Category: The Conversation – UK

Source: The Conversation – UK – By Ebru Işıklı, Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Sociology, University College Dublin

When earthquakes struck Turkey and Syria in February 2023, more than 50,000 people were killed and thousands more were injured.

One month after the disaster, a bank employee named Efe Demir died by suicide in İstanbul. Before his death, he had sent an email to colleagues questioning the actions and motivations of his employer, saying he felt that the organisation prioritised profit over caring for clients who were victims of the tragedy.

The bank strongly denied the allegations, but Demir’s accusation highlights a broader, and often invisible, problem: how a corporate approach, especially in times of crisis, can cause employees to experience psychological harm.

Sometimes referred to as “moral injury” or “ethical suffering”, it often involves feelings of distress that arise when workers are compelled to act solely in the interest of profit.

The psychiatrist Christophe Dejours, who specialises in work and mental health, has argued that the complexities of work require employees to constantly expend emotional and cognitive energy navigating moral dilemmas.

Those dilemmas could be to do with a company’s environmental record for example, or how it relates to a country engaged in a military conflict. Moral injury does not arise only from what workers are required to do.

It can also take the form of intense feelings of isolation when an employee feels what a company is doing is wrong, but nobody is doing anything about it.

Eventually, moral injury can become a deep crisis, with workplace suicide as its most tragic manifestation.

Disasters amplify moral harm

Moral injury is commonly used to describe the experiences of workers in care-giving professions such as medicine or nursing, where decisions can carry life or death consequences. But moral injury can appear in many occupations, especially during disasters, when individuals suddenly feel a heightened responsibility for others.

For employees like Demir, the earthquake in Turkey was not only a national tragedy – it was a moment when the employer’s values were put to the test. For Demir, among other allegations was an accusation that the bank had not looked after customers who have been affected by the earthquake, in terms of their ability to repay loans or be given credit.

Such cases are rarely publicised. Employers often move quickly to protect their reputation, while colleagues fear retaliation and families hesitate to link suicide to work.

The connection can be difficult or even impossible to prove. There research which suggests that employee suicide can serve as a final attempt to expose injustice.

Modern work often involves tasks that are legal but morally questionable, whether it’s carefully manipulating clients, competing unfairly or remaining silent about harm. Employees may become unwilling participants in practices that violate ethical standards – and this is precisely what makes these experiences difficult for the employee to talk about.

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Read more:
Why OpenAI is a prime example of the ethical limits of capitalism

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Even though physical dangers in the workplace are recognised, psychological dangers such as ethical conflict and feelings of loss of integrity often remain unacknowledged. Long-term exposure to ethically ambiguous environments can reshape someone’s character, moral sensibilities and sense of self. Over time, Dejours argues, workers numb themselves to others’ suffering – and eventually, to their own.

In countries such as France and Japan, work-related suicides are part of public debate, thanks to labour activists. In France, unions such as the CFE-CGC actively fight workplace bullying and at a global level, the International Trade Union Confederation Ituc named work-related suicide as a priority issue in a campaign on psychosocial hazards.

To confront moral injury at work, especially in an era of overlapping crises, whether it’s environmental, geopolitical or natural, research suggests that many organisations need to pay more attention to the ethical integrity of their employees. Professional dignity is not just about the terms of work – the hours, the pay and conditions – but also what we produce at work.

This also means expanding occupational safety to include not just physical risks but moral and psychological hazards – and talking more openly about the ethically questionable tasks that people may be asked to commit at work.

If you’re struggling with suicidal thoughts, the following services can provide you with support:

In the UK and Ireland – call Samaritans UK at 116 123.

In the US – call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255) or IMAlive at 1-800-784-2433.

In Australia – call Lifeline Australia at 13 11 14.

In other countries – visit IASP or Suicide.org to find a helpline in your country.

Ebru Işıklı 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. When your workplace doesn’t match your ethical outlook – the problem of ‘moral injury’ – https://theconversation.com/when-your-workplace-doesnt-match-your-ethical-outlook-the-problem-of-moral-injury-272001

Source: The Conversation – UK – By Roja Hadianamrei, Senior Lecturer in Pharmaceutical Science, University of Portsmouth

The first ever avian influenza vaccine recently started trials in the UK. This marks a milestone in the prevention of bird flu infections in humans.

The vaccine targets the H5N1 flu strain, which causes severe infections in bird populations worldwide. However, this strain of bird flu virus is also able to spread to humans in rare cases through direct contact with infected birds or poultry products.

This latest trial hopes to test the vaccine in people who are most at risk of acquiring bird flu. This includes people who work in poultry industry and people who are above 65 years of age.

Bird flu vaccine

This new bird flu vaccine is an mRNA-based vaccine. This is the same technology that was used in some COVID vaccines.

Messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) acts as a messenger between the genes and the microscopic factories inside human cells that produce proteins. It carries a message from the genes to these cellular factories to produce proteins with specific structures.

For instance, mRNA plays a role in producing the enzymes that regulate our metabolism, the haemoglobin that carries oxygen to our tissues and the antibodies that protect us against infections.

Vaccines that use mRNA technology deliver instructions to cellular protein production factories, telling them to produce certain proteins that are normally present on the surface of a specific virus.

By doing so, these vaccines generate a fake disease which is less severe than the actual disease caused by the virus. The immune system sees the viruses or any parts of them (such as proteins) as intruders and tries to destroy them.

Once the fake disease has been suppressed, the immune system will hold a memory of this particular virus. That way, if a person contracts the virus in the future, the immune system will respond very quickly and very strongly to destroy the viruses and stop the spread of the disease.

But in order for an mRNA vaccine to be effective, it needs to be efficiently transported from the site of administration to the blood and immune cells. Like a letter that needs an envelope to be delivered from sender to recipient, the mRNA also needs the right carrier so it can be delivered to the immune cells.

