Category: The Conversation – UK

Source: The Conversation – UK – By Belinda Zakrzewska, Assistant Professor of Marketing, University of Birmingham

After days of controversy in which Donald Trump complained about the acts and said he would not attend, and alternative “all-American” entertainment was lined up, Puerto Rican rapper Bad Bunny took to the stage of the much-hyped halftime show of Sunday’s Super Bowl.

Expectations were high, a fact reflected in the unprecedented number of viewers who tuned in. Bad Bunny’s show surpassed 135.4 million views, exceeding Kendrick Lamar’s 133.5 million in 2025 and Michael Jackson’s 133.4 million in 1993.

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Read more:
Bad Bunny is the latest product of political rage — how pop culture became the front line of American politics

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Media coverage framed the event primarily as a celebration of diversity, fuelling a backlash from Donald Trump supporters and conservative commentators. The criticism targeted Bad Bunny not only for his outspoken opposition to the Trump administration, but also for claims that he was “not an American artist” – ignoring Puerto Rico’s status as a US territory. Bad Bunny’s performance demonstrated how authenticity can be produced through anti-colonial activism.

While authenticity is often regarded as something real, true or genuine, it is defined by a relational quality that can emerge through a person’s behaviour in three ways: through connections to people or place; conformity to, or disruption of, conventions, and consistency between message and action. We look at how Bad Bunny displayed all three at the Super Bowl.

1. Authenticity as connection

This was evident in the presence of sugar cane on stage, a crop that shaped the colonial economies of the Caribbean. Plantations were owned by colonisers and sustained through the violent exploitation of Indigenous people and transatlantic enslaved Africans. By foregrounding sugar cane, the performance exposed the foundations of colonial wealth and reclaimed a symbol of oppression as historical truth rather than romanticised memory.

The presence of Puerto Rican icon Ricky Martin strengthened this sense of connection when he performed Bad Bunny’s Lo Que Le Pasó A Hawaii. Through its lyrics, the song cautions Puerto Ricans against relinquishing their cultural identity amid pressure to assimilate into the influence of the US. Martin’s performance underscored the message, highlighting cultural preservation as an essential form of anti-colonial resistance

Lady Gaga added a powerful layer of symbolism to the performance. Her light blue dress referenced the original 1895 design of the Puerto Rican flag before its shade was darkened to align with the US flag. She adorned it with a red hibiscus, a national emblem of pride and resistance, alongside white flowers. Together, these elements echoed the colours of the Puerto Rican flag. Gaga embodied respect, participation and solidarity rather than segregation or erasure.

2. Authenticity as conformity

Artists often simultaneously conform to and break rules, and Bad Bunny mastered that tension. As a Puerto Rican artist rising within an industry that frequently pressures performers to abandon their roots, he instead created a hybrid cultural space: a Spanish-language Super Bowl halftime show. He operated within the system while disrupting assumptions and expectations that English must dominate and that mainstream icons should fit a narrow cultural mould.

Bad Bunny further disrupted the dominant narrative that reduces “America” to the US, instead acknowledging the full geography of the Americas. After declaring “God bless America”, he proceeded to list countries from the southernmost to the northern regions of the continent.

By naming countries across the Americas, Bad Bunny also inverted the conventional geopolitical hierarchy. The gesture echoed Uruguayan artist Joaquín Torres-García’s famous painting América Invertida (Inverted America) and his assertion that “the south is our north”, challenging the idea that cultural or political legitimacy must flow from the so‑called north, and rejecting the aspiration to emulate it.

3. Authenticity as consistency

Consistency appeared through callbacks to Bad Bunny’s longstanding activism. The lamppost explosion before performing El Apagón directly referenced the 2022 song’s music video, which functions as a documentary critiquing infrastructure neglect and the privatisation of electricity by North American companies. This moment connected entertainment to colonial reality for Puerto Ricans, reinforcing how Bad Bunny refuses to separate his art from the colonial conditions affecting his homeland.

The brief appearance of El Sapo Concho, the unofficial mascot of his latest album, added another layer of symbolic continuity. Nearly driven to extinction through centuries of ecological disruption tied to colonial extraction of resources, the Puerto Rican crested toad has become a visual shorthand for survival against structural harm. Its presence, even for a moment, served as a reminder that colonialism’s impact is environmental as much as cultural, and invoked themes of survival and resistance against imposed systems.

The same idea emerged when Bad Bunny presented a Grammy to a younger version of himself, reinforcing his phrase: “If I’m here, it’s because I always believed in myself.” In a world where people from colonised nations face discrimination, exclusion, oppression and marginalisation, many came to view the culture of their colonisers as a path to transcend those barriers. Thus, Bad Bunny’s gesture reclaimed self-belief as an act of defiance. By centring identity rather than imitation, Bad Bunny asserted that authenticity, not mimicry, is the most powerful form of anti-colonial refusal.

This is America

At the end of the performance, a flashing billboard read: “The only thing more powerful than hate is love.” Bad Bunny held a football inscribed with the words “Together, We Are America”.

This proposed a pan-American ideal anchored in solidarity rather than domination, emphasising collaboration over hierarchy. Hate thrives on isolation, but this act created a unifying vision. Through symbols of collective resilience, Bad Bunny framed authenticity as anti-colonial activism grounded in love, memory and community.

Overall, these visuals were intentional, aligning with years of public statements, music and community engagement. Each element reinforced a consistent narrative of resistance, showing that authenticity is not just performance but the culmination of sustained anti-colonial activism.

By embedding history, symbolism and personal conviction into every moment, Bad Bunny demonstrated that art can be a deliberate vessel for political and cultural action grounded in love, tolerance and inclusion.

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Flavia Cardoso received funding from the Chilean Government (Fondecyt 2016) and the Luksic Foundation in 2022.

Belinda Zakrzewska and Jannsen Santana do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

– ref. How Bad Bunny brought activism to the Super Bowl stage – https://theconversation.com/how-bad-bunny-brought-activism-to-the-super-bowl-stage-275599

Source: The Conversation – UK – By Ravindra Jayaratne, Reader in Coastal Engineering, University of East London

More than 1,000 properties flooded in London in 2021, resulting in insurance losses of more than £281 million. Record-breaking floods continue to hit the UK.

