star Wars spin-off. One doctor says that our frenzied reaction to Baby Yoda has a scientific explanation.
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Hidden meaning of The Tiger Who Came to Tea
Is it literature or just a great story? The Tiger Who Came to Tea by Judith Kerr will become a TV film, with an all-star cast, this Christmas. Critics say it is a powerfully symbolic tale.
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Man eats the world’s most expensive banana
Can a piece of fruit stuck on a wall be art? At an exhibition in Miami, an artist duct-tapes a banana to a wall and sells it for £91,000 — only for another artist to come along and eat it.
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The fascinating, undying power of curiosity
Could curiosity be the most important human attribute? It lets us transform chaos into questions, boredom into wisdom, and allows us to find pleasure in the mysteries of the Universe.
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‘Why austere Advent beats cheesy Christmas’
Is Advent better than Christmas? The season of Advent has officially begun and will continue until midnight on Christmas Eve. Some say the anticipation is better than Christmas Day itself.
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Viking hoard lands treasure hunters in jail
Who owns buried treasure? On Friday, two men were sent to jail for trying to sell an amazing 1,100-year-old stash of Anglo-Saxon coins and jewellery. But to whom does it really belong?
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The fight to save a continent with emojis
Could a joyous new set of symbols reverse centuries of pessimism about Africa? One young, graphic design student set out to do just that. Against all odds, he is now on the brink of success.
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Stars, signs and a path across the Sun
Is there any truth to astrology? For the last time this decade, Mercury has passed in front of the Sun. It has special significance for a growing number of star-gazing, millennial mystics.
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Big ideas hit prime time in His Dark Materials
Are dust and dæmons fiction or fact? A new book about consciousness argues that the ideas behind Philip Pullman’s books and new TV series maybe closer to reality than you might think.
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#MeToo rewrite is a turkey, critics fume
Is ‘wokeness’ destroying Christmas? John Legend has rewritten controversial lyrics from Baby, It’s Cold Outside for the modern era. It’s not the only Christmas song to come under fire.