Many of us have witnessed unusual and even anti-social behaviour at an airport or on a flight. These may range from benign acts such as sleeping on the floor or doing yoga in front of the flight information display system to serious incidents like early morning drunken arguments or even trying to open the aeroplane doors mid-flight. These more […] … learn more→

As part of Harvard University’s agreement in response to two federal lawsuits filed by Jewish students alleging antisemitic discrimination, it will adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance, or IHRA, “working definition” of antisemitism. This is a definition favored by many Jewish community leaders and politicians because its broad language can be applied to most anti-Israel rhetoric. This includes Kenneth Marcus, […] … learn more→

Simple questions, such as “How are you?”, “Have you eaten yet?”, “What’s wrong with you?”, “Where do you want to go?”, and so on, can be perceived differently depending on the cultural context and situation. This question is commonly used by people to open a conversation. This speech act is very important in establishing social relationships. However, […] … learn more→

In the wake of Donald Trump’s election victory, Meta chief executive Mark Zuckerberg fired the fact-checking team for his company’s social media platforms. At the same time, he reversed Facebook’s turn away from political content. The decision is widely viewed as placating an incoming president with a known penchant for mangling the truth. Meta will replace its fact-checkers with the “community […] … learn more→

Across the country, academics, journalists and researchers are mapping their state’s news and information ecosystems. Their methodologies differ, but such initiatives seek to make sense of the splintered reality of where people are getting their local news and information. Often, it’s not just from a legacy news organization such as a community newspaper, TV station […] … learn more→

Meta founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg has announced big changes in how the company addresses misinformation across Facebook, Instagram and Threads. Instead of relying on independent third-party factcheckers, Meta will now emulate Elon Musk’s X (formerly Twitter) in using “community notes”. These crowdsourced contributions allow users to flag content they believe is questionable. Zuckerberg claimed […] … learn more→

The European Parliament elections last June confirmed trends that had been observed in previous years: a shift to the right, polarisation and difficulty in forming governing majorities . Countries such as Austria , France and some German regions are evidence of these changes. These trends were also reflected in the US presidential elections on 5 November, where Donald Trump emerged as the clear winner . […] … learn more→

Winner of the Prix Un Certain Regard at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival, Molly Manning Walker’s How to Have Sex features three working-class English high school girls – Tara, Skye and Em – who go out clubbing with other young people. One of them, Baddy, embodies a form of “manly” masculinity: full of confidence, he is enterprising […] … learn more→

Netflix faces calls for a boycott after it removed its “Palestinian Stories” collection this October. This includes approximately 24 films. Netflix cited the expiration of three-year licences as the reason for pulling the films from the collection. Nonetheless, some viewers were outraged and almost 12,000 people signed a CodePink petition calling on Netflix to reinstate the films. The Israeli television series Fauda, produced […] … learn more→

What will humans be like generations from now in a world transformed by artificial intelligence (AI)? Plenty of thinkers have applied themselves to questions like this, considering how AI will alter lives – often for better, sometimes for worse. They have conjured dramatic scenarios, like AI-driven extinction of humans (and many other species), or our assimilation into human-AI cyborgs. […] … learn more→