Similar to the COVID vaccines, this new bird flu vaccine uses microscopic fatty spheres called lipid nanoparticles to carry the mRNA. These microscopic envelopes are around 100-200 manometers in size (that’s almost 100,000 times smaller than a penny).

They’re made of a combination of different fats (lipids) that form a microscopic sphere inside which the mRNA is enveloped. Different combinations of fats are used to customise the lipid nanoparticles to the cargo they carry. This maximises the mRNA load they can carry and ensures they don’t fall apart before delivering their cargo.

Before the introduction of mRNA-based vaccines and lipid nanoparticle technology, most influenza vaccines were developed by genetically modifying or chemically inactivating the viruses. While these live attenuated or inactivated viruses couldn’t induce a full scale infection, they still triggered an immune response.

But this process was very costly, time consuming and had varied success. So it was only reserved for the viruses that were on the World Health Organization’s priority list. As bird flu has historically posed a low infection risk to humans, there hasn’t been an incentive to develop a vaccine for it.

But advances in mRNA technology and lipid nanoparticles have now provided us with the tools for developing effective vaccines against a greater number of viral infections in a fast and cost-effective manner – including lower priority diseases, such as bird flu.

Preventing the next pandemic

Although bird flu currently poses a very low threat to humans, it does have the potential to cause a pandemic if its spread is not controlled.

There are some key reasons for this. In birds, H5N1 is highly virulent and new strains evolve rapidly. It also has the potential to crossover into a variety of mammalian species – including humans.

Infection with bird flu can cause severe illness that is hard to treat in vulnerable people. This includes those over the age of 65 and people with a compromised immunity (such as cancer patients and people who have received organ transplants). Therefore, it could have serious repercussions if the virus was able to spread more readily between birds and humans.

The vaccine trial is a proactive attempt to protect people against the possibility of a future pandemic and to protect those who are more vulnerable to severe bird flu infections.

The lipid nanoparticle technology the bird flu vaccine uses also has broader health applications beyond infectious diseases. One application is in developing cancer vaccines, where they will be used for treating an existing cancer in patients.

I lead a research group at the University of Portsmouth that works on developing new mRNA-based vaccines against different types of cancer including breast, cervical and colorectal cancers using lipid nanoparticles. The same technology is used in Moderna’s mRNA vaccine against melanoma that is currently in trial in the UK.

The mRNA that is used in cancer vaccines instructs a type of immune cell called dendritic cells to produce the same proteins that are expressed on tumour cells. The lipid nanoparticles act as envelopes to carry this mRNA to these cells.

These cells produce and present the cancer proteins to the other members of immune system, including T cells. As a result, the body will see the tumour cells as an intruder and will try to destroy them just as it does with the viruses.

Advances in mRNA synthesis and lipid nanoparticle technology mark a new era in vaccination. These new technologies enable us to produce new vaccines more quickly and to customise them to achieve higher effectiveness. This is of paramount importance for preventing pandemics in the future.

Roja Hadianamrei 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. A bird flu vaccine for humans is being trialled – here’s how it works – https://theconversation.com/a-bird-flu-vaccine-for-humans-is-being-trialled-heres-how-it-works-281594

Source: The Conversation – UK – By Michelle Spear, Professor of Anatomy, University of Bristol

I wouldn’t say that I’m afraid of heights. I can stand on a cliff path or look out from a tall building without the rush of panic people often associate with vertigo. What I really dislike is something much harder to explain: the peculiar feeling in my feet.

It’s a sensation that’s difficult to describe. It isn’t numbness, it isn’t tingling either. The closest I can come is a strange awareness in the soles of my feet – a kind of buzzing.

For a long time I assumed this was just an odd personal quirk. But many people report something similar when standing near a drop. Around one-quarter of people describe some level of discomfort at height, and in experimental settings most participants show measurable changes in balance and posture when exposed to a drop. Far from being irrational, it reflects a remarkably elegant piece of neurological engineering.

At height, the nervous system shifts balance control. Sensory input from the feet is “upregulated” (dialled up), postural muscles (muscles that help you stay upright, balanced and stable) stiffen slightly, and movements become more cautious. This is part of normal proprioception – the body’s internal sense of where it is in space.

Unlike vision, which tells you where things are around you, proprioception tells you where you are.

Near a drop, the brain begins to rely more heavily on signals from the feet, effectively turning up their volume. Small shifts in pressure and sway are amplified, and control of movement becomes tighter and more deliberate. This is quite different from vertigo. Vertigo arises from disturbances in the inner ear or its connections, creating a false sensation of movement, often described as spinning.

The feeling at height is not that the world is moving, but that the body is being held more carefully in place.

What’s striking is that this response is not unique to those who notice it. The nervous system makes these adjustments in almost everyone. For most, it remains in the background. For others, it rises into awareness as a peculiar sensation.

Why the feet?

As the body’s primary point of contact with the ground the feet are one of its richest sources of sensory information. The soles contain a dense population of specialised receptors, including Merkel cells, Meissner corpuscles and Pacinian corpuscles, each tuned to different aspects of pressure, stretch and movement.

Merkel cells respond to sustained pressure, giving a continuous readout of how weight is distributed across the foot – whether you are leaning slightly forward, back, or to one side.

Meissner corpuscles are more sensitive to light touch and subtle changes, detecting the small shifts that occur as the body sways.

Pacinian corpuscles, deeper in the tissue, are exquisitely sensitive to vibration and rapid changes in pressure, allowing the nervous system to detect even the smallest disturbances in contact with the ground.

Under ordinary conditions, these receptors work quietly in the background, allowing you to stand, walk and shift your weight without conscious thought. But near an edge with a drop, their importance is suddenly elevated. The margin for error narrows. Small changes in pressure – the subtle sway of the body, the shifting of weight from heel to forefoot – carry greater consequence.

The nervous system responds by increasing the gain on these signals. In effect, it listens more closely to the feet.