In the capital, 13% of properties have been classed as having a high or medium risk of flooding. Danger-to-life warnings could soon become a reality, especially for people living in east London on low-lying land next to the river Thames.

Boroughs like Tower Hamlets, Newham and Hackney are built on former marshland. These areas would have originally absorbed water naturally, but have been used for urban development. More than 85% of London marshland was lost during the 20th century. London has lost the natural buffer that used to help water drain away. As the sea level rises and storm surges get more prevalent, chances of flooding are greater.

London is one of the most urbanised cities across the world with 78% of land being urban. With significant impermeable surfaces made of concrete, asphalt and rooftops, water is prevented from draining into the ground. Rapid surface water runoff overwhelms drainage systems and surface water runoff flooding is one of the greatest threats to east London.

Large-scale infrastructure like the Thames Barrier and tidal flood defences protect London from large-scale river flooding, but they cannot prevent surface water flooding from local storms. As these structures age, maintenance costs rise. Relying solely on them is a risky strategy for the future, especially as storm surges become more intense due to climate change.

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Read more:
Britain is at bursting point and its flood barriers need to be updated

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Specialist bodies like the Environment Agency monitor water quality in rivers to reduce infection risks when water is contaminated. However, many parts of east London have Victorian-era sewer systems designed for much lower rainfall, so they are easily overwhelmed. This means the chance of sewage contamination is heightened in these areas. Around 39 million tonnes of untreated sewage are estimated to be discharged into the Thames every year.

East London also faces high levels of deprivation. Many people lack the resources to cope with floods and possible water contamination, often due to being constrained by socioeconomic inequities. High child poverty rates in east London boroughs like Tower Hamlets (47%), Newham (45%) and Hackney (45%) mean that flood preparation is often overlooked.

Aside from strengthening infrastructure and physical barriers, there are natural ways to manage flood risk.

Our research shows that merging nature with urban infrastructure improves the protective capacities and flood resilience of an urban river like the Thames. And initial insights from our ongoing social research show that creative ways of communicating with people can help people better understand – and support – natural flood solutions.

Natural barriers

Planting suitable wetland species alongside rivers and roof tops helps delay surface water runoff by up to 90%. Plants absorb water and release it over several hours rather than releasing it immediately like impermeable surfaces such as concrete and tarmac. This slows down the flow of water into the drainage system and reduces the risk of overwhelming the sewers and pollution spills.

In the Netherlands, there are hundreds of green roofs on bus stops. Data shows that each square metre green of roof cover absorbs 20 litres of water, reducing how much water enters the drains. More natural solutions like these can also improve air quality, attract pollinators and provide shade (which prevents the sun from heating up buildings or walkways).

Green roofs on bus stops are now a common sight in some UK cities, including Brighton and Cardiff. Introducing them to east London would be a good first step.

One charity-led initiative, East London Waterworks Park, involves rewilding a former depot. By converting land covered by concrete into swimming ponds, with reedbeds for filtration, this project provides more space to hold floodwater and a place for the local community to socialise and engage with nature.

At the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in London, an area that used to be a depository for building rubble has been transformed into a large-scale sustainable urban drainage system. This involves the creation of open spaces interspersed with natural features like reedbeds, wetlands and swales (marshy channels) that slow down runoff.

This helps slow down the flow of water into rivers, especially during intense rainfall. Studies show that improved water management at the park has saved 4,000 homes from flood risk since it opened in 2014.

London’s population is increasing. This constrains its resources and exacerbates the effects of increased urbanisation. Socioeconomic inequities raise the level of vulnerability of London’s population. Flood risk is a national security threat, not just an environmental issue.

Including nature in urban resilience plans helps reduce risk and empower people. But policymakers need evidence of which solutions are more effective before they’ll act.

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Ravindra Jayaratne receives funding from the Royal Society, UK.

Maciej Pawlik is affiliated with the Green Party of England and Wales.

– ref. East London is at high risk of extreme flooding – here’s how to limit the damage – https://theconversation.com/east-london-is-at-high-risk-of-extreme-flooding-heres-how-to-limit-the-damage-275238

Source: The Conversation – UK – By George E. Barreto, Associate Professor in Cell Biology and Immunology, Department of Biological Sciences, University of Limerick

As dementia and other neurodegenerative diseases become more common worldwide, researchers are searching urgently for ways to protect the brain as we age. One area attracting growing attention is hormones, particularly the role of hormone therapy during and after menopause.

This interest is partly driven by the fact that women develop Alzheimer’s disease more often than men, especially after midlife, suggesting that hormonal changes around menopause may influence long-term brain health.

Our research has focused on tibolone, a synthetic form of hormone therapy prescribed to relieve menopausal symptoms such as hot flashes and poor sleep. While it is commonly prescribed to ease menopausal symptoms, our findings suggest tibolone may also offer important protection for the brain.

In laboratory studies, tibolone helped brain cells survive under stressful conditions. These included reduced glucose use (glucose is the brain’s main fuel) and the build-up of saturated fats such as palmitic acid, which is often higher in people with obesity. Both reduced glucose use and excess saturated fat are known risk factors for cognitive decline and neurological diseases.

Tibolone appears to protect brain cells in several ways. It activates protective proteins, reduces inflammation and limits damage from free radicals. Free radicals are unstable molecules produced during normal energy production or when the body is exposed to pollution or cigarette smoke. They behave like tiny sparks inside cells, damaging structures unless neutralised.

Why women are at higher risk

Alzheimer’s disease affects women far more than men, by roughly three to one. Even after accounting for women’s longer life expectancy, their risk remains around 12% higher.

This gap likely reflects a combination of genetic, hormonal and social factors. Certain genes, including the APOE ε4 variant, a version of a gene linked to how the brain processes fats and clears harmful proteins, are associated with a higher risk of Alzheimer’s. Other genes on the second X chromosome may also contribute. Differences in reproductive history, number of pregnancies and access to education and healthcare also play a role, because these factors influence lifelong brain health, cardiovascular risk and how early cognitive problems are detected and treated.

However, hormonal changes around menopause appear to be especially important. When menstruation ends, levels of estradiol (the main form of oestrogen) fall sharply, while follicle-stimulating hormone rises. Both changes are linked to cognitive decline and Alzheimer’s disease.

