Read Stories that Inspire Ideas!
- Forever Bond: Rumours are rife that the next actor to play the iconic 007 super-spy, James Bond, may not be Aaron Taylor-Johnson — who’s still the bookies’ favourite with 5/6 odds. Several big-name actors in the running include Henry Cavill, Paul Mescal, and Tom Hardy.
- The Woman Who Made Van Gogh: Famously ignored during his lifetime, Vincent van Gogh made his name posthumously with the help of one woman: Joanna van Gogh-Bonger, the widow of his brother, Theo van Gogh. Jo van Gogh spent the next 25 years promoting her brother-in-law’s unconventional paintings according to her husband’s last wishes, who wanted them to be ‘seen and appreciated as much as possible.’ She struck gold by deciding to unite van Gogh’s art with his private emotional turmoil; something that resonated with the critics.
- Musk’s Misinformation Exposes a Bigger Worry: Trump-backer Elon Musk claimed ‘Michigan has more registered voters than eligible citizens!?’ in a bid to set the scene for possible voter fraud allegations. A bigger concern is that removing ineligible voters from the register sometimes removes eligible ones too and contributes to voter suppression.
- All Past and No Future? This week, King Charles III and Prime Minister Keir Starmer are in Samoa for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM). Notably, some big names are absent from the summit. Indian PM Narendra Modi and South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa have instead opted to attend the BRICS summit in Kazan, Russia. With talk of ‘reparations’ at an estimated £18 trillion and increasing calls for sovereignty, a clear message is being sent: the Empire days are over.
- Real or Fake? Starting next week, Google will add a disclosure tag ‘Edited with Google AI,’ to indicate if an image is part synthetic. Critics argue this is not enough for transparency. Most people never scroll to the bottom to see the metadata details, leaving the problem of identifying fake images intact.
- Is Philosophy the New Super-Subject? Daniel Kebede argues that difficult topics, such as the Israel-Gaza war, can be meaningfully discussed through philosophy. Kebede, who is the leader of the UK’s biggest education union, believes that embedding Philosophy into the school curriculum can help with critical thinking skills and encourage healthy debate. Philosophy teaches us to be critical and careful with our assumptions, an invaluable tool in the age of misinformation and fake news.
- Death and the Holidays: A new study has identified peak times for heightened suicide risk: Mondays and New Year’s Day. Social isolation during the holidays, increased work pressure, and weekend alcohol drinking are possible factors that contribute to elevated suicidal tendencies — especially in men.
That’s all from us this week. See you Next Friday!
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