That heightened input does not feel the same for everyone. Some people describe a buzzing or tingling in the soles. Others report a sense of heaviness, as though their feet are being drawn more firmly into the ground. Some feel an urge to grip with their toes, or to widen their stance. Others notice a faint unsteadiness, a need to hold still, or a curious reluctance to move forward. Why is it that some people experience this so vividly, while others are unaware?

Part of the answer lies in how we process sensory information. The signals from the feet are being generated in almost everyone standing near an edge, but not all of them reach conscious awareness. The brain continuously filters incoming information, prioritising what seems most relevant.

In some people, that filter is more permissive. Subtle changes in pressure, sway and muscle activity are allowed through, registering as a distinct sensation in the soles. In others, the same information is handled automatically, without ever rising to conscious notice.

Attention plays a role too. Once a sensation has been noticed, the brain becomes more likely to detect it again.

There are also differences in sensory sensitivity. Some people are simply better at detecting fine changes in touch and position – a heightened form of proprioception. For them, the shift in balance control near an edge may feel more pronounced.

Context matters as well. Fatigue, stress, or unfamiliar surroundings can all make the system more noticeable. What this means is that the sensation itself is not unusual. What varies is the degree to which it is perceived. The same neurological adjustment is taking place either way – quietly in the background for some, and vividly, almost curiously, present for others.

Michelle Spear 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. Why do heights make your feet feel strange? – https://theconversation.com/why-do-heights-make-your-feet-feel-strange-279172

Source: The Conversation – UK – By Thomas Lockwood, PhD Researcher in Politics, York St John University

The 2026 elections are shaping up to be a seismic moment for politics in the UK. Across England’s local elections, Labour is facing up to a devastating result while Reform UK has picked up hundreds of seats from a standing start. Throughout the day as results come in from across England, Scotland and Wales, our panel is providing context, analysis and expert insights.

Big wins for Reform, but can it deliver?

Alia Middleton, Senior Lecturer in Politics, University of Surrey

Reform UK’s surge in areas such as Newcastle-under-Lyme indicates that the party has sustained the support it started to gather in the Midlands and the north of England at the 2024 general election.

The party has rather uniquely demonstrated an ability to steer voters away from both Conservatives and Labour. Gaining councillors and nibbling away at Labour support in the party’s heartlands in Hartlepool and Burnley shows that Labour’s reclaiming of its red wall at the 2024 general election may only be a temporary reinstatement.

Alongside the collapse and prolonged recovery of the Conservatives, Reform seems to be harvesting the party’s votes – take Essex County Council, which Reform now controls, for example. This has been either under Conservative control or no overall control since 1974. In 2021, Reform UK barely registered, but today it has 42 councillors. Several members of the shadow cabinet – including Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch – have seats in Essex. But now Reform seems to be consolidating its support in the county.

One upcoming issue for Reform, however, is that voters will soon expect delivery. Reform has shown it can win votes in local elections but the more councillors it has, the more it needs to show that it can function not just as a campaign machine, but as a professional party that can keep its promises and deliver real results.

From patchwork to pointillist painting

Tim Bale, Professor of Politics, Queen Mary, University of London

English local elections involve county, borough and district councils, as well as mayoralties. They take place in some parts of the country but not in others, and in some places all of the seats on a council are up for grabs, while in others it’s only a third.

No wonder, then, that one of the go-to clichés that politicians and pundits routinely reach for on a day like today is “patchwork”. Yet even that may not do justice to the complex reality now that we have entered the era of five- rather than two-party politics.

A better analogy now might be a pointillist painting – lots of coloured dots that resolve themselves into a complete scene as the picture gradually takes shape. Much of what we’ll see in the initial analysis – especially when it comes to those spinning party lines – will be a tale, to quote Shakespeare’s Macbeth, “told by an idiot, full of sound and fury. Signifying nothing.”

Once we hear from political scientists about projected national share and the national equivalent vote, we can start to understand.

What next for Starmer and Labour?

Karl Pike, Senior Lecturer in Public Policy, Queen Mary, University of London

Keir Starmer is in a kind of lame duck political position – very few people think the prime minister will lead Labour into the next general election. His authority is gradually reducing, and losing these elections around the UK will reduce it further. On that, most people within the Labour party can agree. But they cannot agree on how to respond, and the options Labour MPs have for changing their leader are complicated.

Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham could win enough support within the parliamentary Labour party (PLP) to challenge Starmer. Or he could succeed Starmer if he stepped aside, and win a majority of Labour members and affiliated supporters in the event of a contest. But the Burnham option requires some choreography that could be disrupted. Burnham is not an MP, and could still be blocked from standing by Labour’s national executive committee. Any Labour leadership contest would have to follow a successful byelection victory for Labour and for Burnham.

Angela Rayner continues to be popular in the party, but there are lingering doubts after her exit from government over her tax affairs. Wes Streeting could probably only become leader if the PLP opted to nominate just one politician, removing the need for a contest. If any candidate from the PLP’s “soft-left” stood against Streeting, I think Streeting would struggle to win.

So the who, when and how all remain up in the air. Meanwhile, the UK government has important jobs to do, all of which require people to focus on governing, rather than party management. It is not clear that the PLP has a majority view on what a different government direction should look like.

I cannot predict what will happen next. It seems unlikely that Starmer can continue to lead Labour into next year and beyond. But much of the discussion around a change of leadership seems to involve a political high-wire act. This is why, for some time now, Labour MPs have been unhappy – but unsure of what to do about it.

The death of two-party politics? Tactical voting means we can’t say that for certain

Thomas Lockwood, PhD Candidate in Politics, York St John University

Early results from England’s local elections might suggest increasing fragmentation in the party system, but “five-party politics” is better understood as an emerging pattern than a settled reality. What stands out most is not a clean realignment, but continued tactical voting and localised switching. Voters are choosing between multiple viable parties depending on context. This might be, for example, prioritising immigration and national discontent in red wall towns, or focusing on environmental concerns and housing in urban and university areas, rather than shifting permanently between fixed blocs.