Many women experience the everyday effects of these shifts: forgetfulness, difficulty concentrating, slower thinking, low mood, poor sleep and reduced motivation. Estradiol normally helps brain cells use energy efficiently. When levels drop, the brain uses glucose less effectively, producing a metabolic pattern similar to that seen in early Alzheimer’s.

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Read more:
Horrific, bizarre, lonely: how women going through the menopause describe their experiences

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Estradiol also helps regulate fat distribution and cholesterol. When it declines, women often gain visceral fat around the abdomen. This type of fat releases inflammatory chemicals that can damage blood vessels and the brain. The loss of estradiol’s natural anti-inflammatory effects further increases the risk of metabolic syndrome (a cluster of conditions including high blood pressure and insulin resistance), cognitive decline and dementia.

Can hormone therapy help?

These findings have led researchers to ask whether hormone therapy might offset some of this risk.

Hormone therapy usually combines oestrogen and progesterone and is widely prescribed to relieve hot flashes, insomnia and mood changes. It can also improve mood and reduce depression, which indirectly supports cognitive health.

Until the early 2000s, millions of women used hormone therapy and reported benefits. Then, in 2002, the Women’s Health Initiative (WHI) trial reported a higher risk of breast cancer and cardiovascular events in women taking combined hormones. Headlines warning that hormone therapy “increases cancer risk” led many women to stop treatment or avoid it altogether.

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Read more:
Busting brain myths: The evolving story of menopause hormone therapy and cognitive health

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The WHI memory studies also found that starting hormone therapy at age 65 or older did not protect cognition and was linked to a higher risk of dementia. Later analyses revealed an important nuance: timing matters.

Lower lifetime exposure to oestrogen is linked to faster cognitive decline and greater build-up of Alzheimer’s-related changes in the brain. Women who enter menopause early (before about age 45 to 50) face higher risks of Alzheimer’s and more pronounced memory loss. Surgical menopause, caused by removal of both ovaries, leads to a sudden drop in oestrogen and can trigger noticeable problems with memory and attention, particularly in younger women.

Growing awareness of the link between menopause and brain health is beginning to shape public policy.

In a landmark move, Ireland introduced a programme in June 2025 providing hormone therapy free of charge. Removing cost barriers allows women to start treatment earlier and continue it consistently, conditions that may maximise its benefits.

Elsewhere in Europe, access varies. In England, women who do not qualify for free NHS prescriptions can purchase an annual hormone therapy prepayment certificate for £19.80. Prescriptions are free in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, while France and Spain partially reimburse costs through national insurance.

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Read more:
Menopause: our study revealed how it affects the brain, cognition and mental health

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Given tibolone’s protective profile, reducing financial barriers could improve access and support larger clinical trials to test its effects on brain health.

Hormone therapy is not a guaranteed way to prevent dementia. The strongest protection still comes from a broad approach: managing menopausal symptoms effectively, possibly with hormone therapy, while also controlling blood pressure, cholesterol and diabetes, staying physically active, sleeping well and avoiding smoking.

Women face a higher lifetime risk of Alzheimer’s because of intertwined genetic, hormonal and social factors. Hormone therapy, particularly when started around menopause, may help protect cognitive function as well as relieve symptoms. Alongside a healthy lifestyle, it offers one promising tool for supporting brain health and narrowing the gender gap in dementia risk.

George Barreto receives funding from Research Ireland.

Miguel G. Borda does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

– ref. Menopause, hormones and the brain: how hormone therapy could help protect against Alzheimer’s – https://theconversation.com/menopause-hormones-and-the-brain-how-hormone-therapy-could-help-protect-against-alzheimers-264623

Source: The Conversation – UK – By Stefan Stern, Visiting Professor of Management Practice, Bayes Business School, City St George’s, University of London

Having survived what looked a lot like a coup attempt, Prime Minister Keir Starmer now needs to decide how to move forward. One of the biggest problems in the immediate term is what to do with his health secretary, Wes Streeting.

Streeting has long been named as a contender to replace Starmer – and has made no secret of his personal ambitions. Like every other cabinet minister, he made a statement in support of Starmer after the Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar publicly called for his resignation. However, Streeting’s has been singled out for its tepid tone.

Now Starmer has a man who openly wants his job in his top team at a moment when he is trying to steady the ship. Might the PM find some inspiration about what to do from the private sector?

There is an old joke in the corporate world which states that when you take over as a new chief executive, your first task is to search the business high and low to find your natural successor – and then destroy them.

That is one (bleak) view of the rat race, or what is sometimes called “tournament theory”, the acknowledgement that within organisations there will always be a battle to get to the top. A more far-sighted approach to succession planning would look different. It would involve making sure that a range of senior people are developing their skills and experience, ready to take on the top job when it becomes vacant, as it inevitably will do some day. Ideally a company’s succession plan should contain a list with more than just one name on it.

In Westminster, however, discussions over the future leadership of the country are rather less dignified and rather more frenzied. Politics and business are different. This is a tournament all right, but the rules are less than clear. And they are subject to sudden change. Leadership in the political world is a far cry from what we call leadership in businesses and organisations.

Starmer, it seems, has survived a perilous moment. Still, as they say in Scotland, his coat is hanging on a shoogly nail.

Starmer looks around his top team, the cabinet, and sees several potential rivals staring back at him. Streeting denies that he is plotting to challenge Starmer, but few in Westminster believe him. A bad result in the byelection in Gorton and Denton this month or a collapse in support for Labour in the May local elections and Scottish parliamentary and Welsh Senedd elections, could prove the trigger for Streeting to act.

How should a leader look on the threat of a close colleague who is also a rival? Few are as generous or imaginative as Abraham Lincoln, who famously brought defeated candidates for the US presidency into his cabinet, as described by the historian Doris Kearns Goodwin in her book “Team of Rivals”.

Tony Blair survived as prime minister for ten years with his closest rival, Gordon Brown, at his side the whole time. Blair used to say, with apparent nonchalance, that it was not an “ignoble ambition” for Brown to want to succeed him. Blair seemed to hope, however, that another candidate might emerge to prevent Brown from getting the top job.

