TOK: Memory
-
USA abuzz with Meghan’s presidential plans
Is it possible to forecast the future? Meghan Markle may one day run to be US president – if you believe the rumours. Tempted to scoff? Many stranger things have happened, say the experts.
-
Harari: five lessons we can learn from Covid
Has the Covid-19 tragedy left the world a better place? With the end of the pandemic finally in sight, one of the world’s most admired thinkers has urged changes to ensure a brighter future.
-
#FreeBritney: new spotlight on troubled star
Are we all partly to blame for her troubles? Britney Spears skyrocketed to fame in the 1990s. Now, a new documentary asks whether her legions of fans are responsible for her downfall too.
-
Polar vortex puts world into deep freeze
Will there be another ice age? Many believe the answer is yes – but scientists say that global warming caused by human activity may have delayed it by over 50,000 years.
-
‘You almost had me murdered three weeks ago’
Is this a turning point in the struggle against white, male supremacy? By baring her emotions openly on Instagram, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez also issued a challenge to Republicans.
-
Jewish leaders stand up for Uighur Muslims
Is hope made stronger through tragedy? On International Holocaust Remembrance Day, the plight of the Uighurs and a new musical both remind us that genocide is more than a historical threat.
-
The woman who died and lived to tell the tale
Is there life after death? For centuries, people have believed that consciousness continues long after our hearts stop beating. Now a new Netflix series searches for scientific proof.
-
Lockdown could be destroying your memory
Is memory a muscle? Lockdown could be causing forgetfulness, but humans have developed a number of ingenious methods to counter it, from memory palaces to mystical theatres to “chunking”.
-
Zero: the idea that changed the world
Has the number “zero” done more to advance humanity than any other idea? Many mathematicians think so – for, without zero, we could not ponder either the concepts of the void or the infinite.
-
Pack your bags – it’s holiday time after all!
Is a change as good as a rest? Many families everywhere are thrilled about the return of the summer holidays as lockdown restrictions are eased and “air corridors” are announced this weekend.
-
Thousands join march as protests spread to UK
Could the virus help kill racism? The high number of black victims of Covid-19, together with the murder of George Floyd, has focused people’s minds on a history of shameful injustice.
-
Protest, plague, and the year the world changed
Is this 1968 all over again? America is living through the worst civil unrest since the assassination of Martin Luther King. But the similarities with that momentous year don’t end there.
-
World faces worst crisis since Great Depression
Will there be another Great Depression? Experts warn that the coronavirus pandemic will provoke the most significant economic collapse in decades. But others argue that the crisis is unique.
-
Row explodes over Amazon Nazi-hunter show
Is it wrong to tell fictional stories about the Holocaust? A new TV show about vigilante justice has been accused of sensationalising the genocide of millions for entertainment purposes.
-
One woman’s fight to capture whiff of the past
Should there be museums for smells? As our lives move online and artificial intelligence takes over, some think it has never been more important to preserve culturally important aromas.