For the first time in nearly 50 years, Labour has lost Tameside Council in Greater Manchester, which has fallen to no overall control. This is significant as it’s the council area for the constituency of Labour’s former deputy leader Angela Rayner.

On its own, it’s not a seat-threatening result for the next general election, but it is a serious long-term warning sign for Labour’s heartlands. Combined with the wider picture of Reform gaining hundreds of councillors, it shows that the “disrupter” dynamic is structural, not fleeting. But whether these localised surges harden into a durable five-party system, or remain heavily shaped by tactical voting and specific local contexts, will only become clearer in time.

So far, however, Reform will be feeling very encouraged by the state of play.

The Conversation’s coverage of elections in England, Scotland and Wales is being updated throughout the day.

Karl Pike has received funding from the Economic and Social Research Council. He is a member of the Labour Party and before becoming an academic was a political advisor for the Labour Party.

Alia Middleton, Thomas Lockwood, and Tim Bale 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. Elections 2026: Experts react to the Reform surge and Labour losses – https://theconversation.com/elections-2026-experts-react-to-the-reform-surge-and-labour-losses-282502

Source: The Conversation – UK – By Rachel Woods, Associate Professor, University of Nottingham; University of Lincoln

Peas aren’t often seen as a particularly exciting vegetable. They tend to be treated as a basic side dish or something people eat out of habit, rather than choice. But they’re also cheap, widely available and contain a combination of nutrients that can have a positive impact on our health.

While peas will not transform health on their own, when eaten regularly they can provide a useful contribution to daily protein, fibre and micronutrients intake.

Here are a few reasons why peas are worth including in your diet more often.

1. They’re a source of plant protein

Protein is essential for maintaining muscle, immune function and helping us feel full after meals. While not the highest protein food out there, they contain more protein than most vegetables.

Cooked green peas provide around 5g of protein per 100g, while dried peas contain closer to 8g per 100g. That is less than lentils (around 6g per 100g) or chickpeas (over 7g per 100g), but more than vegetables such as carrots (less than 0.5g of protein per 100g) or sweetcorn (less than 3g per 100g).

Pea protein has a well-balanced amino acid profile, containing all nine essential amino acids. These are the building blocks for protein, which the body uses for growth and repair, as well as to make enzymes, hormones and immune molecules.

However, like other grain legumes, peas are relatively low in sulfur‑containing amino acids – particularly methionine, which plays a key role in protein synthesis and growth.

This means that peas would not be ideal as your sole protein source. But since most people eat peas alongside other plant and animal proteins, this isn’t usually a problem – and peas can be a useful way to increase your protein intake.

Pea protein is also relatively easy to digest and absorb. Research suggests it has good bioavailability compared with many other plant protein sources, meaning the body can make good use of it.

2. Their fibre supports gut and metabolic health

Many people do not eat enough dietary fibre. Peas can help contribute to you achieving the recommended 30g of fibre per day. A 100g portion of cooked peas provides more than 6g of fibre, with dried peas providing even more (around 8g of fibre per 100g). Fibre plays an important role in digestive health, but its effects extend beyond the gut.

Peas contain both insoluble and soluble fibre. Insoluble fibre helps move food through the digestive system, reducing constipation. Soluble fibre dissolves in water to form a gel‑like substance, which slows digestion and helps regulate blood sugar and cholesterol levels.

Peas also contain prebiotic fibres, including galactooligosaccharides. These fibres feed beneficial bacteria in the gut, rather than being digested by the body. Supporting these bacteria helps achieve a more diverse gut microbiome, which has been linked to better metabolic health.

3. Peas contain iron and other beneficial plant compounds

Iron is essential for producing the blood protein haemoglobin, which carries oxygen around the body. But iron deficiency remains common worldwide, particularly among people who menstruate.

While vegetables are not usually major sources of iron, peas contain more iron than many commonly eaten vegetables such as carrots and peppers. However, it’s important to make sure you’re eating the right type of peas if you’re looking to get more iron in your diet.

For instance, mature peas tend to contain higher levels of phytic acid, a compound that can limit iron absorption in the gut. Green peas, which are harvested earlier, contain iron while having much lower levels of phytic acid. This gives garden peas and petit pois a more favourable iron‑to‑phytate ratio, which is associated with better iron bioavailability.

Peas also contain polyphenols, including flavonoids. These are plant compounds that have antioxidant and anti‑inflammatory effects, helping protect cells from damage and supporting overall health.

Regularly consuming flavonoids has been associated with improved cardiovascular health, better blood sugar regulation, and a lower risk of several chronic diseases including cardiovascular disease and certain types of cancer.

4. They’re one of the most affordable healthy foods

Cost plays a major role in influencing what people eat. Peas remain one of the cheapest ways to add some extra protein and fibre to meals.

Frozen peas can be bought for around £1 to £1.50 per kilogram at most major supermarkets. They’re frequently cheaper than other frozen vegetables, and much cheaper than many fresh vegetables.

Frozen peas also generate very little waste. You can cook the amount you need, which makes them good value for households trying to eat well on a limited budget.

5. Peas are easy to store, cook and eat regularly

Convenience also has a strong influence on food choices. Peas are easy to keep and use in different ways. Fresh, frozen, tinned and dried peas all have a place, but frozen peas are particularly practical.

Frozen vegetables are usually harvested at peak ripeness and frozen quickly. This helps preserve nutrients and reduces spoilage. Studies show that frozen and canned vegetables are nutritionally comparable to fresh varieties, and sometimes even retain nutrients better during storage.

Because peas require little preparation, they’re easy to add to meals that families already eat. They may even be more of a hit with children. Research suggests that many children are more accepting of vegetables that are soft and slightly sweet rather than bitter or tough, which may explain why peas are often better received than other vegetables.