A confident and effective leader need not worry about having capable potential successors in their top team. On the contrary. Leadership is not a solo endeavour. A good leader will want to delegate tasks to talented people and draw on their advice. This is what is sometimes called “distributed leadership”.

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Read more:
How much longer can Keir Starmer survive?

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Starmer has already revealed his insecurity by making sure that Andy Burnham, the mayor of greater Manchester, could not stand in the Gorton and Denton byelection. And hardened Westminster watchers will tell you that the prime minister could not have afforded to have Burnham back in parliament, preparing his own leadership challenge.

But Starmer could instead have been inspired by the ghost of Abraham Lincoln. Why not welcome Burnham back to Westminster, after winning a byelection that would have slowed his opponents’ momentum (in this case the Greens and Reform)?

And why not salute Streeting for his energy and dash? And Angela Rayner for her talents too while he is about it? Confident leaders want to have the best people around them. For a government that is seen to be struggling it would arguably make sense to put the best players on the pitch, and encourage them to perform. Leadership should not be a selfish ego trip. It is about them, not you.

Starmer has had a “clear the air” chat with Streeting and has, at least, not sacked him, yet. Starmer’s allies concede that the prime minister is not currently in a strong enough position to move against him in any case. Perhaps the cabinet will now pull together and prove they can get along.

Such thoughts will be dismissed as naïve and unrealistic by the inhabitants of London SW1. And, in that context, perhaps they are. But if so it tells you a lot about how far the practice of modern politics has departed from what many would regard as healthy and benign leadership.

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This article contains references to books that have been included for editorial reasons, and this may include links to bookshop.org. If you click on one of the links and go on to buy something from bookshop.org The Conversation UK may earn a commission.

Stefan Stern does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

– ref. What should Keir Starmer do about Wes Streeting? A leadership expert on how to handle rivals in your team – https://theconversation.com/what-should-keir-starmer-do-about-wes-streeting-a-leadership-expert-on-how-to-handle-rivals-in-your-team-275689

Source: The Conversation – UK – By Viren Swami, Professor of Social Psychology, Anglia Ruskin University

About a decade ago, author Mandy Len Catron wrote an essay for the New York Times about “36 questions that lead to love”. The idea suggests that two people can grow closer – and even fall in love – by answering a series of increasingly intimate questions.

Catron described how in 2014 she and an acquaintance went on a date together. During the evening, they took turns asking and answering 36 questions. Before that meeting the pair both admitted to a slight mutual attraction, but the exercise changed this fairly dramatically.

Within weeks they had developed strong feelings for each other. The following year they moved in together, had children in 2021 and in 2025, more than a decade after their first date, they got married – and the 36 questions were included in a bowl at the reception bar.

The idea behind the 36 questions is simple enough – that by answering a series of intimate questions, two people become vulnerable and develop a close connection. But can the 36 questions really cause two people to fall in love?

In the 1990s, US psychologist Arthur Aron and his colleagues developed a sharing game that could be used to develop feelings of closeness between strangers. They wanted to provide researchers with a fast track to developing closeness in the lab, for studies involving participants who didn’t know each other.

The task is simple. Two strangers sit across from each other and take turns asking and answering 36 questions arranged in three sets. The task takes about 45 minutes to complete, with the questions becoming increasingly intimate and personal.

One question from the first set asks the strangers to describe their perfect day, while a question from the final set asks them to describe whose death they would find most disturbing.

Why does it work?

The main mechanism that helps build closeness in the 36 questions is reciprocal self-disclosure. This is when sharing intimate information about oneself prompts the other person to share similarly intimate information about themselves.

Reciprocal self-disclosure is an important part of relationship development. When people engage in reciprocal self-disclosure, they signal to each other that they’re willing to be responsive and share their vulnerabilities. In turn, this process helps to build mutual trust and liking, leading to greater feelings of closeness and intimacy.

Imagine that, over the course a conversation, I share with you that I’ve been struggling with my mental health. In sharing this information, you infer that I trust you and that I want to have an authentic, honest and meaningful relationship with you. This, in turn, might encourage you to share something intimate about your own mental health, which encourages deeper trust and connection between us.

What about romantic love?

But can the 36 questions really cause people to fall in love? In the original study, Aron and his co-researchers suggested that the 36 questions – sometimes called the “fast friends procedure” – could create real feelings of “interpersonal closeness” between strangers.

To test this, they randomly assigned strangers to take part in the fast friends procedure or to a small-talk exercise, which also included 36 questions but that did not increase in intensity over the sets. In a series of studies, Aron and his fellow researchers found that participants who’d completed the fast friends task felt closer to each other than those who had engaged in small talk.

A 2021 study found that participants engaging in the fast friends task not only felt closer than those who engaged in small talk, but also felt greater liking for their partners, believed their partners were more responsive, enjoyed the interaction more and had more fun.

However, Aron and his co-researchers also cautioned that the fast friends procedure does not produce feelings of loyalty, dependence or commitment between strangers – key ingredients for love. The procedure also does necessarily produce respect for the other person, which takes time to develop, nor does it produce feelings of passion, romance and physical and sexual attraction.

Although the fast friends procedure might not cause strangers to fall in love, it could help existing couples maintain their feelings for each other.

In studies where existing couples take part in the procedure with other couples they haven’t met before, the participants later report greater closeness to the couples they interacted with. But they also report greater closeness to and passionate love for their own partners.

The procedure could actually help foster loving relationships of all kinds. One group of researchers adapted the 36 questions to make them suitable for children aged eight to 13 and their parents. When the researchers asked parents and their children to take turns asking and answering the question, the children seemed to end the task feeling more loved.

The fast friends procedure also shows promise in developing closeness outside the lab and in different circumstances. In educational settings such as schools and universities, the task seems to be both an effective ice-breaker and a way to promote closeness and friendship formation. There’s even some evidence that tasks that promote closeness could increase productivity and creativity among team members working together.

The fast friends procedure could also be used to reduce prejudice and stigmatising views. In a 2015 study, heterosexual people took part in the fast friends task with a stranger who revealed they were gay or a lesbian.

These heterosexual participants reported stronger feelings of closeness and lower sexual prejudice at the end of the task compared to the start. Other studies have suggested that the procedure could also reduce racial prejudice and ageism.

