Latest Stories
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What you need in a crisis: a woman in charge
In a crisis, is a woman leader more effective? It is certainly one of the most striking factors that seems to be shared by the countries that are responding best to the coronavirus pandemic.
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Stricken Boris Johnson in intensive care
Can government carry on with a sick leader? The tradition of covering up and carrying on is tenacious. But history shows that there is little to fear from a period of illness at the top.
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Happy birthday to Wordsworth the eco-hero
Was Wordsworth the first ‘green’? England’s great poet of nature was born 250 years ago today, and a new biography argues that the environmental movement owes its whole existence to him.
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Keep us safe – we don’t mind how you do it
Is herd mentality creating police states? Governments have been allowed to tackle the pandemic with measures which stifle personal freedom. Many worry that these could become permanent.
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Ice reveals mysteries behind medieval murder
Is our history written in the air? Scientists have dug up evidence in the Swiss Alps that shows how the death of an archbishop in the 12th Century led to a drop in medieval air pollution.
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Brexit, Athens, and a lesson from history
Can an ancient Greek general shine a light on Britain’s future? Coronavirus has suddenly made Boris Johnson’s career look uncannily similar to that of his hero, the Athenian leader Pericles.
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The sound of one million hands clapping
Should we applaud more? Last night, millions in Britain followed dozens of other countries celebrating health workers by bringing our hands together – an ancient and profoundly human act.
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Generation C: The virus that changed everything
What will the world look like when the pandemic ends? We might be far from seeing the back of the coronavirus, but the rest of the 21st Century will be defined by how we overcome it.
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No greater love: the priest who gave his life
Is sacrificing one’s life the most powerful act of kindness? Reports say that an elderly priest in Italy gave up his respirator so that a younger man, a stranger, could survive the virus.
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In the footsteps of Lincoln, Gandhi, Gorbachev
Is this one of those turning points in history? This was the week a British prime minister declared a state of emergency and called on a nation to come together to fight a deadly enemy.
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‘Time to consign the Olympics to history’
Should the Olympic Games be cancelled for ever? The world’s biggest sporting event is now likely to be postponed because of the pandemic –some feel we would better off without it any way.
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Lockdown! And the rush to stock up goes on
What’s so wrong with stockpiling? People facing an unprecedented lockdown are being called “selfish” and “shameful”, but humans have always stored up food to get through difficult times.
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Liberty, solidarity, and a new world dawning
Could the choices we make now, change our lives for years to come? The historian and modern seer, Yuval Noah Harari, believes the shape of our economy, politics, and culture is up for grabs.
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How to tell a black swan from a red herring
Is Nassim Nicholas Taleb a modern-day prophet? The Lebanese-American statistician, author, and philosopher predicted the 2008 financial crash – and the current coronavirus pandemic.
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We may not like who we are about to become
What do the classics teach us? As we enter the dark tunnel of the 2020 pandemic, we will face hard questions. Take comfort that some of our greatest writers have struggled with them before.