Keeping peas on hand also makes it easy to add to your and your child’s platess regularly. Research shows that the more children are given a certain type of food, the more likely they are to eat them.

Simple ways to eat more peas

Including peas does not require major changes to eating habits. Keeping a bag of peas in the freezer makes it easy to add them to pasta, rice, risottos or curries, or to serve them as a quick side.

Peas can also be blended into soups, stirred into sauces, or added into pesto. Dried, frozen or tinned peas work well in soups and stews.

Peas may not seem exciting. But as part of a varied diet, they’re a reliable way to add protein, fibre and nutrients without adding too much cost or complexity.

Rachel Woods 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. Five reasons to add peas into your diet – https://theconversation.com/five-reasons-to-add-peas-into-your-diet-281925

Source: The Conversation – UK – By Anna Walker, Senior Arts + Culture Editor, The Conversation

Caroline Walker is one of my favourite working artists. The observations in her work are so exquisitely rendered that they often feel almost uncanny. Such was the case when I encountered her 2025 painting Kitchen Table.

It shows a young girl, perhaps five or six, drawing with quiet concentration, a pink felt tip gripped firmly in her hand. In the foreground sits a bright yet somehow wild bouquet – a mix of polished pink blooms and smoky lilac thistles. The paper it was wrapped in, along with the scissors used to trim the stems, spills across the table.

The scene struck me because it could have been lifted straight from my own childhood. To me, these flowers tell a story: a mother once as unbridled in her creativity as her young daughter, now finding moments for it where she can – arranging a shop-bought bouquet into something both sculptural and joyful.

But that’s just my interpretation. Flowers have shifting meanings for different periods, places and people – which is why they make for a rich exhibition theme.

Walker’s painting is on show at Handpicked: Painting Flowers from 1900 to Today at Kettle’s Yard in Cambridge. Our reviewer, artist Judith Brocklehurst, likened the curation – featuring works by Walker alongside Henri Rousseau, Chris Ofili and Lubaina Himid – to a “handpicked” bouquet, each piece “selected for its colour, form or meaning”. The curators, she writes, “have certainly achieved a complex yet complementary arrangement”.

Handpicked: Painting Flowers from 1900 to Today is at Kettle’s Yard until September 6 2026.

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Read more:
A new exhibition explores empire, love and loss through paintings of flowers from 1900

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As an arts editor, I’m offered recommendations every day – TV shows I “have” to binge, books I “won’t be able to put down”, exhibitions accompanied by a “great café”. Sometimes I nod politely, knowing I’ll never find the time to watch all 28 seasons of a well-meaning recommender’s favourite series. More often, though, their enthusiasm is contagious.

Such was the case when our deputy editor, Laura Hood, told me about her visit to the Michaelina Wautier exhibition at the Royal Academy in London. Had there not been a laptop screen separating us on Zoom, I suspect she might have reached through and shaken my shoulders as she implored me to see it.

Art historian Gabriele Neher saw the show shortly after it opened and was equally galvanised. Painting in the 1600s, Wautier’s portraiture is marked by an “elegant palette” and “mastery of textures”. These masterpieces were designed to defy the challenge that a woman can not paint like a man.

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Read more:
Michaelina Wautier review: an astoundingly skilled painter returned to her rightful place in the spotlight

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Many times I’ve pressed Hettie Judah’s book Acts of Creation: On Art and Motherhood into the hands of friends and her new book, How to Enter the Art World, sounds just as sage.

A particular strength, according to our reviewer sculptor Benedict Carpenter van Barthold, is that “Judah does not imagine her reader to be a blank tablet”. She writes for someone who already has a life – a person “at a transitional point as an artist”: perhaps a parent, someone changing careers, or returning to a long-held passion after years of work or care. It’s a book that takes the complex needs of older artists seriously.

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Read more:
How to Enter the Art World by Hettie Judah offers a smørgasbord of sage advice

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Kokuho, Japan’s highest-grossing live-action film, is well worth seeking out at your local independent cinema this week.

A vivid, expansive epic spanning five decades and running close to three hours, the film is set in the world of kabuki – Japan’s most popular traditional performing art. Professional kabuki remains a tight-knit, all-male sphere built on family lineage: actors pass hereditary stage names down to their sons, and successful outsiders are exceedingly rare.

That makes Kokuho’s central question more culturally specific than the usual A Star Is Born-style narrative: what makes a great kabuki actor – relentless hard work, or the accident of birth?

Kokuho is in select cinemas now

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Read more:
Kokuho is Japan’s highest ever grossing live-action film – a lavish kabuki epic about talent, lineage and sacrifice

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This week The Conversation UK launched a new climate poetry award to bring science and creativity closer together, inviting UK-based researchers to write a poem inspired by climate change research.

The competition kicks off with a free introductory climate poetry workshop, led by poet Professor Sam Illingworth of Edinburgh Napier University, on May 13. Sign up here and find out more about how to enter here.

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Read more:
Introducing The Conversation Climate Poetry Award – for UK and Ireland-based academics

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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, The Conversation UK may earn a commission.

– ref. A handpicked history of floral art, kabuki on screen and a poetry competition – what to see, do and create this week – https://theconversation.com/a-handpicked-history-of-floral-art-kabuki-on-screen-and-a-poetry-competition-what-to-see-do-and-create-this-week-282404

Source: The Conversation – UK – By Catherine Baker, Reader in 20th Century History, University of Hull

Digital techniques like projection mapping, holograms and interactive performance now define the Eurovision contest’s production values. But this year’s UK act Look Mum No Computer has a more retro approach to technology.

A musician and YouTuber, Look Mum No Computer builds experimental synths from vintage equipment, sometimes even parts from toys and games consoles. His past projects include synths built into Sega Megadrives and Gibson Les Paul guitars, an orchestra of Star Wars robots, and his most popular YouTube video, a Furby orchestra.

Working for the past two years on our book Designing Eurovision: Performance Scenography on an International Stage, we have had the opportunity to track the history of Eurovision design and its current innovations.