So don’t let romantic couples usurp the 36 questions. If you’re spending Valentine’s day with friends, it could be a great way to deepen your bond.

Viren Swami does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

– ref. Can 36 questions really change your love life? – https://theconversation.com/can-36-questions-really-change-your-love-life-273611

Source: The Conversation – UK – By Tamsin Johnson, PhD candidate in visual cultures, Nottingham Trent University

Marks and Spencer is one of the latest UK high-street brands to launch a ski-wear collection. Even supermarket Lidl are in on the action, with their ski range starting from £3.99. This follows earlier moves by fast-fashion retailers such as Topshop who launched SNO in the mid 2010’s and Zara’s imaginatively titled Zara Ski collection, which launched in 2023.

Fast fashion brand PrettyLittleThing’s Apres Ski edit (a collection of clothes chosen for a specific theme) tells potential shoppers that going skiing is “not necessarily essential” which is good, because many of the products in the collection are listed as athleisure, not sportswear.

It’s not just the high-street. Kim Kardashian’s shapewear brand Skims has recently collaborated with The North Face and has dressed the USA team for the 2026 Winter Olympics – though these are strictly designed to serve the athletes during down-time, not for the piste.

Alongside dedicated ski-wear lines, the apres-ski aesthetic has become a recurring seasonal trend over recent years, expanding well beyond the slopes. You may have noticed the slew of ski-themed sweatshirts across the market. One of these, an Abercrombie & Fitch sweatshirt, went viral in January after a buyer noticed that the depicted resort was actually Val Thorens, France – not Aspen, Colorado, as the text printed on the garment claimed.

It is not only the quality of ski-themed fashion products that are a cause for concern, but also those designed for the slope. Many of these high-street collections have received criticism from consumers, with some claiming that the garments are “not fit for purpose”. Meanwhile, many influencers have taken to social media to warn their followers to avoid skiing in garments from fast fashion brands. Such were the complaints that Zara Ski reportedly renamed its products “water resistant” instead of “waterproof”.

These collections respond, in part, to a genuine need for women’s sportswear that is practical, fashionable and most critically, affordable. Ski and performance wear in general is costly and such collections, being both fashionable and relatively low-cost make for an attractive prospect. And yet, if these garments are so poorly suited to skiing, then what are they for?

The visual allure of skiing

Despite sports playing a key role in challenging gender ideology and perceptions of female physicality, the perceived importance of femininity and how women look while doing sports has lingered. Images of sportswomen frequently fixate on gender difference and femininity is foregrounded over athleticism. Here, the glamorous image of skiing has much to account for.

Glamour relies on distance and difference to conjure a feeling of longing. For many, the novelty of eating fondue at 3,000ft is out of reach, as is the ever-increasing price of a lift pass.

Throughout the 20th century, the glamour of skiing has been defined by women’s fashion. In the 1920s, Vogue magazine featured illustrations of elongated skiing women on their covers. Designer Pucci’s aerodynamic one-piece ski suit premiered in Harper’s Bazaar magazine in 1947 whilst Moncler’s ski anoraks – photographed on Jackie Kennedy in 1966 – gave birth to a vision of American ski “cool”. Changing ski fashions were recorded in photographer Slim Aarons’ resort photography, capturing the leisure class on and off piste between the 1950s and 1980s.

Women’s fashionable ski-wear has taken many forms since the activity first became popular in the 1920s. It was during this decade that skiing became a marker of affluence. Leather, gaberdine, fur and wool were popular materials in early women’s ski-wear and were selected for their natural properties; water-repellence, insulation, breathability.

By the mid-century, women’s ski-wear became more focused on silhouette and excess fabric was considered unfeminine. Equally, ski-wear gradually became more colourful and in the fashion press, women were even encouraged to match their lipstick to their ski ensemble. By the 1980s, ski-wear aligned with the fashionable “wedge” silhouette; causing the shoulders of ski jackets to widen and salopettes (ski trousers with shoulder braces) to draw even tighter.

These historic developments parallel today’s aesthetic ski trend where fashion and image arguably comes before function. For example, PrettyLittleThing’s models are photographed on fake slopes, holding vintage skis. The glamorous image of the skiing woman lies not only in the clothing but in her stasis. The suggestion is that ski culture does not necessarily require skiing at all: it may simply involve occupying the most visible terrace, Aperol in hand.

No wonder then, that so many fast-fashion ski lines for women are deeply unpractical – they appear designed less for physical exertion than for visual consumption. They sell women on the alluring glamour of skiing, while leaving them out in the cold.

There is an additional irony here: climate change means that skiing is becoming increasingly exclusive. Lower-level resorts are closing as the snow line moves up, meaning fewer options and increased demand. In this sense, the image of skiing looks to become even more glamorous via increasing inaccessibility and therefore distance. Fast-fashion has a negative impact on the environment, and the ski aesthetic risks damaging the very thing it claims to celebrate.

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This article features references to books that have been included for editorial reasons, and may contain links to bookshop.org. If you click on one of the links and go on to buy something from bookshop.org The Conversation UK may earn a commission.

Tamsin Johnson receives funding from the AHRC via the Midlands4Cities doctoral partnership. Tamsin is the current secretary of the British Society of Sports History and part-time Lecturer at Nottingham Trent University.

– ref. Winter sports scream glamour, but women’s ski-wear falls short when it comes to actually skiing – https://theconversation.com/winter-sports-scream-glamour-but-womens-ski-wear-falls-short-when-it-comes-to-actually-skiing-274788

Source: The Conversation – UK – By Kelly Hignett, Senior Lecturer in History, Leeds Beckett University

The people of Berlin woke on August 13 1961 to discover that their city had been split in two.

Despite the earlier cold war division of Germany into east and west after 1945, the border between the two halves of Berlin had remained open, allowing most Germans to travel, mix and mingle freely across the city. This abruptly changed in 1961 when the East German authorities closed the Berlin border and began constructing a wall across the city, a formidable barrier which would stand for almost 30 years. Overnight, families, friends and lovers were cruelly separated.

The Berlin Wall inspired David Bowie’s song Heroes (1977), with its poignant lyrics about two lovers, divided by the wall, dreaming of freedom together. However, there are many real-life examples of couples who found themselves divided by the wall, forced to undertake dangerous, daring escape attempts to overcome their separation.

