COVID-19 has put our working lives under the microscope: Does my job make a difference? Does it bring me joy?

Dr Kevin Waite, from our Department of History, comments on how the original narrative of American slavery misses a huge swath of the North American map and a crucial chapter in US history.

Dr Elizabeth Chloe Romanis, from our Durham Law School, Jordan Parsons, PhD candidate from University of Bristol and Thomas Hampton, Wellcome Trust Clinical Research Fellow from University of Liverpool, comment on the changes to abortion laws during the pandemic.

Covering two million parliamentary speeches held in the UK House of Commons and the Irish Parliament, Professor Sara B. Hobolt (LSE), Dr Moritz Osnabrügge (SGIA), and Dr Toni Rodon (UPF) use a dictionary-based method to measure emotive rhetoric. They show that emotive rhetoric is more pronounced in high-profile legislative debates, such as Prime Minister’s Questions, illustrating that emotive rhetoric is one of the tools politicians can use strategically to appeal to voters.

Giuseppe Amatulli, from our Department of Anthropology, comments on The British Columbia Supreme Court finding that the B.C. government infringed the Blueberry River First Nation’s treaty rights by allowing decades of industrial development in their traditional territory.

Dr Eleanor Spencer-Regan, Vice-Principal and Senior Tutor of St Chad's College and member of the Department of English Studies, comments on how empowering and inspirational sporting figures can be in childrens' literature.

Professor Barbara Keys, from our Department of History, looks back on the history of human rights efforts around the Olympic Games and on the rising calls to boycott the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing due to human rights concerns.

In this article, Dr Benjamin Maiangwa, from our School of Government and International Affairs and Christiane Ndedi Essombe, who holds a Master of Public Health (MPH) from the University of Montreal, comment on colonisation and reclaiming African identity.

Professor Carol Adams, from our Business School, and Subhash Abhayawansa, Associate Professor in Accounting at the Swinburne University of Technology, comment on the new proposals being put forward by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) which will require UK companies to report on the risks of climate change to their businesses.

In this article, Dr Benjamin Maiangwa, from our School of Government and International Affairs, comments on the Nigerian-Biafran war and the recent arrest of the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, Nnamdi Kanu.

In this article, Dr Peter West, from our Department of Philosophy, comments on Susan Stebbing, the first woman in the UK appointed to a full professorship in philosophy in 1933 and her lessons on the use of tools of philosophical logic to engage in healthy public discourse.

Hester Hockin-Boyers (PhD student in Department of Sport and Exercise Sciences & Department of Sociology), Dr. Stacey Pope (Department of Sport and Exercise Sciences) and Dr. Kimberly Jamie from our Department of Sociology discuss the impact of social media on women’s mental health.