Eurovision’s rules on musical performance and on-stage instruments would not always have accommodated an act like Look Mum No Computer, who tours with his own modular synth. In its early days in the late 1950s and 60s, all entries had to be performed by a live concert orchestra – limiting how far composers could follow transatlantic rock’n’roll trends.

The contest’s rules are determined by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), which has overseen the annual contest for its member broadcasters since 1956. In 1973, the EBU began allowing prerecorded backing tracks, but insisted all instruments had to appear on stage. This rule allowed bands, like Yugoslavia’s Korni Grupa in 1974, to perform with their guitars and drums or to combine these with orchestral accompaniment like ABBA’s winning 1974 performance.

Electronic dance music was not such an easy fit when it started appearing in the 1990s. In 1996, the requirement for all instruments to be on camera meant Gina G’s UK entry Ooh Aah, Just A Little Bit had to bring PCs on stage.

Phasing out live orchestras altogether after 1998 upset some fans but modernised Eurovision’s sound. This move gave contest producers more space to employ new digital stage technologies, including video walls and LED floors. These made the broadcast more spectacular but dramatically increased its costs and environmental impact. It also caused issues of competitiveness since better-funded nations could invest in high-end digital staging with international creative teams, while those with lower budgets must be much more resourceful to be competitive.

Well before this transformation into a mega-event, however, musical instruments that were likely new to many Eurovision audiences were made focal points in how performances were staged. Switzerland’s 1976 entry by acoustic folk band Peter, Sue and Marc featured a clown playing a barrel organ. The Guadeloupian steel drums on Joëlle Ursull’s 1990 French entry White And Black Blues anticipated the staging of many percussion-driven pop acts that used traditional ethnic instruments in the 2000s.

Since on-stage instruments are played to prerecorded tracks and not wired for sound, Eurovision performances can feel different for instrumentalists than vocalists, who must always sing live – one rule that has endured throughout Eurovision’s history. All backing vocals also had to be live until 2021, when the EBU first allowed recorded backing during COVID.

Instruments on stage today are part of a much more complex scenography, harnessing the latest in lighting and digital design. The Norwegian folk metal band Gåte in 2024 presented a full digital spectacle, including video wall effects of crashing waves, dramatic lighting, and camera angle switches synced to their drum blasts. It also included the physical feat of guitarist Magnus Børmark throwing his instrument two metres into the air.

Eurovision’s “liveness” as a broadcast depends on complex technical programming and weeks of rehearsal to ensure every version of a contest performance is consistent, and meets competition rules. Asking how Look Mum No Computer’s work might translate to the Eurovision stage underlines how the contest’s relationships between musical instruments and digital design can make us reflect on what makes performances live and how technology has helped to visualise sound.

Catherine Baker received funding from the British Council to research the cultural relations and soft power of the Eurovision Song Contest in 2023. This article is based on a separate project and does not represent any previous project partners’ views.

Amy Skinner 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. How musical instruments have informed stage design over Eurovision’s history – https://theconversation.com/how-musical-instruments-have-informed-stage-design-over-eurovisions-history-276668

Source: The Conversation – UK – By Laurie Parsons, Reader in Human Geography, Royal Holloway, University of London

What’s the link between the global economy and the climate? Consumption drives extraction and carbon emissions. But there is more.

The inequalities of the global economy don’t just shape what goes into the atmosphere. They affect our understanding of the climate and our perspectives when it comes to possible solutions. The lenses through which we see the world reflect the inequalities within it. The greater the centralisation of power, the greater the control over our knowledge about it.

This was a conclusion that the writer and revolutionary Antonio Gramsci reached, while languishing in prison after a failed revolution against the fascist Italian dictator Benito Mussolini. Unable to understand why ordinary people didn’t rise up against the dictator, despite their clear economic interest in doing so, he coined the term “hegemony”: the conflation of power and knowledge, whereby the views and interests of a political economic elite are adopted by the rest of society as common sense.

This perspective explains a lot about our seeming inability to escape the environmental status quo.

Successive polls indicate overwhelming public support for resolving excessive carbon emissions and the problems this excessive use of fossil fuels is creating for communities around the world.

In the UK, 60% of people support net zero. In Germany, 81% of the population want to expand renewable energy, while 55% cite it as “very important to them”. In Italy, 80% of people support a renewables only energy policy. Even in the US, 57% want the government to do more to address climate change.

With the exception of the US, this majority is greater than that which has elected any political party since the turn of the 20th century. So with a super-majority in favour of decarbonisation, how does the world remain stuck on such a steep upwards trajectory of carbon emissions?

Almost every country has a stated commitment to decarbonisation. Wind and solar energy are the cheapest forms of energy in history.

Yet a record quantity of carbon was pumped into the atmosphere last year. And record amounts of coal, oil and gas are still being extracted from the Earth.

Statistics like this can make even thinking about climate change a demoralising business. This is precisely the problem. Our overwhelming political will is sapped by being locked into a system that obscures the most effective pathways (phasing out fossil fuels, for example), while continually moving us towards less effective ones.

If you’re worried that global garment production is on course to triple in size by 2050, common narratives suggest that simply choosing the “greenest” brand will help fix the problem. Worried about the carbon cost of flying? Never fear: a budget airline’s apocryphal claims to be sustainable can assuage that nagging guilt.

Feeling the heat?

But the politics of climate change isn’t just about what we buy. It’s a full-body experience.

Take heat stress. According to the UN’s International Labour Organization, 70% of workers experience heat stress throughout the year. That figure falls to 29% in Europe and rises to 93% in sub-Saharan Africa.

These two continents have big differences in temperature, but temperature is in fact only a small part of the problem.

The largest determinant on whether a person becomes heat stressed (the point at which their body is pushed beyond its normal thermal limits) is the work that a person does. People working in construction, agriculture and other high-intensity roles – the kind that dominate in developing countries – are at the highest risk. Sedentary service sectors, or office jobs to you and me, are the safest in terms of heat stress.