East German propaganda portrayed the division of Berlin as an act of “fraternal love”, necessary to protect their citizens from the dangerous influences of the capitalist west. In reality, the construction of the wall was more like the jealous actions of a spurned lover, as East German authorities tried to halt the increasing number of people who were fleeing the communist state via Berlin, estimated to have reached 3.5 million, or around one-sixth of the East German population, by 1961.

The border closure meant countless German families, friends and lovers were cut off overnight.

Faced with the prospect of indefinite separation from their loved ones in the West, many East Germans tried to cross the border illegally. The risks were high. If intercepted, they could be arrested, imprisoned or even killed. The guards stationed along the wall were ordered to “shoot to kill” and at least 140 escapees died.

Despite the heightened stakes, around 5,000 East Germans successfully escaped through Berlin from 1961-89, utilising an array of daring methods, such as tunnelling, travelling over the wall by zipline or hot air balloon and concealing themselves in specially modified vehicles. For many of these people, their desire to escape was fuelled by love.

The love stories of the wall

Many east-west German couples who refused to see the Berlin Wall as a barrier to their love have shared stories of their daring escapes. Leslie Colitt’s East German fiancée Ingrid disguised herself as his sister and used her American passport to bluff her way past the border guards and into West Berlin.

When Heinz Meixner decided to smuggle both his fiancée Margarete and her mother out of East Berlin in 1963, he did it in style, using a specially modified sports car. With both women carefully concealed inside the vehicle, Heinz casually drove up to the border, before suddenly zooming past the unsuspecting guards, ducking underneath the checkpoint barrier with only two inches to spare and skidding to safety in West Berlin.

In 1971, Regina Albrecht faced a long and perilous journey to happiness, when she escaped East Germany to reunite with her boyfriend, Eckhard. Albrecht endured cramped conditions hidden behind the fuel tank of a modified car, as she travelled through Romania, Yugoslavia and into Austria, before travelling on to West Germany, where she and Eckhard married.

Over 70 tunnels were constructed underneath the Berlin Wall, although many were ultimately unsuccessful. In 1962, a tunnel constructed by a group of engineering students in West Berlin allowed 29 East Germans to crawl to freedom, reuniting many loved ones.

Tunneller Claus’s wife Inge and baby son both made it safely through, while group leader Joachim later fell in love with Eveline, a young woman who had escaped through the tunnel that night. However, another group member, Wolfdieter, who had acted as a courier in exchange for securing his girlfriend Renate’s safe passage from East Berlin, had to wait a little longer for his happy ending. Both Wolfdieter and Renate were caught and imprisoned in East Berlin, although they later reunited and married in 1966.

Similarly, while Joachim Neumann had escaped to West Berlin using a fake passport in 1961, his girlfriend Christa had been caught, imprisoned and was stuck in the east. In 1964, Joachim oversaw construction of a tunnel which enabled 57 East Germans to cross to West Berlin, including Christa. The couple went on to marry and have a family together.

Two become one

The fall of the Berlin Wall in November 1989 was widely celebrated across West and East Germany, leading to many joyous and jubilant reunions. This included former lovers Sigrid and Erik Krause, who had married in 1957, been separated by the division of Berlin in 1961 and subsequently divorced. However, 30 years later, the fall of the wall allowed them to rekindle their romance and remarry.

Personal reunions were accompanied by political fusion, with German reunification in October 1990. However, the subsequent decades of integration have produced challenges as well as opportunities. One recent survey indicated that today, while public opinion still perceives reunification positively, around one-third of Germans are unsatisfied with the level of unity that exists, a figure that rises to half among people in the former East Germany.

Recent research also suggests that the cold war division of Germany may have had an enduring legacy on romantic relations. Only 5% of German couples are composed of East-West partnerships, some of whom have spoken about the challenges they have faced. So, while the Berlin Wall may have crumbled, there are indications that an “invisible wall” continues to divide German minds – and hearts – today.

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Kelly Hignett does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

– ref. Love stories of the Berlin Wall – couples reunited via tunnels, hot air balloons and zip wires – https://theconversation.com/love-stories-of-the-berlin-wall-couples-reunited-via-tunnels-hot-air-balloons-and-zip-wires-275351

Source: The Conversation – UK – By Janset Özün Çetinkaya, Teaching Associate in Philosophy, University of Nottingham

Valentine’s Day is traditionally a time of heart-shaped balloons, overpriced roses and fully-booked restaurants. Couples kiss and hold hands, smiling selfies celebrate a day of public displays of devotion.

Why do so many of us feel such pressure to offer grand gestures, buy pricey gifts, and go through elaborate displays of affection? Presumably, to prove our love. Valentine’s Day is a showy, one-day-a-year demonstration that promises to do just that.

For the ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle (384-322BC), however, this approach misunderstands the nature of love. For him, the true form of love wasn’t intense passion or grand gestures on one day of the year. Instead, it’s a steady commitment to help your beloved grow into their best version through everyday practices of care.

Aristotle wrote extensively about love, friendship and their place in a good life. His main book on ethics, the Nicomachean Ethics (350BC) – affectionately named after his son – is a classic work on virtue and happiness.

As a keen observer of human life, Aristotle’s philosophy was based on a real understanding of human beings – our emotions, needs, habits and the ways we live alongside each other. Humans are social animals, he argued, so we must live in a society and work toward a common good. More than this, we are “pairing” creatures. Coupling and sharing a life matters deeply. Interestingly, he believed this means learning to love ourselves, as well as others.

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Read more:
Valentine’s Day: a brief history of the soulmate – and why it’s a limited concept

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The five steps to love

Aristotle said we should love ourselves the most. This could sound like a celebration of narcissism, a gospel for the selfie age. But Aristotle meant that truly loving someone means loving them as another self, extending our self-love to another – a process with five parts.

First, loving yourself means desiring and promoting your own good. Do the same for your loved one. Desire and promote whatever is in their interest. Second, work for their own safety and security as you would your own. Third, self-love means enjoying your own company and taking pleasure in reminiscing about past times and looking forward to good times to come. Desire and enjoy their company, too, in a shared life of interests, commitments and hopes.