When it comes to the environment, what you feel depends on what you do.

My new book, Climate Hegemony, highlights how a farmer is almost twice as likely as a garment worker to experience changing rainfall patterns, because everybody’s experience of the environment is filtered through how they spend their life.

That’s the problem. The populations of the developed world, consumers of most fossil fuels globally, may favour climate action. But as long as they continue to benefit from a global economy that reduces their risk through air conditioning and wealth, tackling climate change will remain alongside world peace and eliminating global hunger: moral aspirations, rather than tangible policy.

It is a testament to the persuasive powers of the fossil fuel industry that this hegemony is sustained – even in the face of precipitously falling renewable energy prices. Campaigns outflank arguments for renewable energy through widespread political lobbying and by support for conservative thinktanks and social movements, such as the campaign against net zero.

Individually, these activities might seem nefarious, but together they present as common sense, just as Gramsci complained from his cell in 1929.

As Gramsci found out, it is not easy to change minds. Yet by challenging the deeply embedded norms and assumptions of our current environmental impasse, it is possible to access something many environmentalists have felt starved of in recent years: hope.

The changing climate acts not only through emissions, but through everything we do, make and think. With different assumptions about which climate actions are possible, we arrive at different politics and different outcomes.

So, however much it might feel like it, the climate impasse is far from insurmountable. A world of ways to reshape our relationship to the environment are waiting, if only we can learn to see them.

Laurie Parsons receives funding from The Wellcome Trust and UK Research and Innovation.

– ref. Why climate action stalls, despite widespread popular support – https://theconversation.com/why-climate-action-stalls-despite-widespread-popular-support-282002

Source: The Conversation – UK – By Ali Rahman, Assistant Professor of Civil Engineering, University of Leeds

Potholes are a safety risk, source of vehicle damage and recurring annoyance in the UK. They gain special visibility at times of local elections, given that the vast majority of roads are maintained by local authorities. A survey conducted in April found that road condition was the top local issue for voters throughout Britain ahead of the May 7 elections.

The Asphalt Industry Alliance’s (AIA) 2025 report indicates that 17% of the local road network in England and Wales is in poor condition. It estimates that the backlog of repairs would take a staggering 12 years to clear, costing £16.81 billion.

While it’s easy for politicians to point to numbers of potholes filled as a way to gain votes from frustrated drivers, this does nothing to solve the problem in the long run.

Where do potholes come from?

Potholes are not isolated road surface defects, but rather the end-product of a hidden road deterioration process. In typical asphalt roads, bitumen ages, stiffens and becomes brittle over time. Traffic passage causes the road surface to crack.

Once cracks form, water enters the road structure. The weight of vehicles and freeze-thaw cycles over winter cause these cracks to expand and widen, eventually resulting in a pothole. By the time it appears on the road surface, the structural integrity of the subsurface is already compromised.

In the wake of climate change, the UK’s increasingly wet winters accelerate this process, especially on roads that have reached the end of their structural life.

The UK’s approach to repairing potholes is largely reactive: a short-term, localised patch job after the road has failed. Experimental studies show that while this approach is relatively inexpensive per intervention, it suffers from severe underperformance.

These repair jobs often last for just weeks or months in wet or winter conditions before needing to be done again. This “patch and repeat” cycle leads to escalating costs, network disruption and inconsistent road quality.

A much better approach would be preventative maintenance – intervening before failure occurs. Preventative treatments, including surface dressing and crack sealing, yield superior cost-effectiveness because they substantially reduce the frequency of patch failure and replacement.

It’s important to note that filling potholes, in itself, does not add life to roads, apart from temporarily keeping them safe. It is the construction equivalent of throwing good money after bad.

More ambitious would be to establish a predictive and proactive road management system that spans the road’s entire lifecycle. This includes designing and constructing resilient road structures, conducting frequent monitoring, and applying targeted, timely preventive maintenance.

Emerging technology such as advances in data analytics, AI, automation, digital twins and non-destructive testing may make this approach increasingly feasible.

Economics of potholes

Evidence suggests that preventative maintenance would be longer lasting, and significantly more cost-efficient. Spending £1 today on preventative maintenance leads to £4.20 saved within 10 years.

This payback reflects the current poor condition of the local road network in Britain. More sustainable road maintenance would have a rapid effect.

Similar evidence exists for the climate impact. Traditionally, potholes are fixed again and again using cold-mix or hot-mix asphalt – a mixture of stones and petroleum-based bitumen derived from crude oil. This makes the process incredibly carbon-intensive.

Preventative maintenance reduces the long-term carbon costs because roads stay in good condition for longer. As extreme weather such as floods or heatwaves becomes more frequent, the risk of damage to road surfaces increases, making resilience a crucial factor in highway maintenance.

Put another way, preventative road maintenance could be a key part of local authority’s net zero ambitions – whereas the current approach is a liability to this goal.

The electoral focus on fixing potholes therefore seems odd, since the medium- to long-term solution (from a cost, road quality and carbon perspective) is more preventative maintenance.

Why are Britain’s roads so pothole-plagued?

The simple reason that local authorities can’t fix potholes permanently is a lack of funding. However, like many political issues, it is more nuanced.

Our work with the National Highways & Transport Network has found that the public’s satisfaction with roads is substantially driven by the condition of roads within a one-kilometre radius of where they live.

Politically, potholes are obviously visible – they are also classed as safety defects, so there are legal requirements for local authorities to “fix” them in a timely manner. But underlying road condition, while crucial to the emergence of potholes, is more hidden and does not get as much political bandwidth.

Local authorities receive various funding pots for road maintenance, but this funding can sometimes be reallocated to other authority services, such as adult social care. This seriously constrains funding that is spent on road maintenance, although the UK government has recently announced new rules to stop councils from diverting road maintenance funds.

Taken together, this means that preventative maintenance is crowded out by limited funds and the need to repeatedly fix holes that result from a lack of preventative maintenance.

A review of current local road maintenance budget allocations reveals that reactive maintenance consumes 25% of budgets. But the pothole problem is getting worse, which suggests this figure will rise over time.

The relatively recent extra money for road maintenance (£0.5 billion annually) allocated could help, but it won’t go very far unless put into preventative treatments.

Changing to a longer-term solution requires different approaches to government funding and policymaking. But this demands political will at all levels of government, at a time when local authority budgets are already very constrained.

Professor Phill Wheat receives funding from the NHT CQC Network to which he is affiliated as the academic lead.

Ali Rahman 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. Why politicians can’t fix potholes permanently – https://theconversation.com/why-politicians-cant-fix-potholes-permanently-281797

Source: The Conversation – UK – By Ben Mayfield, Lecturer in Law, Lancaster University

Directed by Orban Wallace, Our Land explores the countryside access debate in England and Wales through interviews, pastoral shots, lavish illustrations and a walk in the country where the sun always seems to shine.

One percent of landowners own 50% of English and Welsh land. But the right of open access to land by the public, or the “right to roam”, extends to only 8% of this land.

Our Land follows the path of earlier activists such as Marion Shoard and Tom Stevenson who once advanced the access campaign through their experiences and storytelling. Here, the documentary’s star is naturalist and conservationist Nadia Shaikh.

Shaikh explores the teaching power of the English countryside by leading a group of trespassers on a nature walk. She describes her own complex and deep-felt attachment to the countryside as a place of education and personal identity.

Our Land is a title with two meanings – private land ownership for the landowners v the campaign for shared rights in land. The film explores different attitudes to ownership as well as the physical borders between landowners and, in the words of access campaigner and contributor Guy Shrubsole, “the peasants”.

The documentary was filmed during the Darwall v Dartmoor (2023) legal dispute. Landowner Alexander Darwall successfully challenged and outlawed the longstanding right to wild camp on Dartmoor National Park in the High Court. Later overturned by the Court of Appeal and Supreme Court, the High Court ruling in favour of the landowner caused ripples of protest among walkers and campers. They temporarily lost the right to wild camp in Dartmoor – the only place in England where this was allowed by law.

Hedge fund manager Darwall is the most controversial landowner to feature in Our Land, but he is not interviewed in person. Instead, veteran documentary star Francis Fulford (he’s appeared in nine shows, including one about his estate and family) fills the role of aristocratic landowner and pantomime villain.

Fulford provides an insight into the landowner outlook: proud of his family’s place in English and colonial history as well as its roots on the Great Fulford estate. Fulford describes his family as having owned the estate since “time immemorial” and his love of the English countryside is unquestionable.

Indeed, many of the landowners interviewed have a paternal view of the countryside in which they view themselves as temporary guardians. Where opinions differ is how the countryside is best preserved and the extent to which the public should be allowed access to it.

Access and trespass

Trespass itself is a civil matter rather than a criminal offence, which is just as well because the documentary features trespass aplenty.

For instance, campaigning author Nick Hayes crosses the fences of the Drax estate in Dorset to deliver a copy of his Book of Trespass. He discusses the colonial history of the great estates and the role of wider access as a response to the decolonisation movement.

The documentary explains how the English and Welsh culture of access differs from that of close neighbours like Scotland. The Land Reform (Scotland) Act (2003) is celebrated, and contrasted with the exclusionary laws of England and Wales. Shrubsole stands over the border with one foot trespassing in England, the other “lawfully” in Scotland.

The Land Reform Act provides a much wider right to roam the Scottish countryside than the Countryside and Rights of Way Act in England (2000). It has a presumption in favour of public access and only minor exclusions such as private gardens and some industrial land. By contrast, the English “right to roam” supplements our existing network of footpaths, but extends only to mountain, moor, heath, down and common land. Great swathes of land are left inaccessible to the public.

The law is a central character in the access debate but exists only in the background of this documentary. We learn about the Norman conquest and enclosure of the commons in the 12th to 19th century. It was a process of consolidating, privatising and fencing off shared agricultural land (common land) in Britain, transforming it into individually owned, fenced fields. This change abolished traditional communal rights for grazing and farming.

However, there is less about the mixed success of earlier attempts to open countryside such as the Access to Mountains Act (1939), post-war National Parks Act (1949) or the Countryside and Rights of Way Act. English legislative failures might be able to teach us as much as Scotland’s successes.

Disagreement and concession

As the documentary draws to its conclusions there are some limitations to the format of landowners and campaigners being interviewed separately. We hear from both sides of the access debate but there are few opportunities to see the two sides in conversation.

Fulford is goaded from behind the camera on his views about sharing his land with visitors, but no representatives from either side have the opportunity to join one another in debate.

This leaves some assertions unchallenged, such as those of the affable Hugh Inge-Innes-Lillingston, owner of the Thorpe estate in Staffordshire. On the topic of rewilding, he contends that land cannot be truly rewilded if public access is allowed. But this reductive position ignores the nuanced ways that visitors and wilderness can coexist.

Throughout, many of the featured landowners and access campaigners agree on the artificial nature of landownership, their individual powerlessness to effect change and on the social and legal constructs that trap us all in an uncomfortable standoff.

As the documentary closes with trespassers talking and singing around a fire, I was left wishing that the cast of landowners could have joined them in their conversation.

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The climate crisis has a communications problem. How do we tell stories that move people – not just to fear the future, but to imagine and build a better one? This article is part of Climate Storytelling, a series exploring how arts and science can join forces to spark understanding, hope and action.

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Ben Mayfield 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. Our Land: who owns the countryside? New documentary explores the access divide in England and Wales – https://theconversation.com/our-land-who-owns-the-countryside-new-documentary-explores-the-access-divide-in-england-and-wales-282001