Fourth, make sure your desires are rational, and only desire things that are part of a “fine and noble life” – a life that is virtuous, rational and filled with meaningful relationships. Fifth, openly express and experience your pains and pleasures. Consistently pursue what brings you pleasure and avoid whatever brings pain. For your beloved, recognise and share in their pains and pleasures, as if they were your own.

Love, Aristotle says, comes from the sense that the lover is “mine”. If that sounds icky to a modern ear, the point isn’t about ownership. When I say “my beloved is mine”, I mean “we belong together in a shared life”. I do not own my finger, it belongs to my hand, which is a part of me. Likewise, I don’t own my beloved, but they belong to our loving relationship, of which I, too, am part.

Love, friendship and skill

Aristotle also described lovers as friends – not any old good friends but each other’s other halves. Like friends, lovers hang out, have each other’s back and support one another. As lovers, they treat each other as a part of themselves. Aristotle thinks it’s a big red flag if your lover doesn’t care as much about your feelings and needs as their own, no matter how grand their gestures and gifts.

Love was not a passive feeling for Aristotle, but a practice requiring skill. A lover, he argues, makes themselves better for their beloved, unlike a carpenter who makes a table for himself. Loving is a practice of constant self-improvement for the sake of another person. Being a good lover means striving to be a better person, so that you and your beloved bring out the best in each other.

For Aristotle, love is not about how your Valentine makes you feel on a single night of the year. Gifts and gestures are nice, but the real proof of love is nothing you can buy. Loving another as much and as well as you love yourself is the real proof, one that takes time and practice. To quote Aristotle, “one swallow does not make spring” – nor does one magical night really show our love.

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Looking for something good? Cut through the noise with a carefully curated selection of the latest releases, live events and exhibitions, straight to your inbox every fortnight, on Fridays. Sign up here.

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The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

– ref. Why Aristotle would hate Valentine’s Day – and his five steps to love – https://theconversation.com/why-aristotle-would-hate-valentines-day-and-his-five-steps-to-love-275460

Source: The Conversation – UK – By Arshad Majid, Professor of Cerebrovascular Neurology, School of Medicine and Population Health, University of Sheffield

The vagus nerve has quietly shaped how our bodies function for thousands of years. Recently, it has moved into the spotlight, especially in wellness culture, where manipulating it is often described as a way to calm the body, reset the nervous system or even treat a wide range of conditions.

As someone who researches the vagus nerve in clinical settings, I think it is important to explain what it actually does, what we know so far and where claims run ahead of the evidence.

The vagus nerve is one of 12 cranial nerves that emerge directly from the brain. It is the longest of them, extending from the brainstem through the neck and into the chest and abdomen. Along the way it connects to the heart, lungs, gastrointestinal tract and liver. You cannot see or feel it directly, but it helps regulate everything from your heartbeat to digestion.

Its name comes from the Latin word for “wanderer”, reflecting its long route through the body. One of the most important things to understand is that it is primarily a sensory nerve. Roughly 80% of its fibres carry information from the body back to the brain, acting as a constant internal monitoring system. Only about 20% of the fibres send signals from the brain to the organs.

In practice, this means the vagus nerve continually informs the brain about what is happening inside the body, including heart rate, digestion and inflammation.

Rest and digest

The vagus nerve is a major component of the autonomic nervous system, which controls functions we do not consciously regulate. This system has two main branches.

The sympathetic nervous system drives the fight-or-flight response. It increases heart rate, raises blood pressure and prepares the body for action.

The parasympathetic nervous system has the opposite effect. It slows the heart, supports digestion and promotes a calmer physiological state. The vagus nerve is the primary nerve of this system and is often described as supporting “rest and digest” functions.

This connection explains why the vagus nerve is linked to relaxation and stress regulation. But the relationship is often oversimplified in popular culture.

Many techniques promoted online, such as slow breathing, humming, singing or splashing cold water on the face, are said to stimulate the vagus nerve. These activities do not switch the vagus nerve on or off.

What these activities can do is indirectly influence vagal activity by signalling that the body is safe. Slow breathing with a long exhale, for example, can reduce heart rate and promote a calmer state. You might notice a slowing pulse or a general sense of settling.

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Read more:
Conscious breathing can reduce anxiety and depression – tips for how to do it

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In some people this effect is clear. In others it is minimal. Importantly, strong evidence on how reliably these techniques influence vagus nerve activity is still limited, and responses vary widely between people.

Medical vagus nerve stimulation

In clinical medicine, vagus nerve stimulation has been used for decades. There are two main approaches.

The first is invasive vagus nerve stimulation. This involves surgically implanting a small pacemaker-like device in the chest, with wires wrapped around the vagus nerve in the neck. The device delivers regular electrical stimulation directly to the nerve.

In the US, this treatment is approved for drug-resistant epilepsy and depression. It can be effective but is used less often in the UK because it requires surgery, ongoing care and significant cost.

The second approach, and the focus of much current research, is non-invasive vagus nerve stimulation. Studies show that a small branch of the vagus nerve supplies part of the outer ear. By placing electrodes on specific areas of the ear, researchers can stimulate this branch electrically without surgery.

Brain imaging studies suggest this produces patterns of activity similar to those seen with implanted devices. This gives researchers confidence that similar neural systems are being influenced, even if it is not always possible to confirm that only the vagus nerve is involved.

Medical vagus nerve stimulation devices must meet strict safety and evidence standards. They have to demonstrate clinical benefit in trials and continue to be monitored after approval.

Consumer wellness devices are not held to the same standards. Many can be sold without strong evidence that they stimulate the vagus nerve or improve health outcomes. This does not mean they are necessarily harmful, but claims about their effects should be treated cautiously.

Stroke recovery

One of the most promising areas of research is stroke rehabilitation. After a stroke, many patients experience weakness in one arm that can affect independence for years.

In ongoing research, my colleagues and I are investigating whether non-invasive vagus nerve stimulation, paired with physical rehabilitation, can improve arm function after stroke. The aim is to enhance neuroplasticity, the brain’s ability to reorganise and form new connections, allowing healthy areas to take over lost functions.

This is being tested in a large clinical trial, in which neither participants nor researchers know who is receiving active stimulation until the end of the study. This helps reduce bias. If the results are positive, this approach could change how stroke rehabilitation is delivered.

Vagus nerve stimulation does not work the same for everyone. Some people experience headaches or worsening migraines. A small minority report changes in mood. In my own case, stimulation produces low mood, which is a recognised but uncommon response.

This variability is one reason why one-size-fits-all advice about stimulating the vagus nerve can be misleading.

The vagus nerve is not a cure-all. Most conditions involve multiple biological and psychological factors, and no single nerve explains or fixes them all.

It is, however, a crucial pathway linking the brain and body. As research progresses, we are likely to see more targeted, properly tested therapies using vagus nerve stimulation for specific conditions.

For now, the key message is caution without cynicism. The vagus nerve is real and important. The science is advancing. But meaningful benefits depend on careful research, appropriate use and an honest understanding of what the evidence does and does not yet show.

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Strange Health is hosted by Katie Edwards and Dan Baumgardt. The executive producer is Gemma Ware, with video and sound editing for this episode by Anouk Millet. Artwork by Alice Mason.

In this episode, Dan and Katie talk about social media clips via TikTok from drjoedamiani, ayuswellness and prettyspatricia.

Listen to Strange Health via any of the apps listed above, download it directly via our RSS feed or find out how else to listen here. A transcript is available via the Apple Podcasts or Spotify apps.

Arshad Majid receives funding from the National Institute of Health research (NIHR) EME Programme for the TRICEPS trial which is investigating tVNS in stroke recovery.

– ref. Vagus nerve stimulation: from TikTok tips to clinical trials – https://theconversation.com/vagus-nerve-stimulation-from-tiktok-tips-to-clinical-trials-274240

Source: The Conversation – UK – By Viren Swami, Professor of Social Psychology, Anglia Ruskin University

About a decade ago, author Mandy Len Catron wrote an essay for the New York Times about “36 questions that lead to love”. The idea suggests that two people can grow closer – and even fall in love – by answering a series of increasingly intimate questions.

Catron described how in 2014 she and an acquaintance went on a date together. During the evening, they took turns asking and answering 36 questions. Before that meeting the pair both admitted to a slight mutual attraction, but the exercise changed this fairly dramatically.

Within weeks they had developed strong feelings for each other. The following year they moved in together, had children in 2021 and in 2025, more than a decade after their first date, they got married – and the 36 questions were included in a bowl at the reception bar.

The idea behind the 36 questions is simple enough – that by answering a series of intimate questions, two people become vulnerable and develop a close connection. But can the 36 questions really cause two people to fall in love?

In the 1990s, US psychologist Arthur Aron and his colleagues developed a sharing game that could be used to develop feelings of closeness between strangers. They wanted to provide researchers with a fast track to developing closeness in the lab, for studies involving participants who didn’t know each other.

The task is simple. Two strangers sit across from each other and take turns asking and answering 36 questions arranged in three sets. The task takes about 45 minutes to complete, with the questions becoming increasingly intimate and personal.

One question from the first set asks the strangers to describe their perfect day, while a question from the final set asks them to describe whose death they would find most disturbing.

Why does it work?

The main mechanism that helps build closeness in the 36 questions is reciprocal self-disclosure. This is when sharing intimate information about oneself prompts the other person to share similarly intimate information about themselves.

Reciprocal self-disclosure is an important part of relationship development. When people engage in reciprocal self-disclosure, they signal to each other that they’re willing to be responsive and share their vulnerabilities. In turn, this process helps to build mutual trust and liking, leading to greater feelings of closeness and intimacy.

Imagine that, over the course a conversation, I share with you that I’ve been struggling with my mental health. In sharing this information, you infer that I trust you and that I want to have an authentic, honest and meaningful relationship with you. This, in turn, might encourage you to share something intimate about your own mental health, which encourages deeper trust and connection between us.

What about romantic love?

But can the 36 questions really cause people to fall in love? In the original study, Aron and his co-researchers suggested that the 36 questions – sometimes called the “fast friends procedure” – could create real feelings of “interpersonal closeness” between strangers.

To test this, they randomly assigned strangers to take part in the fast friends procedure or to a small-talk exercise, which also included 36 questions but that did not increase in intensity over the sets. In a series of studies, Aron and his fellow researchers found that participants who’d completed the fast friends task felt closer to each other than those who had engaged in small talk.

A 2021 study found that participants engaging in the fast friends task not only felt closer than those who engaged in small talk, but also felt greater liking for their partners, believed their partners were more responsive, enjoyed the interaction more and had more fun.

However, Aron and his co-researchers also cautioned that the fast friends procedure does not produce feelings of loyalty, dependence or commitment between strangers – key ingredients for love. The procedure also does necessarily produce respect for the other person, which takes time to develop, nor does it produce feelings of passion, romance and physical and sexual attraction.

Although the fast friends procedure might not cause strangers to fall in love, it could help existing couples maintain their feelings for each other.

In studies where existing couples take part in the procedure with other couples they haven’t met before, the participants later report greater closeness to the couples they interacted with. But they also report greater closeness to and passionate love for their own partners.

The procedure could actually help foster loving relationships of all kinds. One group of researchers adapted the 36 questions to make them suitable for children aged eight to 13 and their parents. When the researchers asked parents and their children to take turns asking and answering the question, the children seemed to end the task feeling more loved.

The fast friends procedure also shows promise in developing closeness outside the lab and in different circumstances. In educational settings such as schools and universities, the task seems to be both an effective ice-breaker and a way to promote closeness and friendship formation. There’s even some evidence that tasks that promote closeness could increase productivity and creativity among team members working together.

The fast friends procedure could also be used to reduce prejudice and stigmatising views. In a 2015 study, heterosexual people took part in the fast friends task with a stranger who revealed they were gay or a lesbian.

These heterosexual participants reported stronger feelings of closeness and lower sexual prejudice at the end of the task compared to the start. Other studies have suggested that the procedure could also reduce racial prejudice and ageism.

So don’t let romantic couples usurp the 36 questions. If you’re spending Valentine’s day with friends, it could be a great way to deepen your bond.

Viren Swami does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

– ref. Valentine’s day: can 36 questions really change your love life? – https://theconversation.com/valentines-day-can-36-questions-really-change-your-love-life-273611